How to make your customers pay for your advertising

Interesting isn’t it how as consumers we accept a role similar to the sandwich board man when we shop in the high street or shopping mall of carrying branded bags around proclaiming the names of stores we have patronised. Of course it wasn’t always like this. At one time purchases would be discretely wrapped in brown paper packages tied up with string, or smaller items in plain brown paper bags, or vegetable sold loose and tipped into our own bag or basket. But this was all a long time ago in the days when shop assistants brought out the product, before we had to do it ourselves and present our selections at a check-out. Taking your own shopping bag into a store suddenly became suspicious and to avoid accusation of shop lifting we accepted that our purchases would be shoved into a store bag that also served as a form of receipt. You also needed the bag should you return goods as some sort of proof of purchase. Before long supermarkets had piles of flimsy plastic bags at the till and you simply helped yourself to as many as you wanted. But wait, these same stores are now telling us that their plastic bags, the ones we didn’t ask for in the first place by the way, are destroying the planet. Marks & Spencer has even taken the step of charging 5 pence for every bag you accept as some sort of fine. I have refrained from shopping in their store, but should I be asked to pay I feel inclined to ask for a plain bag – or else present a rate card for my advertising fees.