This is Day 17 of my 28-Day Creative Challenge. I’m keeping this 2001 manual as a reminder to never miss an opportunity to build a relationship with a customer, in this case — the often overlooked groom.

When a man is about to spend 2 to 3 months salary on a diamond engagement ring he deserves to be catered to, don’t you think? Helzberg Diamond’s 28-page “Guy’s Engagement Manual, A Guide For The Man About To Propose” does just that. It’s full of helpful proposal ideas, check lists, encouragement and most importantly of all, educational information about diamond engagement rings.

One of their proposal ideas is for the groom to put the ring on his pinkie. He then pretends he hurt his hand and wraps it sloppily in a bandage. When he asks her for help re-wrapping it, she’ll notice the ring and he then proposes marriage. Do you have any other unique ideas for marriage proposals that you can share with us?

I began to search my mind trying to remember hearing any news of a plastic bag shortage in the area, or maybe it was a “green thing” and they were cutting back on bags and no one told me… my mind continued to race as I looked to the long line of shoppers behind me for help.

The woman directly behind me tried to be helpful and suggested that the cashier ring me up twice. The cashier made some comment about loosing her job if she rang up the fish sticks. Now my confusion began to turn to embarrassment as I told the cashier the sign posted on the freezer door said $4.99 each and the only reason I was buying them was that I was saving $2.50 on each one. To which she responded, that yes, she was aware of that…

Now my embarrassment started to turn to anger and I told her to just keep them all and let me pay for my other items so I could leave. It was at this point the cashier showed me the stores current circular. The store was having a promotion called “Celebrate Frozen Food Month – 30% Off All the Frozen Items You Can Fit in the Bag!” Apparently I had already reached my “one bag” limit and the six boxes of fish sticks would not be eligible for the 30% off — hallelujah — now I knew what she was talking about.

This store had made the following four mistakes with their advertising promotion:

1. They assumed all customers would read their circular and also understand it.

2. The promotional artwork on the circular showed two large paper shopping bags with actual handles, not the much smaller plastic bag the store actually used.

3. The circular had no disclaimer copy explaining the promotion and it’s rules.

4. The store signage did not explain the “one bag” policy or the 30% off. They posted the reduced dollar amounts ($4.99) and the dollar savings amounts ($2.50), throughout the store, with no mention of it being 30% off or of purchase limits.

I wonder if this store realized that they were leaving themselves wide open for trouble?

When two large shopping bags were shown in the advertising, it implied that those were the type of bags that would be used. This could be seen as deceptive advertising. And it gets worse, because without disclaimer copy in the circular or proper store signage, and with the reduced dollar prices and dollar savings posted on the freezer doors, plus, no purchase limits, a customer could have tried to buy ALL of EACH item posted.

Depending on the customers determination and the store’s policies, this promotion could have resulted in a lawsuit or an out-of-court settlement. However, legal action of this sort is usually saved for the chain stores where an opportunistic shopper has much more to gain.