There's no such thing as a free lunch.
Tell that to "The King," who was on campus Feb. 15 giving away coupons for free food at Burger King in the MU.
On campus, companies and organizations have been known to give away samples, coupons and other promotions to advertise their product. Sometimes, it is a free lunch.
What drives their generosity is not pure kindness. Vince Blasko, an associate professor in the W.P. Carey Department of Marketing, says many of these companies are getting customers at an early age to build their market.
"If they can get you to try something at this age and you like it, then there's a fairly good chance that you'll be a customer for life," Blasko says.
Promotions such as giving away free food do cost money, but Blasko says many times the amount they lose is moot when they are in a position to win customers. He says there's a sense of building goodwill in giving back to customers.
"If Burger King can get you to keep coming back based on that one free Whopper they gave you, that's outstanding." Blasko says.
Blasko says one of the big challenges companies face when advertising on college campuses is the diversity of the student body. He says companies are responding to this problem by becoming more creative to reach different groups. Buzz is important for any college campus in order to grab students' attention, he says, like handing out coupons for Burger King.
"You have the King giving it out to you, so there's more of an immediacy," Blasko says. "It's also kind of fun."
Sometimes, companies will offer promotions for free food in exchange for a service or signing up for a product. 3-D animation junior Tony Schubert says he partook in a promotion Papa Johns did last year by signing up for a credit card in exchange for free pizza. He says he put down fake information because he had no intentions of having a credit card in his name — he just wanted some free pizza.
"They check your license, but I told them my address was wrong because I moved," Schubert says. "So I got a free pizza."
Students who do put down their real information can often receive an unwanted credit card and charges they never thought about before signing up. Blasko says the best way for students to prevent these sorts of situations is to understand the promotion and feel comfortable before agreeing.
"It's a free meal, but some of these students are going to take this credit card and abuse it," Blasko says.
One of the organizations on campus that has utilized giving away free merchandise is the Student Media Department. Journalism senior Charles Choueiri, promotions director for Student Media, says that he's found the best way to promote on campus is to couple their products with free goodies.
"We've given away movie passes, merchandise, pizza, video games and event tickets," Choueiri says. "Students love free stuff."
Another way to get creative in giving away free promotions is to not just give items away, but to have students win them. Choueiri says the promotions department also uses games, so students feel they can earn their prize.
"When you get something for free, anyone can get it," Choueiri says. "But when you earn it, it's just you."
Companies giving away free items to promote themselves are capitalizing on students' desires for a good deal, Blasko says. "If you can give them something for free, that's a very good value for young people," he says. "College students are looking for a bargain, so I think it's a natural."
Choueiri says his department will continue to give away free goods because it has proved successful in the past.
"It's amazing how easy it is sometimes to promote your product to students by using free stuff," Choueiri says. "We're definitely going to use that to our advantage as much as possible."
