Monday, March 20, 2006

Now, that's good marketing!

Today was the first day of spring. Which might mean flowers to some of you, but to those who live in the Rita's-enabled Northeastern United States, you know that it really means FREE ITALIAN WATER ICE!!



As I may have mentioned before, I love Rita's. "Water ice" is a strange name for this tasty treat, which is really nothing like water or ice. For those who are not from around here, it is a really, really smoothly blended fruit slush, made with all-natural ingredients and wonderfulness. On the first day of spring, Rita's hands out a free small ice to anyone who wants one. We waited in line for about 30 minutes in the cold, but we got our yummy water ices and they were so good. Mine was mango. Yes, I know, I always get mango, but it's always good!

Rita's has been doing this for 13 years. They don't make a lot of other sales on the first day of spring, because most people are content with just a small ice. So what do they gain by giving away thousands of dollars worth of tastiness? I believe they gain a lot. First of all, we all go away with the sense of Rita's being a wonderful company: kind and sharing and generous. That impression will stay in our psyche, and we will choose to patronize their business because of it. Second of all, now we want more water ice. Without the freebie in March, most of us (the normal ones who don't start drooling for water ice the day it opens like me, anyhow) wouldn't start thinking about water ice until the heat of summer really set in. Now, they've got the taste on our lips, and we'll be craving it for several extra months. Especially if we find ourselves thinking about the other flavors that we didn't get on free ice day that we just have to taste.

Speaking of corporations with good reputations, I officially have a job at Starbucks. I'm really happy about this, because Starbucks has a great reputation as an employer. I am also very happy because we need the income, and in three months I should qualify for benefits, which I also need, and I will get a free pound of coffee every week, which I don't really need, but will enjoy.

Other things of note that I would like to mention on my blog today:

Jeremy has a job interview on Thursday. If you're the praying type, would you mind saying a prayer for him?

One of my best friends just got engaged! I'm so happy for you, hon!

4 comments:

Novac said...

Oh, snap. I totally knew about the free Rita's day, but since there's not one around here, I promptly forgot about it. I never realized that Rita's was the brand you had raved about previously.

Anonymous said...

Good for you for getting that Starbucks job! More details! When do you start, how often will you work?...

We'll definitely be keeping Jer in prayer for his interview.

Anonymous said...

starbucks!,yum.
Congrats!

~Spoiler

Anonymous said...

LOL, I'm sitting here going, I wonder who got engaged!