First rule of Fight Club: Don't talk about Fight Club

[-Jared-]

They'll be like "this uses one banana, that only costs 20 cents!" but they don't mention that you can't just buy one banana from a bunch, and buying them alone at like a convenience store would run you way more than that.

Where do you shop that doesn't let you buy a single banana? 0_o Whenever I took my grandmother shopping, she ALWAYS would buy a single banana, or take half the grapes out of the bag, or something similar, since the cashiers sold produce by weight.

As for the topic of cooking, I am not a very good cook haha. I usually just kinda experiment with basic stuff. I have made my ramen more appealing to me though; basically I make it as normal, but I add a bit of Worcestershire to the water for flavor, and when it is done cooking I add a bit of butter and Parmesan cheese and it tastes really good haha.

 

[Oryx]

I shop at...normal chain grocery stores. They sell bananas and grapes by the bunch/bag, you can't split them up. There's some other produce like that too - asparagus tied together, bags of snap beans, bags of lettuce, all those things you have to buy all or nothing. And some are half and half depending on where you go like apples; some stores sell apples in bags so you have to buy the entire bag, and some sell them loose so you get your own bag and choose how many you want.

 

[-Jared-]

I shop at...normal chain grocery stores. They sell bananas and grapes by the bunch/bag, you can't split them up. There's some other produce like that too - asparagus tied together, bags of snap beans, bags of lettuce, all those things you have to buy all or nothing. And some are half and half depending on where you go like apples; some stores sell apples in bags so you have to buy the entire bag, and some sell them loose so you get your own bag and choose how many you want.

Huh. Our grocery store is also a normal chain grocer store, and they let us do that. They even will cut a head of lettuce in half for you if you ask them too. 0_o I guess we are spoiled here haha xD.

 

[donavannj]

You're just not looking at the right grocery stores, then! I can buy almost all of those things individually at my grocers here! Except asparagus. That stuff is always banded together. Or maybe it's not common there because that type of service is no longer expected of the grocer in your area? I know full well it's very much expected around here.

And most of the stores here sell apples both individually and in bags... it really depends on the supplier they use for them.

Of course, a lot of that stuff is grown pretty close to here.

 

[Oryx]

I've been to every grocery store around here, that's how they all are. It's not a "me being dumb and not LOOKING GOOD ENOUGH" thing , it's just how things are here.

 

[droomph]

Goodness sakes we're having a potluck. :( And there's only little kids coming :cccccc

 

[donavannj]

I've been to every grocery store around here, that's how they all are. It's not a "me being dumb and not LOOKING GOOD ENOUGH" thing , it's just how things are here.

I suppose being in Dole's home turf would lead to a prevalence of pre-packaged produce and store policies against breaking one banana off a bunch of them if you just want to buy one.

 

[droomph]

Honestly, you can just break one bananer' off of the bunch, though it's more of a politeness thing than anything. More often than not, the result looks messy, which drives customers away (subconsciously).

just my guess

 

[Oryx]

There's this really nice produce place that's local to my area where everything is loose but for some reason they still make you buy in whatever arbitrary number they give you. Like if you just want one apple but they're selling 5 for 2 bucks, you better want 5 apples or else. XD;

 

[Elite Overlord LeSabre™]

I don't buy produce, but I know my local supermarket makes you buy 3 or 4 of an item in order to take advantage of a discount. Which sucks.

Actually, we don't have a good selection of supermarkets in our area... we have the filthy discount one, the "meh" one, and the "living hell called Wal-Mart Supercenter" one. And that's another reason I hate being away from college... there was an excellent regional supermarket chain by my school called Harris Teeter that I felt was an excellent place to shop.

 

[Algo Fonix]

We've got one grocery store that isn't a chain one... I actually there are only two or three of them. It used to be really good til the owner got in debt elsewhere and now most of the produce looks bad and the meat is the same. Plus the jacked up the prices.

Surprisingly the one here that only sells generic brand stuff has super good produce. It's where I go if I need something quickly.

I need more coffee. :(

 

[Impo]

-insert apple pie here-

Restrictions on what you can buy really sucks. Especially if you can't use all of what you get. You're essentially wasting money.

I think that's the mindset is for specials. If people buy one of something, and see they can get the second for half price, a good majority of people will get it. You just have to remember that if a special isn't something you need, it isn't a special. It's still an added expense.

And in some places I noticed they place newspapers and magazines face down because if you physically flip it over you're more inclined to buy it.

God these marketing tactics are really intimidating

 

[Shining Raichu]

I'm more than happy for marketing techniques to work on me. If people go to all the time and effort to make that happen and trick me into buying something, then they deserve my money lol

 

[Esper]

Andy, your comment reminds me of something P. T. Barnum once said. Something about suckers.

 

[Oryx]

People tend to think of marketers as strategic masterminds. Keep in mind that those people that went into advertising because they couldn't decide what major to pick while they partied through school are the same people that are choosing how to advertise to you. They're not that sneaky.

I do let one advertising campaign consciously sway me though; I always buy Coke products when I have the choice (unless Pepsi Max is a choice because Coke doesn't have an equivalent for that), because 3 times now they have given me free stuff for no reason at all other than they wanted my loyalty.

 

[Kanto_Johto]

People tend to think of marketers as strategic masterminds. Keep in mind that those people that went into advertising because they couldn't decide what major to pick while they partied through school are the same people that are choosing how to advertise to you. They're not that sneaky.

I do let one advertising campaign consciously sway me though; I always buy Coke products when I have the choice (unless Pepsi Max is a choice because Coke doesn't have an equivalent for that), because 3 times now they have given me free stuff for no reason at all other than they wanted my loyalty.

Coca Cola is the worlds greatest drink though. I buy Coke products regardless of whether or not they give me free stuff (which they haven't). What free stuff did you get?

 

[Mr Cat Dog]

I want free stuff when I buy Coke... While I wouldn't go as far to say 'world's greatest drink', I do prefer it mightily over Pepsi, which is too sweet for my liking.

 

[Witch]

I personally think pepsi tastes better but on the other hand coke advertises more so it persuades the potential buyer to buy coke instead. Except the pepsi throwback soda that was what reeled in more old school soda drinkers.

 

[Oryx]

Coca Cola is the worlds greatest drink though. I buy Coke products regardless of whether or not they give me free stuff (which they haven't). What free stuff did you get?

The past two school years they set up this fake vending machine at my school, where every button says the same thing and it has a massive box behind it. You press any of the buttons and a hand comes out to give you something free...it was usually just a free bottle of some kind of coke product, but they also gave out cameras, massive sandwiches, pizzas, etc.

And then the third time we just got a knock on our door over the holidays and a woman gave us a bag full of cans of Coke and said "Happy holidays from Coca-Cola!" and drove off in her Coke-branded truck, haha.

 

[Cherrim]

I don't drink Pepsi because it's too sweet but as a rule I really dislike Pepsi's advertising stance. All their commercials involve a direct reference to Coke so it always feels like the only way they know how to get sales is to put Coke down where everyone can see it. (I think their most recent commercial is yet another one where a Coke truck driver knocks back a Pepsi with a Pepsi truck driver because his truck breaks down.) I hate companies that stoop to that level whether it's effective or not. It always just makes me think their marketing teams are so uninventive that the only way to get noticed is to piggyback on another brand.

I do enjoy Coke's free stuff though. I have no interesting stories like Toujours but I get a lot of iCoke rewards over the course of a year so I get plenty of free stuff just for drinking what I'd normally drink. :3