The rest of my post

This is the rest of my post on HCW - I amuse myself and get a giggle from it sometimes and decided I couldn't let it go to waste, even if I am the only one who is amused.
> Please note the following is more for laughs than anything else, hope you see the giggle in it<

Most coupons state "One coupon per purchase/per item purchased" A manufacturer uses the coupons to get people to buy their product. And it works.
A customer is walking down the aisle and a blinkie flashing at them catches their eye and that persuasive red light convinces them to take a peek. (We know the dangers of the redlight district, right? lol) Well, the customer sees that the coupon is for an item similar to what they would normally purchase, so they take the coupon and buy an item - wait - it's on sale, let's get 2,3 or even 4 boxes. C'mon, c'mon spit out another 2 coupons so I can move on. Okay, got 'em.
The customer get to the checkout, buys the product and may or may not remember to use the coupons, may even have lost the coupons.
That is what the manufacturer wants - not only has the customer been persuaded by the "redlight district" to buy the product, but now the customer may have bought it without even using the pursuasive marketing tool. The manufacturer wins. Let's count how many ways: 1) the item was purchased, 2) It may have been purchased at full price, not a discount, 3) The number of items sold has increased, 4) The product is getting publicity - now increase this by the number of purchasers and multiply by the number of stores that carry the product and the coupon and now - 5) It shows on their company spreadsheet which can increase their profitabilty, 6) They may have new consumers who will return to purchase the product again which will 7) continue to look good on their profitabilty

Additionally, do you really believe the manufacturer only wants us to buy one of their products? oh no - they want their product to have the larger piece of the market pie and predominant shelf placement. Please, buy as many as you want. They know they will take a hit from the coupons, but it is a planned, assessed loss and written off with their advertising costs, not their production costs. They will still make out on the positive because of those customers who refuse to use a coupon and pay full price for the product.
Even though most blinkies are programmed to spit out a coupon every 15 secs +/-, many times a coupon will generate immediately. Is a customer not to take that one as well? Do you really believe that a manufacturer would want to stand by the blinkie and slap the customer's hand if the customer tries to get more than one coupon in order to purchase the product?
Newspapers - Yes, generally there is only one set of inserts in each paper - that is to reach a wider market and more households. A manufacturer doesn't really care if one family refuses to use coupons and gives their copy to another family that will use it. They know this happens and if it really was an issue for them then they would revise the wording on the coupon to discourage them.
Would the manufacturer prefer for customers to purchase their product without using a coupon? Of course they would - it means a higher percentage of profit for them. However, the manufacturer wisely realizes that any sales, even discounted sales, are better than no sales. And in the current economical crunch there are 2 options: 1) charge full price, refuse coupons and have a lower number of sales which will lower your company's value on the market or 2) allow coupons, generate more sales even at a reduced price that is still a profit and keep or increase the value of the company on the market.

What about when we call the company and ask for a coupon? Most of the time I receive 2-3 coupons - identical coupons - for the product. Am I supposed to only use one and toss the others? Should I give the others away? - they didn't tell me to share my coupons with other people. They said "sure, we will send you some coupons for you to use" They think "Hey, its goodwill for the company - we sent them coupons - they are going to buy our product. HAHAHA! hooked another one! We give them 3 items for free and they will forever buy our product" ---- Sounds like that drug analogy you used. The coupons are a "step up" and once a customer finds a product that they love and want and have to have; they will buy that product, coupon or not, sale or not. The manufacturer has just created "brand loyalty" in that customer - and that is what they want.