Beware of Supermarket Specials!!!

On Saturday I decided to go to the Supermarket to pick up a few items that I had run out of. So off I went to a well known supermarket, which I will not name, on Red Hills road to restock on the few items. One of such item was butter... well margarine. So after picking up some of the items I went down to the isle to the section with the butter. But this time I decided to deviate from my normal choice of Blue Band Creamy, is search of a different taste and value for my money. Then as my eyes glanced across the shelves, a Special sign caught my eyes! This wasn't any ordinary special on any ordinary butter! It was a very good special on some really tasty, foreign, Country Crock butter! So immediately I was drawn to the brightly coloured yellow and red sign to investigate!


I stared in disbelief as the small tub of Country Crock, which is almost equivalent to the big tub of Blue Band and Flora, was only JM$84.10 (US$1.16) down from the regular price of JM$177.75 (US$2.46)! I couldn't believe it, this was my chance to indulge in butter that I only enjoy when I am in the US on vacation. This was too good to be true, so I immediately pawned up a tub to throw it in my shopping cart until...


Then I really wondered to myself, 'this is too good to be true, there must be a catch'! And right I was, as when I spun around the tub to look at the expiration date, to my disappointment it said August 05, 2008! What the hell, my dream of buying tasty foreign butter cheaper than the small tub of my ordinary butter was dashed! Well for someone with a family this wouldn't be bad, but for a health conscious, single male this is a problem. That tub of butter would serve me quite a while, and even longer as I will be away on vacation in a weeks time and won't be back till after that expiration date. So after inspecting all the tubs, which as expected had the same expiration date, I placed them back on the shelf and took up one of the ordinary priced tub of butters with acceptable expiration dates. Surprisingly, it was cheaper than the big tub of the margarine I normally buy.

Oh, yeah, I just remembered, the moral of the story: 'beware of supermarket specials, always check for the pros and cons'. It seems this is a good way for the supermarkets to get rid of stuff that will soon expire. Yes, lure unsuspecting shoppers with promises of great deals with their bright colourful signs!