Lego My Eggo
Remember those cereal box promos we had growing up? You'd open the box and dig for the toy. Or the ones where you'd send in proofs of purchase and the company would mail you "the coolest" cheap toy.
When my husband saw the Kellogg's Eggo waffle box advertising Lego Mars Mission Astro Fighters for $1.99 by mail with 2 UPCs from any Kellogg's Eggo products, he bought in. Our boys love Legos and their Dad thought it would be a great chance to teach our six-year-old about mailing letters -- something we do far less of now than when we were growing up. He cut out the box tops and redemption form with our son, filled out the form, included a check and sent it in. Our son helped stamp the envelope and had that oh-so-excited joy anticipating when the Legos would arrive. He wanted to order three -- one for his brother, one for his best friend and one for him, of course. And so he did.
About six to eight weeks later, my husband noticed that Kellogg's cashed the $5.97 check and told six-year-old that since they cashed the check, the company was getting close to sending the Legos. Naturally, six-year-old's been patiently excited.
Flash forward to this week when a postcard arrived:
"Delay Notice
Thank you for participating in the Kellogg's Lego Astro Fighter offer. This offer has been extremely popular. Unfortunately, we are temporarily out of stock of the Lego Astro Fighter. We have reordered and you will receive your order after September 30, 2008. If you do not wish to wait for the Lego Astro Fighter, please detach and mail the postage-paid card and we will refund your money. We apologize for the delay and thank you for your patience in this matter."
Husband broke the news to our son that night. The boy listened to the card with his head down. "I couldn't tell if he was about to cry or was smiling, as he didn't say anything. I asked him, 'Are you about to laugh or about to cry?' He lifted his head up and gave me a big smile -- so all is well, for now," husband reports.
Husband continues: "I had been hoping to teach him a lesson like the one I remember doing with my father when I was that age, when we wrote away to get a prize from a cereal company. Instead, I ended up teaching a different kind of lesson -- about the unreliability of marketers who care most about trying to sell you something. Not sure he's old enough to truly appreciate that one, though."
As for Kellogg, company spokeswoman Thuy-An Wilkins would say only that the company is "very pleased with the response" to the promotion. She declined to reveal how many requests the company received for the Legos. "Demand has been overwhelming" and the company is working as quickly as possible to fulfill orders, she said.
Try telling that to six-year-old boys.
By Stacey Garfinkle |
May 2, 2008; 7:02 AM ET
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Posted by: Billie | May 2, 2008 8:15 AM
"Instead, I ended up teaching a different kind of lesson -- about the unreliability of marketers who care most about trying to sell you something. "
No, you taught him that marketers are humans and make mistakes (like ordering too few prizes). The card did not say "screw you, we're taking your money" but rather said "we're sorry for the delay, here's when you can expect it" and your son took it like an adult.
Posted by: Father of 2 | May 2, 2008 8:26 AM
I remember when I was a kid, my brother and I kept receiving advertisements in the mail personally addressed to us about once a month. Form filled, but where did they get our names? Anyway, it was from Columbia Record & Tape club or something like that. For a single penny, I could get a dozen tapes if I promised to buy 24 more at their over-inflated prices.
Cool, so I ordered all the Donny & Marie and Captain & Teneil tapes from the list along with some others I hadn't even heard of. Then I put my penny in the slot, signed at the bottom, put a stamp on the self addressed envelope and sent it away.
Sure enough, a few weeks later came the tapes. The only problem was that I needed a tape player to listen to them. The only one I had access to was a cheapy mono playback & tape recorders. It kept on eating my tapes and I spent hours and hours taking the thing apart to retrieve the crinkled tapes all caught up in the guts of the machine. Some of the tapes broke, so I had to splice them back together with scotch tape. Within a period of 2 weeks, all the tapes became unusable.
But hey, there was this 100% satisfaction guarentee that said if I sent the tapes back in 30 days, I could cancel my membership. Well, I had to admit, I wasn't 100% satisfied. So I put them in the original box that they came in and sent them back.
Not only was my membership canceled, but they stopped sending me and my brother the advertisements.
Posted by: DandyLion | May 2, 2008 9:01 AM
You lesson was completed.
You sent a letter, you got something back. It wasn't what you expected, but come September when it arrives it'll be fun.
Sometimes we have to wait for things, particularly when they're not expensive.
He can remember that in 70 years when he needs a hip replacement and finds himself on the Medicare waiting list.
Posted by: RoseG | May 2, 2008 9:11 AM
Kelloggs should be thanked for teaching these youngsters a valuable lesson - this is what it will be like anytime you buy anything with a mail-in rebate when you get older.
Posted by: Rosslyn | May 2, 2008 10:19 AM
I believe every minute 18 children die of hunger....I know that is not near as tragic as your poor little darling's situation, but oh well...
Perspective. Get some.
Posted by: Meme | May 2, 2008 11:33 AM
I believe every minute 18 children die of hunger....I know that is not near as tragic as your poor little darling's situation, but oh well...
Perspective. Get some.
meme
way to suck all the oxygen out of the room. yes, i know there are way worse things that are happening around the world but that still does not help the situation. that is like telling the letter writers in the hax column today that (s)he should just suck up his/her pain because somewhere somebody else is suffering more. their pain may be insignificant in the grand scheme of things and maybe when they feel better they'll recognize that but right now is not the time to diminish or belittle what somebody else is feeling.
Posted by: quark | May 2, 2008 12:28 PM
I am struggling to comprehend what in the world bothered you about this response. Like any mail-in order, whether from Lands End or General Mills, sometimes things are back-ordered. It's not as though it's the end of the world as we know it. Poor kid has more wisdom than his mom.
Posted by: MN | May 2, 2008 1:13 PM
That's too bad- my response would probably be to send in for a refund, and then go take him to the store to pick out another small toy.
Posted by: Liz D | May 2, 2008 1:17 PM
Meme, shame shame shame on you for trying to exploit those children who are dying. You probably have no idea how mean you are. I'm sure they're happy to know that they're being exploited by internet trolls.
Posted by: DCer | May 2, 2008 2:52 PM
Meme,
18 children died when you wrote that message. And look at that...the same thing happened when I wrote mine! Clearly we're both responsible.
Maybe we should form a club or something.
Posted by: VA | May 2, 2008 4:33 PM
It is a hard lesson, no doubt, and no fun for anybody. But . . . life is full of disappointments, as all of us adults know. Truly, this might be a good 'starter' disappointment for your boy. At the end of the day, it's not too serious a tragedy, and it is good to start learning how to deal with disappointments.
todayisfun.com
Posted by: todayisfun.com | May 3, 2008 2:44 AM
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I can't say that I did this when I was little although I certainly remember the cool toys in the cereal.
I did one of those mail-ins with General Foods. I was expecting the resulting Bed, Bath and Beyond gift card in the fall. I was going to give it to a friend for Christmas. She got it for Valentine's Day. So it is not just the cereal makers.