Calm down. Despite the huge headline and the classic wide-eyed, open-mouthed Surprise face (the inspiration for the Pow! logo), there's nothing to get excited about.
The worst cliché in retail marketing unfortunately (and one that sadly sullies the subject matter of this here blog) is the Surprise Sale.
Put frankly, perhaps the only thing Surprising about them is that after years of all promise and no delivery, people actually believe that there is some sort of shock waiting for them inside the pages of flyers like the ones above and below.
Inside, for those foolish enough (or in the name of blog research) to actually take a look, is more of the same ol' song and dance. Don't pay until whenever; a certain percent off; a boring gift; run of the mill merchandise in familiar settings. Too much copy, not nearly enough reason to read it.
Bad enough on its own, but worse still when packaged with a promise of Surprise. Worse even still when one thinks of how easy it would be to put something together that would actually shock/delight a consumer.
Instead we get this double-whammy: Boring AND Misleading.
Ho-effin'-hum!
No wonder retail is in the doldrums.
