One of my longtime readers, MamaHan, was flipping through the new 6/9 SmartSource coupon insert, and she saw something interesting. Did any of my other Chicagoland readers spot this too? She writes:
“Normally the people that make the inserts are careful enough to make sure coupons on opposite sides of the page don’t overlap so people can use whichever ones they want.”
“While I normally leave inserts whole, I’ll cut coupons for stuff I normally buy and hunt for on clearance and store them in my organizer. I’m a fan of Rana products and was all set to cut/store, but noticed that the other side of the coupon had ones for Kemps. Hmphf! I also cut coupons for frozen foods like this in the summer. What’s a girl that might want to use both supposed to do?!”
Of course, I grabbed my SmartSource and flipped to this page, and she’s absolutely right! Take a look.
Here’s the Rana side of the ad and coupons:
And, here’s the Kemps side of the same ad, with its coupons:
This does raise some interesting questions. Unfortunately, anyone who’s a fan of both brands is going to have to decide which of these coupons they’d like to use, as they are perfectly lined up front-to-back with each other. Then, the shopper is going to have to make sure the cashier scans the corresponding side of the coupon that matches what they’ve purchased.
I’m also wondering what will happen when these coupons reach the clearinghouse! Will Rana or Kemps have to pay reimbursement? It’s an interesting question, because whichever side is scanned during the clearing process, that brand will be billed for the coupon’s redemption. Both Kemps and Rana may have to pay out on purchases that their own coupons weren’t involved in.
I’m reaching out to both Kemps and Rana for comment. Thanks again to MamaHan for the heads-up on this unusual issue!
UPDATE- Kemps sent the following response:
“We reached out to our partners at Smart Source regarding the issue you brought to our attention. They are working on steps to make sure this type of error can be avoided in the future. Thank you again for taking the time to reach out to us and let us know about this concern.”
Rana asked me to send my inquiry through their main customer service address at their website. I have not received an additional response since then.
Michael says
I’ve never seen this happen before.
Another issue you did not raise: What if a customer buys both items in the same trip and wants the store to scan both sides?
assassin says
ignoring the existential quandary here and headache-inducing paradoxes, but instead dryly and dully going at the specifics of this situation:
– coupons.com still has sauce printable
– Walmart and target have sauce clippable on coupons.com app, and target had pasta such until recently
– jewel JustForU has sauce clippable
– Mariano’s digital has sauce and pasta
in contrast, i see no printable or digital kemp’s coupons.
thus, when a consumer’s demand is uniform between options, the supply scarcity of one option dictates that…
…huh? yes, i nearly failed Philosophy 101, but was granted a waiver for preparing the professor’s taxes. ;) now commence snoozing at that list — after enjoying your zesty, tomato basil infused yogurt! Italy and Greece are neighbors, so a culinary crossover is long overdue.
Coupon Maven says
All good points – thanks! Alternate Rana coupons are easy to find and come by — the Kemps coupons is insert-only. So, ice cream fans… you know what to do!
assassin says
fun fact: the Inside Shopper flyer, which features often pared down SmartSources and RetailMeNots, avoids this problem … by omitting the Kemps entirely. ;( the Rana picture and its 2 coupons are on the front page, arranged as shown above. Page 2 is Rachael Ray Nutrish Peak dog food, with the 3 coupons appropriately at the _top_.
Coupon Maven says
I have talked to several friends in other parts of the country, and they did not get the same anomaly because they don’t have Kemps in their areas..! They have something else on the back of the Rana coupon page, but it doesn’t overlap the Rana coupons.