Sunday, January 11, 2009

Would You Like A Free Sample Of Our Ridiculous Marketing Infusion?

Recently, while sitting in a local coffee shop and sipping what used to be called "coffee" but is now apparently called "light roast" or "dark roast" or "Honduran/Bolivian-blended roast with a twist of latte," or whatever, an employee of that establishment offered me and the other attendees a free sample of what she termed "Cider-Chai Infusion."

It went like this...

Coffee Store Employee: "Would you like to try a sample of our Cider-Chai Infusion?"

Hasslington: "I'm sorry. I must have heard you incorrectly. What did you say?"

Coffee Store Employee: "Would you like to try a sample of our Cider-Chai Infusion?"

Hasslington: "Oh, I guess I did hear correctly."

And there they were on a platter she held in her hands--small cups of a strangely unscented, steaming brownish liquid.

Now, it seems to me that when it comes to this sort of scenario, there are five types of people in this world:

A.) Those who, upon seeing "Cider-Chai Infusion" written on the display behind the counter where one orders food and drink, would purchase it. These folks would also try the Cider-Chai sample offered by the employee.

B.) Those who, upon seeing "Cider-Chai Infusion" written on the display behind the counter where one orders food and drink, would purchase it, but who are quite skeptical of "free samples" and would therefore not try the Cider-Chai sample offered by the employee. (This group has admittedly few members.)

C.) Those who, upon seeing "Cider-Chai Infusion" written on the display behind the counter where one orders food and drink, would not purchase it. These folks would also not try the Cider-Chai sample offered by the employee.

D.) Those who, upon seeing "Cider-Chai Infusion" written on the display behind the counter where one orders food and drink, would not purchase it, but who would say "Why not?" and amusedly try the sample offered by the employee.

E.) Those who would never attend a coffee shop.

I am a member of Group "D." The sample, by the way, tasted about how you might imagine it would taste....

2 comments:

DiscordianStooge said...

I like cider (and by cider I assume they meant hot apple juice and not alcoholic cider). I also like chai. I cannot imagine enjoying a mixture of the two.

Hasslington said...

DS--

I find that I can only respond to your last sentence by repeating that "...the sample...tasted about how you might imagine it would taste."

I suppose I'll also add that my initial instinct to never order such a drink at the counter has not changed in the wake of tasting the sample.