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January 25, 2008

Lightbulb freebie was a bit dim

By Axegrinder axeblog

The national press freebie war reached new heights this weekend when The Sun gave away two low-energy lightbulbs said to be worth £4 with every copy on Saturday – at participating retailers – and the Daily Express gave away multi-vitamins said to be worth £10.
Elsewhere, there was a deluge of free DVDs, CDs and the obligatory Guardian/Observer wallchart.

But the Daily Mail appeared to have everyone trumped with what it claimed was an offer to give every reader two free low-energy lightbulbs and a free packet of vitamins.

The question is, will disappointed readers buy the paper again after realising that both offers were not quite free at all, but involved sending off stamped-addressed envelopes with a postage and packaging charge.

As well as a cheque for £1.52 to cover p&p for the lightbulbs, readers had to agree for British Gas to use their details “as part of their energy efficiency programme”.

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