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Popped into a Shell garage this morning – big sign tells me that I get 2 p off a litre if I buy a fourpack of Red Bull. I fancy giving a fourpack to my colleague and chum Peter Shellswell (real name) who survives on Morrisons own label energy drinks.
Bish basp splosh – 50 litres in the motor and into the shop I go.
Strike me down;- a fourpack is £6.80… that’s £1.70 a tin.
With the £1.00 discount I’ve earned from £70 petrol spend, I can reduce the fourpack cost to £5.80 – only £2 more than the supermarket down the road.
The woman at the counter spots me doing my sums
“Do they think we’re stupid?”
she asks me. Clearly she’s as bemused as I am by the maths . The bond ‘s there…its “us” -(staff and customer) against “them” -(corporate behemoth).
The guy who was filling up at the pump adjacent to me walks up to the counter with a fourpack of Red Bull . He’s bought 10 litres of petrol , is driving a clapped out Datsun and he pays £6.60 for the fourpack.
“Petrol’s dear but at least the Red Bull’s cheap”
– he quips.
The lady at the counter and my eyes meet.
“We’ve sold a lot of Red Bull this week”
she quips
This kind of promotion might net the garages a few quid but it doesn’t say much for Shell as a corporate brand. The next time Shell’s name comes up in some corporate governance debate, I’ll reflect on the guy in the Datsun and the hole in his pocket.
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- Petrol and diesel prices vary by up to 16p in some Welsh towns – WalesOnline (walesonline.co.uk)
