This is one of those posts I lovingly refer to as random blah blah. I usually choose to leave most opinion out of the blog. I've always kind of taken the “stick with the deals” approach. Who cares what I think. But, an email from a reader and recent behavior of other coupon websites has made me take a second look at this blog and my own coupon ethics.
The coupon in question is the $5 printable coupon that’s been running a secret campaign on Coupons.com. It made me laugh, cry and even get angry, when I watched as several large websites (most located along the east coast) published the coupon telling people to use zip code 84711 to access the HIGH value Kellogg’s coupon.
Annabella, Utah is located in Sevier County, and from what I could find out has a population of somewhere around 1,000 people. Based on this town population, there were probably less than 100 coupons available for printing. That’s just a guess.
Coupons have a limited number of prints based on the manufacturers budget, promotion, projected use etc. It is routine for websites to publish other zip codes that have secret HIGH value coupons. I myself just recently addressed this question. However, what I watched happen with the Kellogg's coupon has made me take a second look at this issue. Each blog that published the coupon was then followed by a massive amount of comments, most were comments along the lines of people not being able to find said coupon. Then others chiming in with “try zip code 84…this or 84…that” and literally the whole state of Utah was stripped of it's precious $5 Kellogg's coupon within minutes.
Then it reappeared the next day under zip code 84123, my known favorite. Murray!! A much larger population and more centralized for the state. I couldn't wait to share it with you and at least this time it was available long enough for me to post it. Sadly, it was gone in a VERY short period of time.
All of this prompted me once again to send an email to the distributor and ask for guidance. I received no response. So, I called and left a message as of yet I still have not received response. My guess is that this problem is being addressed already and that some time soon your computers location will determine what coupons you have access too. Until then each blogger is left to make their own choices. I've seen some that publish the coupon without a zip code instruction, then leave an anonymous comment of their own with instructions on what zip code to use. Pathetic! Plus, that alone tells you they feel publishing the coupon is not on the up & up.
It's important to me to take the high road in regards to coupons. There is so much fraud with coupons, the last thing I want is to be part of it. I've always felt comfortable referring readers to ANY Utah zip code. After all, this website is Coupons4UTAH. And, I've never really had issue with zip code 90210. For some reason that appears to be coupon central when it comes to Coupons.com. Plus, as I've mentioned before over 1/10 of our regular readers reside in California. But now, I'm wondering if even that isn't crossing the line.
Manufacturers release various promotions within certain demographics. We have no idea what their contracts are with retailers and what the budget is for these programs. And frankly, most of us don't care. We just want cheap cereal. In the past, every time I've published a coupon with a zip code other than Utah or California's 90210, I've had one of those moments of doubt, when you say to yourself, “this doesn't feel right”. I've brushed my doubt aside, justifying it by saying to myself that there are so many ways they could prevent this, (ie: change the fine print to say only valid in certain states, require me not to publish varying zip codes, etc), who am I to decide.
But now I'm revisiting that attitude and wondering if going back to Utah zip codes only and maybe a few cameo appearances for California wouldn't be more appropriate and the right thing to do. The last thing I want to do is to be part of the problem. Thanks for letting me blah blah… Please, feel free to chime in. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
And, special thanks to reader Lois. Your email was quite enlightening.