Why do people LOOOOVE freebies? I attended a convention recently and the first x number of attendees got a free give-away. The Freebie was just a cheap, plastic tote bag filled with brochures and fliers from businesses. The total value of the Freebie was next to nothing. Especially since you could browse the convention and pick up brochures and talk to representatives from all of the businesses that had print material included in the tote. There has got to be a term for this social phenomenon. Is it even a phenomenon? Whatever it is, I don't want to say that I find it sad or pathetic - No, I just find it interesting. To get anything for free makes people feel like they've gotten one over on..... who? what? I don't know, but that is the feeling - pride, smugness, superiority. Is it a deep rooted natural instinct to take advantage of any opportunity to gain no matter what it is that is being gained?
Don't even get me started on the environmental impact of these.... The useless bag made of plastic, the sheets upon sheets of wasted paper... Ugh.
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Why do people LOOOOVE freebies?
ReplyDeleteGluttony?
Wow - this is a great question. Because truly, not many people are grateful for the freebie but like you said, it's all about feelings of smugness and superiority. Gonna have to think on this one - I like that!
ReplyDeleteBeen thinking about this one and really all I can think of is that we feel like we're pulling one over on someone - that we are somehow almost doing something we shouldn't be! It's very interesting to me, because it brings out a side of us that's less than pleasant. Enlightening post!
ReplyDeleteI get the feeling, sometimes, that it is a sort of "I have something you don't have - AND I didn't even pay for it!" attitude as well. It is less than pleasant - but makes you really think about the root of why people are like this. It is not that they are "bad people".
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