Bottom Of The Barrel

Coke rewards [those who drink up]

I love Coke, Diet Coke with Lime to be exact. For several summers the big two [Coca-Cola and PepsiCo] have run these collect-points-from-our-products-and-buy-cool-stuff-online promotions. I have never been able to collect enough points to actually buy stuff from their respective websites and I saw a television advertisement the other day [the ad actually featured a $2,500 flat screen TV] which that got me thinking about a cost/benefit analysis of this years Coke promotion. Here's how it works:

20 OZ 1 Liter, 1.5 Liter, 2 Liter, OR 3 Liter bottles have a code under the cap worth 3 Points and 12 pack of cans have a code on the inside of the box worth 10 points. The cost of the 2 Liter bottle [the others are a bit more expensive] and the 12 pack of cans run about $1 and $2.50, respectively. So the best bang for the buck is a "fridge pack" which calculates out to 25 cents per point. Now let's take a look at some of the items for sale on mycokerewards.com:

One FREE Movie Rental at BLOCKBUSTER®: 36 points
12-Month Subscription to Redbook Magazine: 64 points
Coca-Cola® #45 Kyle Petty Collectible Racing Cap: 120 points
adidas Santiago IV Team Bag M: 280 points
Coca-Cola and American Idol branded Bean Bag chair: 520 points
Karaoke Machine: 1040 pointsWiley X sunglasses: 3200 points
Coca-Cola Red Couch from the set of American Idol: 56000 points

Some of these point values seem to be ok, but would you rent a movie for $9? Or a gym bag for $70? Or sunglasses for $800? As for the TV I mentioned earlier, that would only cost you $5,000 [which is twice the cost of just going out and buying it].

I think these promotions are fine but not worth the amount of money it takes to "buy" something. I would rather see them make products which you an not normally purchase [Coke logo products or American Idol stuff] but at a much more reasonable price.

With my current tally of 31 points, I can purchase a 20 ounce bottle of Coca-Cola Zero™ [11 points] or Kodak Stickers [20 points]. I'm holding out for the American Idol couch - only $14,000. Seems reasonable for a one-of-a-kind piece of furniture art work for the home. Now where am I going to store 5,600 12 packs of Diet Coke in my house???

posted by TheWino @ 9:39 AM