>>7192533This has to be the dumbest move I've ever seen a company make. Part of the deal of partnering with a brick&mortar store is to provide a space to sell goods. Part of that agreement (which NECA pays for) is for the company providing the shelf space, is to maintain the merchandise. NECA also pays representatives to drive to each location to ensure that the shelf space is up to their standards. This is where NECA's business practices are flawed. If their shelf space that they are renting out isn't up to their standards, they need to either a) bring it up to their business partners or b) change the training process for their reps. Letting this work fall on the customer and twisting into a kind of contest that relies on brand loyalty with a gross capitalist agenda isn't how to run a business, and frankly pretty underhanded and disgusting to me.
I did the math:
1822 Target locations in the US. Average minimum wage is $7.25. Assuming it takes 20 minutes a week to straighten up (I've merchandised for over six years in the past, so 20 minutes is generous), that's a total of $228,964 before "prizes" are given out.
Let's assume that every one of those stores in in compliance with their rules and takes a pic once a week for three months straight, meaning that everyone working those stores would get four $20 giftcards a year. Adding in the additional prizes of 15 $20 cards, and 1 $100 monthly and 1 $1000 card annually, that equals up to $151,560 worth of prizes annually.
Subtracting that from the total hypothetical amount paid for time worked would leave $77,404 or 10,676 hours of unpaid work, which is money in NECA's pockets. That's not right at all, and I'm not going to stop anyone from participating, but I think it's an ethically poor business decision.
