Your boss sends you on an all expense paid trip to the Bahamas. A guy buys you a drink at the bar. You receive a free sample of Pirate's Booty walking through Whole Foods. All these things are free...but are they really? Or are they in exchange for something in disguise?
We can easily place a $1,200 price tag on a trip to the Bahamas, while it's much harder to place a price tag on spending several late nights at work. Same thing with accepting a $15 martini at the bar from Mr. Wrong when Mr. Right was just around the corner. Oh and that free sample at Whole Foods? Think again. The cost of giving out that sample was definitely figured into the price of the product, which you are now more likely to purchase since you've been persuaded by the free sample!
Damn those marketers and their scheming marketing tactics! So is FREE ever really FREE? Most likely not...but good thing you know better now and will think twice next time it comes to FREE!
