"coupons" news and stories

It doesn't matter if you've been naughty or nice. Fast-food restaurants (large and small) are celebrating the holidays with a blitz of promotions, deals and new menu items to entice both old and new customers.

Burger King is forgoing the warm and fuzzy holiday spirit for a snarky promotional campaign. Customers can send 20 different holiday greeting cards to close and not-so-close friends, each containing a crisp (or crumpled) dollar bill. Gift recipients are advised to take that dollar and spend it at Burger King for a 1/4-pound double cheeseburger. The cheap gift is being touted by the company with the slogan, "because casual friends don't deserve second-rate gifts."

A Burger King double cheeseburger. Photo: alandd/flickr

Having a double cheeseburger your way will now only cost you a single.

Burger King confirmed Wednesday a plan to mail out $1 double cheeseburger coupons in August and September to nearly 80 million households nationwide. The move comes after franchisees vetoed a proposal to offer the double cheeseburger at that price on in-store menus.

Nation's Restaurant News reports that franchise owners rejected the original promotion to sell the double cheeseburger at $1 for four months -- and also later rejected a revised promotion plan to sell the $1 doubles for six weeks.

Michael Phelps' 12,000 calories a day notwithstanding, I'm dubious that the US Olympic teams are marching en masse to the Beijing Mickey D's for their pre-event chowdown. Still, that shouldn't stop you from pole vaulting on over to Facetheglory.com to download a coupon for a free Southern Style Biscuit or Sandwich today. Come armed with a hearty appetite and a color cartridge, 'cause the coupon is valid from August 15th through September 1st, and only if it's printed in color.

Yeah, I know that the analagous Chick-Fil-A sandwich tends to be the crowd favorite 'round these parts, but really, are you gonna look a gift chicken in the mouth?

*A reader just brought to my attention that a medium or large drink must be purchased to receive the freebie. I highly recommend the Sweet Tea.

Facetheglory.com

Southern Style Biscuit Review

I was just wandering the web when I stumbled across an article on Yahoo Finance about Shortcuts, a new service of AOL. This is a totally paperless, online coupon program linked to store loyalty cards. Shortcuts makes it easy to click, shop, and save; on the products you buy every week.

The way it works is that customers go to the Shortcuts website and link coupons for products to their customer loyalty cards. then when your card is scanned the coupon automatically is applied to your purchase. It's a fantastic idea that makes it easy with no coupon cutting and remembering to bring them with you. There's also the "green" aspect of the program in cutting down on paper use and waste.

So far the service is only offered to Kroger's and affiliate stores customers, but that should change soon. For a growing list of all the partner stores click here.