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October 25, 2005 12:03 AM

Broken: "Buy 2 Get 2"

Buy2get2 Forrest Charnock points out a "Buy 2 Get 2 Sales Event":

The people in the store don't see a problem. I guess it's better than buy 2 get 1.

Comments:

i dont really see how this is broken, it would seem like a perfectly reasonable thing to have a "buy 2 get 2 free" deal

Posted by: john russell at October 25, 2005 01:33 AM

This doesn't seem broken, just different than the "normal".

Posted by: LANSHARK at October 25, 2005 05:16 AM

This doesn't seem broken, just different than the "normal".

Posted by: LANSHARK at October 25, 2005 05:17 AM

(for once) I agree with the other commenters; What's broken here ? Is it simply that the word "free" is missing from the advert ?

Posted by: PhastPhrog at October 25, 2005 05:32 AM

Not broken. I bought phones for our office with a buy 2 get 2 plan. Got an extra one in case one of the other 3 bites the dust.

Posted by: lady Jane at October 25, 2005 06:04 AM

Charnock's point is that "Buy 2, Get 2" means you pay for two products and you get two products. I can only assume that the store's intent was to offer "Buy 2, Get 2 free"; pay for two products and get four products.

I don't know about you, but I don't find the prospect of getting the two items for which I paid terribly enticing!

Posted by: cmadler at October 25, 2005 07:08 AM

Hmmm, why do you assume that the store would give you two products for free? Almost every time I go out and buy something, this exact offer applies: I buy two items, I get two items. I find this rather reasonable! In rare cases I get a third (or a fourth) item for free, but this is an exception rather than the norm.

Posted by: name at October 25, 2005 07:17 AM

They call it a "sales event". They're obviously trying to persuade customers that something special is going on. So if the sign really means what it says -- buy two products, get a total of two products -- then it's broken because it's misleading. If the sign means buy two products, get four, then it's broken because it doesn't mean what it says. Broken!

Posted by: stoo at October 25, 2005 07:34 AM

Get 1 for the price of 2!

Posted by: Fuzzy at October 25, 2005 08:12 AM

I like the redesign.

Posted by: Galen D. W. at October 25, 2005 08:49 AM

Russell and Landshark, you are both idiots. The fact that it eventually can be figured out does not mean it is not "broken". You can imply that it means buy 2, get 2 free but that is not what it says. If a sign advertises something that is not accurate, it is broken and should be fixed, wether or not it can be deciphered.

Posted by: Ed at October 25, 2005 09:12 AM

I like the redesign too, with the exception of the ten miles of space between the post and comments. Looks good otherwise!

Posted by: ambrocked at October 25, 2005 10:25 AM

Another thing I'd like to mention is that this photo shows part of the sign of a video chain (in Philadelphia and perhaps elsewehere) called "Movie Gallery". If you don't happen to live near one look at the logo on this web site:

http://www.moviegallery.com/

And tell me that this isn't also broken. The V is turned 90° clockwise, to half-assedly resemble a video PLAY button, but when I read the logo, my brain tries to turn it into a D or even an X.

(Alas, I posted this to thisisbroken.com a few months back and it wasn't selected.)

Posted by: Daniel at October 25, 2005 10:51 AM

And before you beat up on me, I realized after posting that I should have said counterclockwise.

Posted by: Daniel at October 25, 2005 10:54 AM

Different than the normal?! Normally, when *I* buy 2, I get 2... I don't know where you're shopping.

Posted by: Dave! at October 25, 2005 11:02 AM

Um, I've seen "Buy 1 Get 1" sales for years, and I've never known anyone to be confused about the meaning. It's needlessly pedantic to insist that the store put the word "free" on the sign; if you're determined to misunderstand the intent even that can be ambiguous. "Get 2 free what?"

Posted by: E.T. at October 25, 2005 11:07 AM

"Buy 2 Get 2" is just the *name* of the event, it doesn't necessarily describe the actual event itself. Like when your local car dealer has their "Annual Spring Sale Event." That doesn't mean they're selling springs, that's just the name of an event they're having.

I vote for not broken. There has to be a thousand things that actually *are* broken for every slightly-poorly-worded sign here, where are they?

Posted by: James Schend at October 25, 2005 11:45 AM

This reminds me of another cleverly worded campaign:

"Buy two, get twice as many."

Posted by: WillF at October 25, 2005 01:18 PM

This reminds me of another cleverly worded campaign:

"Buy two, get twice as many."

