At least this is the impact on the part of the universe where Walgreen's Pharmacy and I intersect. I went in there yesterday to buy some over the counter allergy junk, and there's a huge yellow sign that says "Sale, $12.00" in two inch letters.
When I went to check out, they rang up at $16. I objected, they called for a price check and the guy actually laughed at me for believing their sign.
It's amazing what can be said without words. With his cute little chuckle, he made the following speech:
"Walgreen's has no integrity when it comes to advertising in our stores, and everyone on earth (except you) knows it. 'Sale $12.00' doesn't mean that the price is $12. What do you think we are, stupid?
"What the "Sale $12.00" sign means is that we think all of our customers are stupid, and won't notice when they go to check out that the item actually rang up $4 higher. We make a ton of money with our lack of integrity, because money is more important than integrity, and we have no respect at all for our customers."Hmmm. I think I won't be shopping at Walgreen's again, even if they rebuild what they burned to the ground last night.