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Responsible Marketing

Marketers get attention with Election Day freebies

By November 3, 2008March 17th, 20214 Comments

Regardless of how you plan to vote, chances are you are talking about the election. With estimates of turnout exceeding 130 million people, Election Day promotions make sense.

Starbucks is giving away free coffee:

View this video on YouTube

Krispy Kreme is giving away free donuts:

Free donuts at Krispy Kreme on election day

And Ben and Jerry’s is giving away free ice cream:

Free Ben & Jerry's ice cream on election day

It’s a win-win:

The voters win, because they are exercising their rights and getting free stuff.

The marketers win because they are gaining the benefit of unprecedented election buzz while aligning themselves with an activity that’s both responsible and patriotic.

So, what other Election Day promotions have you seen?

Comment below to share.

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Join the discussion 4 Comments

  • It’s a great move by marketers. It also is just good to see companies getting involved in things like the election and trying to encourage people to get out and vote.

    Hope to see more stuff like this in the future.

  • JC says:

    I’ve heard that Chick Fil A’ is also giving out free chicken fingers for those who voted!
    You could have breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert for free!

  • Sarah Fowler says:

    It’s against federal law to promise anything to anyone for voting, even if you don’t tell them who to vote for. All these companies were forced to give the things away regardless of whether the customers actually voted.

    I’m not sure how I feel about that from a marketing perspective– whether it’s still good publicity (patriotic, etc.) or not worth the bad legal scramble to get back in compliance.

  • Jenni H says:

    Local Atlanta restaurants had election day specials and one friend had an election day discount on her online gift store. It was clever. I blogged about election day freebies and it was my second most visited page of all time!

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