Freebies ka zamaana

There is a custom of gifting freebies and if you aren't aware its an act of persuasive selling, maybe the old school book kinda trick to sell a product. During earlier days, I remember of Summer Special sales or Winter Special sales otherwise dubbed as off-season offers coming once in a way and I still remember the excitement on my mother's face (who have been desperately waiting to clinch on a deal).
And, its no different now and I do see special offers these days as well , in fact more often and not restricted to any particular season. In fact when there is lot of floating money, the manufacturers find no reason to not wait for the season.

When I visit my grocer, often times, I see a guy or a couple of salesmen standing under a small umbrella offering sample freebies, of say, a sachet of a cappuccino or a small shampoo gel pack, or even a detergent powder or a sink cleaner tablets pack. There are times when I see sales people of some companies coming up survey questionnaires as to which toothpaste I've mostly been using like that. And then there are some other offers where these guys call me saying madam buy one and get another one for no extra cost. Countless times I'd have tasteless noodles countless times and ended up throwing them into drain.

And, these days I often see buy-two-get-one and even buy-one-get-two offers as well. I know and believe strongly that I dont get anything for free in this world, but unfortunately still, will become cynical when I see a new offer thrown up and bore hole through my wallet. Sadly, they are many fools just like me who believe in the romance of consumerism and assume strongly that the manufacturer is doing a fairplay and are quite generous to offer disocunts/sales/freebies, whatever.

So said, let me share the element of romance that I enjoyed particularly on the occasion we bought our washing machine. It was Godrej Washing Machine that we bought an year back and ask me what else we got? Branded 3-piece non-stick cookware free along with a steam iron box and a washing machine full body cover for the price of just the machine. I thought it was certainly a heart-warming offer, and my logic is that I would have anyway purchased the same brand/model washing machine, and with the offer it became such a lovely choice.

There were instances when it became hard to resist the free offer that I'd invested buying 3 squash bottles to get at the most a tumbler for free or bought 5 soap cakes for a free plastic soap case. Freebies and free offers are hard to resist for anyone, so whether you think you are rational or irrational you ultimately would have wasted so much money for silly free stuff!