Honesty, Transparency and Loyalty (card)

It's been more than a week than I have been having a crisis with my conscience and wondering whether I should share this with you ... or not. At the time I'm writing this in notepad, I still haven't made up my mind whether I am going to publish this.

I'm a big fan of Superdrug. Probably most of the beauty products I have been blogging about have been purchased from Superdrug. So you can imagine how excited I got when Superdrug launched a loyalty card for their customers. I was finally going to be rewarded for all my purchases there: awesome!






My first instinct was to blog about the card and even recreate some sort of countdown widget, counting down to the big launch day. Coincidentally, in advance of  the public release of the card, I was very lucky to preview the actual loyalty card and feel it in my hands before anybody could. Perfect for a blog post: I could  have blogged about the beauty card, and provide my own photo, instead of using a stock photo from the internet. Perfect no? Well, yes, if only for one 'small'  detail. This card came generously pre-loaded with £10 of credit, which I could spend on whatever I want at Superdrug. I instinctively started to make a mental  list of the things I wanted to buy and daydream on how I would spend my £10.


I was deliriously happy but at the same time, I started to feel a little uncomfortable. How could I possibly then, with virtually £10 in my pocket, write a totally unbiased review about the card? Would you have taken my post seriously?  Would have writing about the card been easier if I didn't disclose this little detail? But then wouldn't that review be a bit ... dishonest? I had this £10 of  Superdrug purchasing power, but I couldn't help myself from feeling guilty owning it. Then I thought I could make the most of this opportunity, do a bit of promotion for Superdrug (and myself) and do a giveaway and scoop some extra followers in the process. I felt even more guilty at the prospect. And what if I just pretended nothing happened, and that I didn't receive anything? I was still having a crisis of my conscience

What I can't tell you is that:

Superdrug Loyalty Card can rival with the other obvious high street chain, in terms of points earned per amount spent. And yes,  bottom line, you will accumulate points faster with their direct competitor.

What I *can* tell you is that:

• The launch of the card came about also thanks to a twitter poll. Back in February, when Superdrug asked their fans on twitter, about the one thing you would  change about Superdrug, most of you replied instantly and in unison 'a reward card'. And yes, the point system might not be as generous as their direct competitor  but it's there.
• I am finally being rewarded for buying products from my favourite brands (sleek makeup, gosh cosmetics, beautyuk cosmetics, 2true nail polishes, and the list  goes on. Am I being rewarded everytime I buy milk from my Londis, stamps from the post office and eyelashes from Claire's? No. In fact I can think of more companies who don't reward me when I buy over and over than companies who do reward me.
• Would I still buy from Superdrug even if they hadn't launched loyalty card existed? Yes. without a shadow of a doubt.

Is the very post I am writing being influenced by the generous card offered to me by Superdrug? It's up to you to decide. I keep on moaning and going on about availability of products from the Superdrug website but deep down, I will remain a massive fan of Superdrug, and you will probably find me at Superdrug pretty much every weekend (I am sad like that) reward card or not.


What will I buy with this card? Nothing. I *still* feel uneasy about owning it and I think my BFF should have it. It's only fair: every hour spent  on this blog is an hour spent less on her. {If my other ‘glittery’ BFF is reading this by the way, you have not been forgotten xx}


You know what would make my conscience lighter? To actually publish this post…


eeek *presses send*