Imagine if you went to someone's home for dinner and as you were leaving, a guard asked you to empty your pockets -- just to make sure you weren't stealing anything. To say it would be insulting is an understatement. What do you think the chances are that you'd return any time soon, or ever? Pretty absurd concept. Chances are, you've had a similar experience and didn't think twice about it.

Branding Lunacy
Who thought of this? More importantly, when did it become acceptable to paying customers to line up like sheep eager to prove their innocence without a second thought? How much will people take in the name of "low prices?" Apparently the requirement that they prove they didn't steal from the stores they've just patronized has become acceptable and expected -- for a lot of people. I don't know which is worse: the fact that companies cook up these policies that disparage customers, or that the customers put up with it.
I wonder if the companies that spend millions on branding and identity give any thought to what they are doing when they make policies that essentially say: "All CUSTOMERS ARE CONSIDERED SHOPLIFTERS UNTIL THEY PROVE OTHERWISE." From a branding perspective, things don't get much worse.
Copyright 2008, Bremmer & Goris Communications, Inc.