Yesterday I received a text off a friend, who is a huge Benefit fan, expressing her annoyance at Benefit. When she had nipped out to pick up her favourite Benefit product Playstick around the time of the Hello Flawless Liquid Foundation release, she had been told it had been discontinued. After further investigation she was told it has been discontinued but she could buy it online while stocks last, but it was no longer available in stores.
There was further confusion on Facebook:
‘Can’t believe you discontinued playstick!’
‘Benefit please answer something for me… are you discontinuing Playsticks? Every Benefit counter tells me something different’
'Heard on the grapevine that Benefit Playsticks were being discontinued... I hoping this is not true? The new foundation that it is to replace is just awful'
Benefits answer to all of these was exactly the same. They never told us why the Playsticks weren't stocked in stores, and they never said why people had been told they'd ALL been discontinued. They merely said some shades have been discontinued and you could get playsticks online 'here'.
So why would Benefit do this? Why would they take a best selling product of the shelves? My friend 100% believes they did this to sell more Hello Flawless. As 'Benebabes' have been recommending people buy Hello Flawless instead. So for her birthday her mother brought her Hello Flawless. Then a few weeks later, after all the Hello Flawless hype has died down, Playsticks magically reappears on the shevles. Leaving my friend very miffed off, and feeling cheated as she much prefers Playsticks to Hello Flawless but can no longer afford to buy them.
My question is this: Did Benefit take Playsticks off the shelves to sell more Hello Flawless? Both customers and 'Benebabes' alike don't seem to quite know what happened. I'm not sure what happened myself, but it does seem a little fishy. I've heard someone say they might have had a supply problem, but that 'supply problem' just seems a little too well timed.
What do you guys think?
Disclosure: I don't own Playsticks or Hello Flawless Liquid Foundation. Picture is a press image. All information comes from my friend who is staying nameless and from Benefits UK Facebook page.
I 100% think they did. I was supposed to go to a Benefit Audition but decided not to go as I learnt that their work is completely sales based. It makes no odds what your make up skills are like as long as you can sell! I wrote a blog post on this too :) xx
ReplyDeleteOMG! this happened to me. I went to the audition and they loved my make-up skills but because I didn't literally FORCE people to buy products they let me go.
DeleteI think they absolutely did! I agree with you! It really reminds me off Google+ (I know they're completely different things, but still!) They launched it, and it wasn't as sucessful as they thought it would be, so therefore they took away GFC (in this case playsticks), in hope that more people would use Google+ (Hello Flawless), but it just sparked outrage!
ReplyDelete-Aimee- x
haha yeah totally the same thing! I think this one has gone unnoticed though
DeleteInteresting post! This is obviously what they did! Boo to Benefit! I hate going to the Benefit counters as I always feel there is high sales pressure to purchase things, even when I just want to have a browse. As a result, I tend to either pick things up and dash to the till in Boots or purchase online.
ReplyDeletex
haha I've heard so so many people saying this! It's an awful marketing strategy as it actually scares people away from the counter not towards
DeleteMaybe it's just me but I don't get the hype about benefit products. Everyone I work with seems to love them as do most bloggers but I really think everything I've tried so far has been a complete waste of money. To me, they're like a low end brand at a premium price. The first product I tried was the that gal primer after reading loads of reviews online. It's not even like a primer xD it's just a slightly pearly looking moisturizer that clogs your pores and doesn't even provide a nice glow or base T_T Anyway enough rant, I just don't get the hype about these products in general
ReplyDeleteI'm not the biggest fan. They're foundations are all awful in my eyes. They are over priced and I think people get too caught up in the hype to realise this including myself. I had a little realisation a few months back and I've been trying other brands recently instead :)
DeleteI hadn't heard about this - interesting post! I've never tried anything from Benefit as of yet, their counter always seems a little overwhelming.
ReplyDeleteI don't get what all the fuss is about Benefit products! They seem average at best - it's all about pretty packaging with them.
ReplyDeletexxx