Glazed Cruller from Dunkin Donuts (or The Dime Saving Donut)
Item Purchased: Glazed Cruller (or The Dime Saving Donut)
Location Purchased: Dunkin Donuts / 2477 S. Archer Ave. / Chicago, IL
Price: $2.73 w/tax (with a medium coffee)
Purchased On: 10/28/07
Review: I overslept a bit, so a coffee and a donut was the best I could do this morning. Don’t tell my personal trainer, okay?
Now, I could regale you with flowery language proclaiming my love of these sugary brown logs, but that would probably devolve into some cheap joke about digestive functions and how the end result looks a lot like the initial product. I like how the crystalline sugary outside crumbles away to reveal a moist and thick cake center. Let’s leave it at that.
I’d really like to talk about my consumer experience.
All I wanted was a coffee and a donut to wake up with, but when I ordered, I was asked if I wanted two donuts. I didn’t. That didn’t matter. The cashier went into a spiel, explaining to me that my current order of one donut and one coffee would cost me $2.83 while two donuts and one coffee would cost me $2.73. I turned down the offer again. Not good enough. The girl behind the counter wouldn’t have it. It was as if she had some kind of free donut quota to meet. The logic of the morning donut special made as much sense as any stroke of marketing could to me, but I didn’t understand the insistence of the cashier. It was as if she never met someone who didn’t want to get an extra donut and save a dime at the same time.
I don’t understand the catering toward both consumer’s expanding waistline and savings. I made it clear that I wasn’t going to eat the second donut, yet the donut lady still insisted I take it and save a dime. She acted as if it was some great opportunity for me. I’m not one to discount the preservation of a dime. I will use that dime to make a dollar, trust me. I just wonder how this “deal” is a small, yet extreme, representation of our larger wasteful tendencies. We’re so eager to take extra things we don’t need all in the name of consumer gluttony. Even if it cost an extra dime for an extra donut, I’d be willing to bet my ten cent savings that most people would gobble up the extra dough. Eventually, two donuts becomes a standard in our morning ritual and we order them whether we save a dime or not.
Eventually our output looks more and more like our input… and vice versa.
Rating: 2 / 5
October 29th, 2007 at 3:45 am
Under most circumstances, I’d just wave off the “discount offer” and move on.
This sounds like one of those special occasions where I’d start asking snarky questions regarding their usual markup. I’ve got no problem with companies turning a profit, but when it gets to “If you buy more of our stuff, it’s cheaper (on gross) than buying less of our stuff”, I figure the gloves are off.
If this is the sort of place you regularly visit, one response would be “Oh. sure, I’ll take the second doughnut now. But I’m going to wrap it up and save it for tomorrow, so all you’ll get out of me tomorrow is a coffee order. Yeah, might as not be good tomorrow, but you’re the one insisting that I buy the second doughnut today.”
If this isn’t the sort of place you frequent, get the second doughnut, save the dime, hand it to the first person in line behind you willing to take it, and announce “Woo! Generosity discounts! Save money by taking their deal, and give the extra one away!”
The coffeehouse I go to knows me well enough that they’ve got my drink of choice ready for me, often before I get through the door. They don’t give me crap about specials, they don’t try to pawn the drink of the day off on me, and in return, I never give them crap and I always tip. It’s worked out well.
I know that there is some success behind the concept of up-selling. “Would you like fries with that?” has made some serious revenue. But as a consumer, I appreciate it more when the person behind the counter says “So how’s your day going?” instead. Enough that I’ll stick with that sort of establishment when it comes to opening my wallet.
November 5th, 2007 at 7:29 pm
You should have bought the two donuts, kept one for yourself, and dropped the other one in their “tip jar”