A mere twenty-one inch long receipt? CVS isn’t about to sit back and let competitor Rite Aid soak up all of the ridicule from the Internet for comically long receipts. No way. The retailer brought its A game when reader Chris stopped by recently to pick up some things for his upset stomach, showering him with a 41-inch long receipt consisting mostly of coupons for junk food, cosmetics, and vitamins.

I had to pick up four things at the local CVS on the way home from work, including a pack of mints, some soap, and some antacids for my upset stomach. After getting rung up and showing my ExtraCare card, the receipt started printing out. To my surprise, the paper kept printing and printing. When all was said and done, almost 41″ of paper had been fed out.

As not only a meteorologist and environmental scientist, but just a regular consumer, I found this a bit ironic that on the counter this was happening on, there was a sign to purchase re-usable grocery bags to help save the environment. What took up so much room on the receipt, you might ask?

1) My purchase list
2) Information for an online survey which I could win $1,000
3) Advertisement for new over the counter Allegra allergy medicine
4) 10% coupon for my next Beauty purchase (???)
5) By 2 Tostitos, get one jar of Con Queso Dip Free
6) $1 off Starbucks coffee
7) $1 off Dove candy bar
8) $0.25 off 2 Snickers, M&Ms Peanut Butter, 3 Musketeers, or Milky Way singles
9) $2.00 off any Nature Made Vitamins

Odd coupons to have for someone with an upset stomach, huh?

No. Obviously, these are precisely targeted coupons, where the CVS rewards card system figured out how your digestive system got so disrupted in the first place.

Why do retailers like to hand us festive streamers of receipts? As many as 3% of consumers redeem them, which is an impressively high rate in the coupon-distributing biz. People are more likely to glance at and hold on to their receipts than coupons dumped in the mailbox or nestled in the newspaper.

PREVIOUSLY:
Man Buys 1 Powerade At Rite Aid, Gets 21 Inch Receipt
Buy A $3.50 Hat, Get A Mile-Long Receipt For Free
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Toothpaste Purchase Results In 3-foot Long Receipt

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