Posted by: WillF at October 25, 2005 01:21 PM

Totally not broken, but this site has gone down the drain. Half the shit that gets posted is only "broken" because of a typo, but this site should be about inherently broken products. Companies don't care that your local street vendor is selling Cheewe Steak, or if contextual advertising works by providing relevant, although sometimes impolite, ads, but at this rate, companies are unlikely to take any valid suggestions into consideration (if they can find any), because of the sheer volume of pointless trash that degrades this site's credibility as a way to make companies "more aware of their

customer experience, and how to fix it." Often, products are misinterpreted, or words are twisted to form vaguely inaccurate statements. This is Broken is definitely broken. We need a site truly dedicated to improving consumer experience.

Posted by: Joey at October 25, 2005 02:06 PM

WELL Joey, this website is just for fun anyway. Don't be so critical.

Posted by: someone at October 25, 2005 05:28 PM

I, too, love the new design.

Daniel: I've never understood the Moie Gallery logo either. It used to have the 'V' in the correct direction a long time ago, but then someone in marketing had the not-so-bright idea of turning it on its side to make it look like a 'play' icon. Which would have been clever, if it still actually looked like a V turned on its side...

Posted by: codeman38 at October 25, 2005 06:08 PM

Whoa! I like the redesign! But how come you can redesign the entire site but still can't get rid of that 'b'? Riddle me this, Batman. Anyway, i agree with cmadler.

"I don't find the prospect of getting the two items for which I paid terribly enticing!"

Although it is certainly better than the alternative!

Posted by: Bob at October 25, 2005 06:23 PM

Some likes and dislikes about the redesign- I like the broken-egg thing. Kewl. I don't particularly like the separation of posts. (the bold isn't enough for me distinguish easily; looks like a great blob of text) Altogether the site is more stylish and kewl, does it separate long strings of text? One of my peeves with the old site was that long strings of text would stretch the page out of shape. I am making MH more aware of his customer experience, and how to fix it!

------

Joey- lighten up, man.

Posted by: Bob at October 25, 2005 06:32 PM

And the 'remeber personal info' button is broke. At least for me.

Posted by: Bob at October 25, 2005 06:37 PM

Okay, so I was a little too harsh, but you have to admit that this one really isn't broken. I just hoped there would be a better balance between fun and function.

As for the redesign, I'm not completely sure how I feel about it, but I approve of it in general.

Posted by: Joey at October 25, 2005 06:43 PM

the "remember personal info" button is also broken for me

Posted by: john russell at October 25, 2005 07:38 PM

Two posts for the price of two!

Posted by: Lomedhi at October 25, 2005 10:39 PM

Two posts for the price of two!

Posted by: Lomedhi at October 25, 2005 10:39 PM

Not a major problem but I do see it as broken.

Let me also point out that the sign is for the Movie gallery store and not for the cellular store next door as mentioned in other posts.

The special is buy two previously viewed dvd's and get two more free

Posted by: tool at October 26, 2005 02:13 AM

Ah, yeah I agree with Joey. A typo in a sign is not really broken. and this buy 2 get 2 I mean come on, you don't need to be some sort of major brain to figure that out. If you were slow it would be an extra 3 secs. If this is all there is to worry about the world is in much better shape the I thought

Posted by: Ron at October 26, 2005 03:21 AM

Thirty-second!!!!!!!!! Plus, the new site design sucks!

Posted by: ben at October 26, 2005 03:54 PM

Come now, Ben. Have you not read my rules for intellectual debate? State why the redesign sucks, and i'll be happy to refute your points for you.

Posted by: Bob at October 26, 2005 06:10 PM

Thanks, MH!

Posted by: Bob at October 27, 2005 10:32 AM

I like this site but I wish the comments were in reverse order. I don't like to have to scroll down to read new comments. I'm lazy.

Posted by: JAC at October 28, 2005 12:28 PM

Also, maybe this store has had a problem with short-sacking and they are now saying that if you buy 2 - you will get 2 in your sack.??

Posted by: JAC at October 28, 2005 12:33 PM

:P

Posted by: JAC at October 28, 2005 12:34 PM

This advert seems to reflect a movement of the word 'get' from simply meaning 'to obtain' to 'to obtain without cost,' if not everywhere, then at least when in proximity with the word 'buy'. There's a popular chain of shoe stores which uses a similar syntax - BOGO - Buy One Get One. I, being pedantic, enjoy saying, 'Well, I'd better get one if I bought it!' However, as I said above, it's possible that what we're experiencing is more of a shift in meaning in 'get' that is brought on by shifty marketing persons.

Does anyone know anyone who is NOT an advertisement who uses "buy x get x" without the included 'free'?

Posted by: McFadden at October 28, 2005 04:56 PM

The broken part is that Buy 2 Get 2 is a retard's way of saying Buy 1 Get 1.

The Empirical Formula apparentlt wasn't taught very much to very many.

Posted by: McUnfadden at January 8, 2006 04:25 AM

I think the the new design Rocks.

Posted by: Ray Logan at June 3, 2006 03:12 PM

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