I just want to give an example of me being swayed through direct marketing by people who were extremely upfront.

Last night as myself and a friend were walking down Clark street in Chicago when we passed by a coffee/dessert bar (whose name I can't seem to find or remember but I'll give credit to when I figure it out). They had their window open and the kid working their insisted we try a sample of their chocolate drizzled home-made waffles. He was raving about how great their food was and insisted that we come in and have something. At first we were hesitant but he promised their dessert was fantastic and offered us 2 big chocolate covered waffles for the price of 1. I finally relented because it was actually really fucking delicious and took them up on their offer. When we got inside they let us try this special belgium chocolate that allegedly is only licensed to be sold at this particular place in all of the U.S. (which was pretty sweet). And it was awesome. The manager or owner introduced himself to me and asked me about my valentines day plans, promising if I brought my valentine there I would "get lucky." We joked and talked for a bit and I promised that if I made those kind of valentines day plans, I would include him. Well not include him in the sense of....nevermind. Forget it.

The point was these guys had a really solid product. They were upfront and sincere and passionate about it from the beginning and made it very clear when they were offering me samples that they want me to taste how good their food is so I'd come in and spend a little money. They didn't disguise the fact that they were trying to get me to spend some of my money with them with fake certificates and "official signatures" and fake watermarks.

I really appreciated their upfront attitude and the quality of their food as a marketer and just as a regular guy so I was more than happy to buy and I'll probably be back.

Maybe even on Valentines day.

Kudos to the guys at (Can't remember the name).

 

UPDATE:

The name of the dessert place is Baladoche. They get the Awkward Morning Seal of Approval

Check them out at www.baladoche.com

(Thanks to Lavina for the update)