And yes it was too good to believe. Dell was probably the most talked about South African site on Friday afternoon, as they chose (or at least some close to fired person chose) to advertise their laptops for R0. Now although logically anyone reading this would straight away laugh it off as a stupid mistake, temptation and logic, surfaced and I, along with many others, patiently selected the exact model I wished to purchase.

Whether it was or was not a stupid thing to do, the thought processes were simple. If enough people support the cause of a free Laptop, the mob will dictate and the Laptops will be free. As predicted, shortly after lunch time today, I received the Dear John letter from Dell, apologizing for the inconvenience and promising to reimburse if the travel costs had been deducted from my credit card.

But is that really good enough? Is that not a low, and false way of getting free advertising to their site. Whether it was intended or not, a lot of people stopped in their tracks to visit the Dell site, and select a Laptop they probably did not actually need. From this false marketing drive, Dell benefited hugely. Dell benefited hugely both in terms of traffic and branding. Perhaps it was in fact a preplanned marketing campaign which went horribly wrong. They calculated their figures based on the rate at which visitors normally visit their site and purchase, without considering the most important exponential constant to the equation. If something is free, everyone will buy!

But as the Brand Manager takes the criticism he is about to receive, the Dell brand will strongly grow within South Africa, as there wont be many people who will say to themselves "I will never buy a highly superior laptop from Dell, because a while back they got themselves some free advertising!"