Here is the link of my classmate Cave’s blog : https://blogs.ubc.ca/kpcave/2010/11/24/post-7/
His blog topic is about the free coffee offered by McDonald. And the blog name is very smart: I’m Lovin’It (which is the slogan of McDonald company).
So recently, McDonald offers free coffee to the general public. As you may see in this month, more and more people are holding McDonald coffee. I agree with him that this promotion is a pull strategy. Since through offering free coffee, more people would go to McDonald to get this free product. (every body like free stuff, of course). So after attracting customers to go their restaurant, they can try their coffee, and after free try, some of them may really like it, and then become loyal customers. Besides, usually people will also buy some food such as burgers or desert if they want a cup of coffee. So McDonald can increase their sales in other food. So even it seems offering free coffee is a cost to Mc, but there are still many benefits involved, not just temporary, but also in the long run.
Therefore, it is definitely quite worthwhile to offer free coffee to the public. It is a successful pull strategy in promotion.