Smyth's free lego

[Machiavellian]

AIBU to think it's unfair to display free Lego on a table alongside full price, extremely expensive Lego? Cue one upset and confused child that couldn't understand why they couldn't have the displayed full price pieces for free.

They’re just running a business. Already very generous as it is giving away free small Lego sets. Nothing wrong here.

The entire point of the company giving away free Lego is to get your child interested so that he asks for the big sets for Christmas etc which is why it is displayed as it is . It is marketing , they aren’t giving it away just to be kind .

Why didn’t you explain to your DS in advance? Even a young child could understand that: we’re going to a shop that sells Lego and they have some mini sets we can have for free. Just the mini sets though.

My DC is ND but he understands that when we go to the supermarket and are offered free cake to taste, that doesn’t mean we can pick a huge cake off the shelf and not pay for it!

Did he really not understand or was he just hoping to pester you until you bought something?

The sooner children learn that they can’t always have what they want, when they want it, the better, IMO.

The free Lego promotion is i imagine run in conjunction with Lego, they use it to get the kids interested in Lego.

If noone bought the bigger sets there would be no free Lego. The freebies are marketing pure and simple and if you don't like it don't go for the freebies.

Also learn to say no to your kid.

I think you’ve totally misread the shop’s intention and sound quite naive.

Of course they put the expensive/ full priced stuff near by! The intention of the shop is for the “loss leader” LEGO to prompt people to buy the full priced stuff: that’s literally why they’re doing it.

It was never “meant to be a free treat on its own” - no business ever means to give your child a free treat on its own!

If your child is old enough to build Lego they are old enough for you to explain that item A is free but item B is not. Item B shows what item A might look like if you have a lot more Lego. "Lego is quite expensive, do you want to add it to your Christmas list? Shall we go home now and build item A?"

They were told they couldn't have the full price Lego. They left without the freebie because it wasn't what they wanted. I didn't indulge him at all. I just felt it was unfairly displayed. That's all.

I think you’re in a minority of one on that, OP

Yes. We went this morning. My kids were made up with their little bags of Lego and was eyeing what was on the table to put on their Christmas list. This is an op problem. Gentle parenting at its finest. The shop are in the wrong for selling toys which are expensive and aren't just giving them away.

The point of a promotion like that is to make money, it’s not a charity exercise. If everyone just took the free one they would stop the deal.
The point is to get the free one and be persuaded into buying one of the full price sets too once you’ve seen it in store.

Did you tell him in advance what the freebie was? Surely you did? If he didn't want it then there was no point going to the shop at all was there? Or did he change his mind in-store because he saw other things? That's different.

You may feel things are unfairly displayed but it happens in all shops in all places, they need to make money. Also all toy stores have promotional displays all over the place. And it's the lead up to Christmas so these things ramp up.

It's not unfair, it's capitalism.

They’re not giving it away free out of kindness though, it’s a promotion. The whole point is that you might buy some.

Also if you look up the poster it says “Lego mini give away” and shows a photo of mini bags of Lego, it should have been pretty obvious to you as the adult that a big boxes of Lego sets were unlikely to be free.

I don't get how it can be "unfair" for a company to give away free Lego with absolutely no obligation to buy anything. They can display it how they want.

You should have asked to speak to the manager.

That's the kind of thing my mum would always say was 'cutting off your nose to spite your face'.

I don't know why you're trying to find 'blame' anywhere. If he didn't want any of the free stuff in the first place then surely he was going to be disappointed either way?

Sorry but I really think this is either an expectations not being properly managed or a kid being a little bit spoiled one (no judgement, all kids can be like this from time to time, my own included!) or a bit of both.

It's probably a valuable lesson tbh. He ended up leaving with nothing and in a bad mood when he could have left with a bag of Lego and enjoyed looking at the toys. That's sort of the natural consequence of it all. No need to find blame or be annoyed at the shop. It's just something that happens with young kids in a toy shop.

It’s not a food bank or a soup kitchen where you schlep up and get handed free stuff. It’s a sales ploy. They’re a business. Jeez the entitlement of people these days!

Just ooh and ahh along with your kid and tell him that he should save his pennies and/or put it on his Christmas list for Santa. Delayed gratification is a good thing to teach your child.

😂😂😂😂😂😂

I'm not sure how a company giving away free Lego, completely obligation free, can be described as unfair in any way shape or form.

You are incredibly entitled.

Absolutely ridiculous.

Have a lovely Saturday.

Sorry OP but I agree with @TheTigerWhoCameToEatMyArsehole

This is a You problem.

From what I can see, the store was promoting better, more expensive Lego sets alongside the free stuff. Christmas is coming, promos will be everywhere. That's business. They haven't done anything wrong.

It seems your issue is that once your child had seen the better, more expensive stuff, they didn't want the free stuff but wanted the expensive stuff, for free, which they couldn't have, which they found upsetting. Have I got that right?

But here's the problem. You have an unreasonable and very unrealistic expectation of the store. To not promote items they are selling. Because it upset your child. But it's not the store's job to manage your child's expectations or emotions. That's your job. To help your child understand.

I'm not sure if you've stated your child's age anywhere.

But regardless or age, this was an opportunity for you to parent. Not blame the store.

If it's free you're the product. I.e. the "freebie" is to draw you in to buy other stuff. Why would they just give you something for free?!

sigh I did parent. I told my 6 year old that they couldn't have the sets. I had to explain that despite being assembled and displayed next to the free figures, that they weren't free. Which led to said child getting upset as the table was set up with a mixture of pieces - free and full price. My child was told no, they couldn't have the full price stuff. My child accepted that they didn't like any of the free stuff. We left the store.