It Pays To Speak Your Mind

This is an actual email I sent to the Cap'n Crunch division of Quaker Foods.

Cap'n Crunch is the greatest cereal of all time. When I die, I want to be buried in a bowl of Cap'n Crunch. Coincidentally, I enjoy spending some of the time that I am alive also buried in a bowl of Cap'n Crunch. I've loved your cereal since I was a kid. The only way I thought it could be better is if it were chocolate. And BAM! there it was. And then you took it away. I need it back. Why is it every time I love something it gets taken away? Well, not this time. I plan on writing you at least once a week until you give me my cereal back, or at least put me in touch with some shady character I can get to fleece me some off the black market. I'm jonesing over here! C'mon, Man! Bring back the Choco Crunch! At least tell me why you sold me out!

And this is the response.

Eric:

Thank you for letting us know how important Cap'n Crunch's Choco Crunch has been to you. Your feedback is vitally important to us.

We introduced this product as a limited time offer. As you can see by the many different Cap'n Crunch products we come out with, we try to provide interesting new types of cereals for our consumers to enjoy. Sadly, most stores have limited shelf space, so we sometimes offer products for a limited time to give consumers a chance to try more new products.

That said, we do understand how important this product is to you. I will certainly let our marketing teams know you want this product to be a regular offering. We're grateful for your suggestion, as your feedback helps us determine future products to offer.

I did a search for this product online, and found it available on www.amazon.com. The price might be a little daunting, but since you're obviously so devoted, thought it only appropriate to mention it to you.

Now before you send us another email next week, please understand that I have done my best to convey how much you enjoy this product to our marketing teams. While emailing us a few more times might seem like an effective way to bring the product back, it doesn't provide our marketing team with more data we can use to make such a decision.

Since you're such a fan of Cap'n Crunch, I do want to send you a small gift for your loyalty. Look for it to arrive in your mailbox in about a week.

We value you as a consumer, Eric. It's obvious that you're passionate about Cap'n Crunch, and we hope that you'll find that you enjoy the products we come out with in the future just as much as you enjoyed Cap'n Crunch's Choco Crunch.

Dan
Quaker Consumer Relations
Ref# 027198291A

This may be the greatest email I've ever received. We all had a good laugh, and I get something free. See, it pays to be passionate. It's obvious Cap'n Crunch loves their customers, which means they just made a friend. Now, Ima see how much more free stuff I can get.