Chegg.com Sends Out a Stimulus Package

I'm a sucker for a good advertising campaign. My wife has to remind me to fast forward through commercials when we're watching a show through the DVR. I can't help it. I like commercials. I can spot a poorly crafted slogan, lame logo, or ineffective billboard from a mile away. So I just couldn't help myself when I opened my front door last night.

I don't normally leave the house through the front door. We usually park our vehicles in the garage, I don't need to buy a vacuum or magazine subscription, and I'm already LDS (sorry Jehovah's Witnesses), so there's rarely a need for us to open the front door. To make matters worse, there is a persistent group of yellow jackets that have decided to claim our front porch as their home. No matter how many times we spray, they always come back. So I avoid the front door. Until last night.

I had left my iPod in my car which was parked on the driveway, so I quickly ran outside to grab it. When I opened the door, I was greeted by a familiar bright orange box. I had seen this box before at the beginning of the semester when my book rentals from Chegg.com arrived. Curious, I picked it up. Here's what went through my head:

We're halfway thru the semester. I've received all my books. Why they would be sending me another package? I wonder if they messed up and sent me my book again. Why is this box rattling when I pick it up? Great. Broken merchandise. Wait, how do you break a book?

I grabbed my iPod, and hurried back inside to chegg things out. On the cover of the box, there was a sticker that said "Free Chegg Promo." Inside the box was a bounty of book-related booty. Here's a breakdown of the contents. There's pictures at the end of the post as well.

3 mini buttons | Two that say "I {heart} Chegg.com," and one that says "I planted a tree by renting a book from Chegg.com"
2 bars of chocolate | Made through partnership between Bloomsberry & Co. and Terrapass. Helping to reduce carbon emissions has never been so tasty.
1 package of Tic Tacs® | Orange flavor. My favorite.
1 package of gum | Stride® brand, Always Mandarin flavor. Also orange.
1 coffee cozy | I'm not a coffee drinker, so I think this is what it's called. You know - those cardboard covers that you slide over your $5 morning coffee? Except this one has a coupon code for $3 off a textbook rental.
2 pens | Who doesn't need a new pen once in a while?
20 bookmarks | These are no ordinary bookmarks. Each one has a coupon code for $3 off a textbook rental.
20 Chegg.com stickers | Clear stickers featuring the Chegg.com logo. Suitable for sticking on a laptop.

For a company that relies on business from college students, this promotional package was genius. A sticker will be going on my laptop today. A button will possibly find its way to my backpack. I will be using the pens to take notes in class. It will take me a couple weeks to finish the package of gum and Tic Tacs®. It will take a few minutes to polish off the chocolate. And I'm offering up the rest of the stuff to anyone who's interested.

So, if you would like a discount on a book rental from Chegg.com, send me an email at alan [dot] bradford [at] asu [dot] edu, or you can send me a tweet. I've got 21 coupons to give away. If you're not familiar with this company, you can go read a post about Chegg I wrote for ASU last year. Basically, you rent your books instead of purchasing them. It saves you crazy amounts of money (well over 50% in most cases). You don't have to worry about selling your books back to the bookstore or on Half.com or Craigslist. They plant a tree for every book.

Seriously kids. Go Chegg it out. I'll be right here eating my eco-friendly chocolate. For breakfast.