A savvy man was sent over $300 worth of freebies from his favorite brands — after he wrote them poems.
Andrew Cunningham, 29, spotted a tip online which suggested supermarkets send free gifts if customers send them a poem.
He decided to test it out and wrote brand-specific short poems for 50 of his favorite household brands, restaurants and shops including Duracell, Boots, Waitrose, Odeon, Costco and Yorkshire Tea.
Incredibly, Andrew was sent over $300 worth of freebies from 16 of the companies he contacted.
His top results including bagging himself $52 of Scrub Daddy supplies, $39 of Odeon Luxe cinema tickets and $52 worth of Molton Brown goods.
He also got free food and drinks from KFC, Pringles, Richmond, Tunnock’s and Yorkshire Tea.
Andrew’s experiment was such a triumph that he’s compiling more poems to a further 50 companies to see how much more he can get.
Andrew, who runs money blog Capital Matters, from Glasgow, Scotland, said: “I had seen people posting online that they got free stuff from supermarkets after sending a poem.
“I thought ‘why don’t I try it with other places as well as supermarkets?’
“I wandered around my house and took notes of the most common brands I use, so if I did get any freebies I knew I’d use them.
“Then I started writing the poems — I tried to personalize them focusing on all the things I liked about that brand.
“I sent out 50 and got 16 freebies back which is a 32 percent success rate.
“If I’ve learnt anything from this, it’s if you’re looking to buy something expensive soon, email them a poem and they might give you a discount or a freebie.”
Andrew’s first approach was to Yorkshire Tea, with the following poem:
“O Yorkshire Tea, your decaf blend,
Is a perfect calm, a true godsend.
For in each cup, you bring a grace,
A gentle comfort, a warm embrace.
With Yorkshire Tea, my heart finds ease,
In every sip, a moment of peace.”
He was sent $13 of free decaf teabags as a thank you for the poem.
While lots of brands didn’t get back to him — from Persil to Disney Store and Tresemme to Moet — several did.
After sending personalized poems, he got a 16-pack of AA batteries from Duracell and free cinema tickets from both Odeon Luxe and Scotsman Picturehouse, Edinburgh.
He also got a 50 percent off voucher for his local Thai restaurant, Thaikun, in Glasgow, and teacakes with a matching branded hat from Tunnock’s.
Andrew said: “The branded woolly hat was probably the funniest thing I got. They sent me a box of teacakes too.”
Some of his most successful outcomes included getting a gift box from Scrub Daddy worth $52, after he sent them the following poem:
“Scrub Daddy, a sponge that’s a gem,
Lasting through scrubs, again and again.
Its smiley face grinning through mess,
With durability that’s simply the best.
From tough to gentle, it never will fail,
A kitchen hero that’s built to prevail.”
He also got a selection of handwash and a branded soap holder from Molton Brown, which he estimated came to around $52 too.
His poem to Molton Brown had read:
“Molton Brown, we first met in ’16,
Since then, you’ve become my self-care routine.
Coastal Cypress & Sea Fennel’s a seaside dream,
And your Indian Cress makes my hair gleam.”
He also got a $4 Pringles voucher, a free KFC chicken burger and popcorn chicken, a $6.50 voucher for Caesars dog food and a $7.80 voucher for Richmond sausages.
Andrew said: “The poems were never aimed to be anything serious, they’re just for fun.
“I think the Scrub Daddy one was my favorite — we got a selection of sponges, a Dish Daddy and lots of refills.
“They sent it in a really fun box with nice packaging — they’re a really fun company.
“I think that would be my tip — if you know a company that does fun and light-hearted marketing, they’ll probably be a good shout.”
WHAT HE GOT:
- Yorkshire Tea – Free Regular Decaf and Bedtime Decaf teabags worth $13
- Duracell – 16 AA Batteries worth $13
- Treasure Trails – 3-For-2 Coupon
- ODEON – 2 ODEON Luxe Cinema Tickets worth $39
- Richmond Sausages – vouchers with $7.80
- KFC – vouchers worth $13
- Pringles – vouchers worth $3.90
- Scrub Daddy – Gift Box worth $52
- Ocean Saver Spray – 15% Off Coupon
- Tunnocks – Box of 6 Teacakes and Branded Hat
- Caesars Dog Food – $6.50 in Vouchers
- LSA – 20% Off Coupon
- Woodwick – 20% Off Coupon
- Thaikun Thai – 50% Off Voucher
- Molton Brown – Metal Infinite Bottle with Body Wash and samples – worth $52
- Scotsman Picturehouse, Edinburgh – 2 Free Cinema Tickets worth $39
ESTIMATED TOTAL WORTH: $309
