Hot Dogs and Marketing

I am a programmer. I write lots of code. Most often my code is related to marketing and I find myself thinking about marketing an awful lot.

Today I was shopping at BJ’s and at the food counter, they were selling hot dogs. I was hungry so I checked the price; $1.49 for a Hot Dog and a Fountain Soda. I asked the attendant, “How much for just the hot dog?” and the answer was $1.49.

I’m sure I would have purchased a hot dog for $1.49, however I found paying for a drink I didn’t want distasteful so I skipped the purchase. I recognize this is ridiculous, as I was hungry and ultimately spent more money on something to eat at my next stop; however, I’m guessing I’m not the only sale lost because of their marketing. Interestingly, I believe if the offer had been “Get a free fountain drink with the purchase of a hot dog”, BJ’s would now be in possession of my $1.49.

Would you have bought the hot dog?

photo credit: stevendepolo via photopin cc

Sal Ferrarello (@salcode)

Sal is a PHP developer with a focus on the WordPress platform. He is a conference speaker with a background including Piano Player, Radio DJ, Magician/Juggler, Beach Photographer, and High School Math Teacher. Sal can be found professionally at WebDevStudios, where he works as a senior backend engineer.