Jay Pillay: Save R40 on toasters

At about the time the wheel was invented, someone in advertising came up with a brilliant idea. “If we can convince people that they are saving, when they are actually spending, surely that will boost our sales!”

A huge bosberaad was held among advertisers and accountants and financial managers. When the rustle of paper died, they all agreed: No more ‘We Offer a Discount of R40’. Now that will change to ‘You Save R40!’

That’s half the number of words compared to the original, and possibly a hundred times the impact.

So, in the salary manager’s mind, the perception was created that if you don’t buy the toaster for R120, you will not be saving R40.

Back in the days when we still had an ozone layer, saving meant placing your money in a coffee can.

As time marched on, that developed into depositing it into a bank, where you earned some interest.

So, money saved was money actually in your possession, earning a little interest for you.

Thanks to the skill of advertisers, all that has changed. Now saving money means buying a toaster for R120, instead of R160.

The implications are staggering. Buy three toasters, and save a whopping R120! (That’s three times R40.)

Can you bank the R120? Can you place the R120 in a coffee can? Is this money really saved, or is it just money not spent, masking the R120 actually spent?

Astute salary managers realise that they work hard for their money. They know the difference between a discount, and money saved.

They plan well what they want to buy, and then buy the best quality they can afford, at the best discount they can get.

They don’t always buy the cheapest – they know that cheap and good quality only sometimes speak to each other.

We’ve done the advertisers’ idea of saving money to death. What about actually saving money? That is a different story altogether. And it always has a happy ending.

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