Monday evening I got a flyer urging me to give up my lunch hour to save the seals.
And this morning, a lone woman was passing out copies of the Boston Globe at the southeast corner of Boylston and Dartmouth. The Globes came wrapped in a Starbucks Coffee insulating sleeve, since we all know how hot the news is today. The sleeve advertises the fact that Starbucks is giving away free coffee today from 10 AM to 12noon. All one has to do, I am told, is drop by.
In other words, my swag for this morning is a newspaper I already get and the promise of a free cup of coffee.
Pathetic. If Starbucks really wanted to brighten up my cold morning, they wouldn't send a lonely woman out to the corner to pass out newspapers and the promise of free coffee. They would send out a cart at every corner, and give away free cups of coffee directly. Hordes of grateful commuters would grab their coffee, warm their hands, drink down the smooth tasting beverage, and sigh with contentment.
Well, except for me. I don't drink coffee.
So this is my appeal to corporate America. Don't kill the Swag Report just as it's getting started! Get your people out to Copley Square every morning and give me something good to review!