Gap held a promotion on Friday (November 5th, 2010) giving away 10,000 Free Jeans for simply using a smart phone or other internet capable device and checking in via Facebook Places. The number was the amount of jeans given away across the country and each store had a pre-determined amount to give away. Customers who missed the free jeans could purchase one item at 40% off. Gap wanted to use location based services to host a promotion to bring customers into stores, but internet backlash in the days after is widely varied. Some of the backlash is positive, but the majority is negative. From people not receiving the promised discount, a 2-year-old being given a coupon for free adult jeans, and stores not requiring people to check-in.
I did receive a pair of free jeans from my local Gap store and then purchased a 2nd pair at 40% off, plus received multiple coupons for 40% off additional purchases on certain days of the week. My shopping trip was pleasant and the staff was easy to work with. I called before going to the store. Explaining I would have to leave immediately after receiving my coupon in order to make a doctor appointment for my son and asked if it would be acceptable to come back later in the afternoon to redeem the coupon. The manager gave out the coupons. The only flaw I saw in the execution at my store was that they didn’t actually check to see if people were check-in on their phone. See, I was 8th in line and when I checked in via Facebook Places there were only 5 other checked in.
All in all, it was a good trip to the mall. I visited Gap where I received two pairs of $60.00 jeans for $45.00 and Wet Seal where I was able to find new dress pants in Black and Charcoal which actually fit me correctly and were long enough. For a size 2 person who is 5’8″ finding long jeans/pants is a success and definitely put me in a good mood.
