--- "Mr. WD" <mister.wd at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I've been swiping my card at various chains for
> years, but I never saw
> any evidence of anything really malevolent in the
> practice. The
> threat was purely hypothetical.
>
> Then today, my wife went through the self check-out
> and it printed out
> what appears to be a custom-generated advertisement
> for "New
> Morningstar Farms (R) Asian Veggie Patties!
> Introducing a sweet and
> spicy twist on traditional veggie burgers." This
> being North Carolina
> (pork-land, where "Asian-style vegetables and hints
> of chilis, garlic
> and ginger" aren't going to get a lot of folks'
> mouths watering) it's
> almost impossible to believe this isn't the first
> phase of some sort
> of creepy direct marketing campaign.
[WS:] I think the advert you mention is simply triggered by what you currently purchased rather than by some "analysis" of your purchasing history. It is similar to coupons - you buy Brand X and the machine is programmed to spit a Brand Y advert when you pay for your purchase.
I use cards for most stores that issue them, because they really offer substantial savings, I'd say about 20% on every $100 spent. Not ot mention the ability to withdraw case - most ATMs charge fees for that.
I think the main purpose of store cards was intially to maintain customer loyalty e.g. "I will shop at Safeway rather tham Giant because I have a Safeway card." Now, every store has them simply because other stores have them too, and nobody wants to be "left behind." It is classcial flocking behavior, so typical of business execs.
IMHO, the fear that this info is maliciously used against us is sheer paranoia.
Wojtek
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