People Love Free Stuff.

As a freshman in college, I observed my classmates signing up for multiple credit cards just to receive free tees, notebooks and other cheap tchotchkes. I did not participate in the free-for-all because, as God would have it, I was only 17 and too young to sign up for credit cards. By the time the hype had died down (along with a myriad of young credit scores) and I turned 18, signing up for free money had lost it's appeal for most of us college freshmen. And it didn't hurt that someone older and wiser, witnessing the insanity, started the rumor that signing up for so many credit cards was not only unwise, but it negatively impacted your credit score. In truth, most of us didn't know what a "credit score" was, but it sounded important and mysterious - and not something to be messed with.

I digress.

Considering the KFC debacle, which I fully enjoyed, it should be well understood that people (especially in this economy) love, love, love free stuff. Is it a sport? Is it out of necessity? Is it a combination of the two? I am not entirely certain. Regardless - our distant neighbors at Wizz Air in Budapest would have done well to take note of what happened with KFC before attempting to give away $49.95 free travel money on their airline - without ANY restrictions on using multiple vouchers for a single purchase.

See, Wizz Air thought it would be cool to attach vouchers to balloons and then, at a press conference for their 5th anniversary, release the balloons with the vouchers, providing consumers far and wide the opportunity to sample the airline at a reduced rate.

And... well, the unruly crowd LOVED the concept so much, they raided the net holding the balloons - popping them and stealing the vouchers.

Remember the part where I said the vouchers didn't have usage restrictions?

Niiice.

What can we learn from this, fellow marketers?

1. People Love Free Stuff.
2. Consumers will lose themselves in the frenzy of obtaining free stuff.
3. Your brand will potentially be lost in the frenzy.
4. There's a reason why moms everywhere say, "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?" It applies just as much to daughters as it does grilled chicken and your brand.