There it was, a beacon of marketing irony at CVS: a bright yellow sale tag proudly proclaiming “On Sale! $3.99”—right next to the original price of 99¢. That’s not just inflation; that’s robbery in broad daylight with confetti. Did they think no one would notice? Or did they expect customers to be so dazzled by the words “on sale” that they’d forget basic math? I stood there, staring at the bag of pretzels, wondering if maybe these weren’t ordinary pretzels but some kind of luxury, artisan snack harvested from the fields of gold-dusted wheat.
The best part is the confidence of it all. Someone, somewhere, signed off on that tag with the same energy you’d expect from a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat, hoping the audience won’t see the strings. What’s the pitch here—“Pay four times more and feel like you’re part of an exclusive club of overpriced-snack enthusiasts”? If so, I’m out. I’d rather eat stale pretzels from the bottom of my glove compartment than pay a “sale” price that could double as a bad punchline.
