Maddening Marketing Ploy #1

"Marketing is the devil." - Billy Bob Thornton

Marketing mavens (and I used to be one) have been very clever over the years in finding a variety of imaginative ways to lure us unsuspecting fools into purchasing things we neither need nor really want. Everything from medicine to Presidential candidates is now served up in packages designed to make our mouths water. Usually this does not bother me much unless there are lies or gross distortions (as with Presidential candidates. hahah). Sometimes though, bearing in mind that there really is no such thing as a free lunch, I wish they'd forget the gimmicks and just give me the product at the best price they can afford to, period. A good example of such a case would be frequent flier miles on airliines. What an absurd waste of time and effort.

Another dubious move that started years ago has reached ludicrous proportions. That is, publishing a "price" and then, usually in small print, indicating that there are "surcharges" to be added to set the final price. At first, such things were generally annoying, but minor; perhaps an additional 5 or 8 percent. Now they have reached truly bizarre levels of absurdity and insult.

I just went online to check fares from Cebu to Jakarta with Cebu Pacific Airlines. On the date I chose, the fare appeared as approximately 2,700 Pesos. However, the fuel and tax "surcharge" amounted to 5,600 pesos. More than 200% more than the "fare"! A "surcharge" is supposed to mean an additional charge added to the normal price of the product or service being sold. For example, buying tires in Ontario incurs a special $5 tax levied only on that product and no other. That is a surcharge.

However, call me crazy, but it seems to me that the price published by Cebu Pacific (and others) is NOT the price for the service offered. That is, unless the service being sold is that of providing you with an uncomfortable seat to sit in while stationary for a few hours along with some crappy food and maybe a movie. Unless they know of some way to fly their planes to Jakarta without fuel, that fuel is an integral part of the service being sold, is it not? How can the cost of that fuel be deemed a "sur" anything? They might just as well publish their price then add a "landing gear" surcharge or a "wings" surcharge.

If this seems persnickety, just imagine walking into your supermarket, picking up a liter of milk marked "$1.00", taking it the checkout where you are told "That will be $1.00 plus a delivery and stocking surcharge of another $1.25." Tell me you wouldn't smash the clerk's face in with the carton of milk!

Marketers. Lawyers. Politicians.
Let's flip a coin to see who goes into the drink first, shall we?