If you’re looking to give people a reason to drop a dime (or preferably a dollar) in that tip jar, how about turning the whole process into a popularity contest that taps into your customers’ inner comic book fan boy/girl?
That’s what the folks at Depanneur, a grocery store in Brooklyn, did recently when they turned their tip jar into a battle between Batman and Iron Man. Of course, both of these character’s alter egos are wealthy beyond all imagination (though Tony Stark did beat out Bruce Wayne in a recent Forbes list), so neither of them are much in need of extra cash.
Regardless, this approach is a fun way of encouraging customers to show their appreciation — both for your staff and for their favorite fictional crime fighter.
Originally posted by @LauraLaneNYC
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How could this ever happen, apart from yet another shitty Marvel/DC crossover? Ridiculous.
/nerdrage
Well, when it comes down to it, I’d say Batman would win.
Tony Stark’s tech is mainly weapons, and suit related. Power management, engineering, stuff like that.
Batman has gadgets. Meaning he has a wide variety of odd speciality tech. Radars, weapons, vehicles, etc.
The difference here is Tony Stark is a scientist first, and IMO Batman is a detective first.
So I think that Batman would have some sort of tech to disable the Iron Man suit.
Also, when it comes to Batman versus anyone, Batman wins.
Except Chuck Norris
No, it was established in Batman verus Chuck Norris issue 98 that after a climactic, epic struggle, Batman would claim the ultimate victory, but only by allowing Chuck Norris to believe he won.
Love you, raydee.
Dude. Stark has an Infinity Gem. Iron Man wins.
But Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark are rich! Why do they need tips from me?
Yeah, should be OWS heros like Michael Moore vrs Alec Baldwin!
Oh wait…
LMAO!
Exactly! They’re both part of the 1%!
This is not new or innovative. There are at least 3 cafes in the town I live in that do this kind of thing to encourage tips.
Yeah, the Starbucks drive-thru by me has been doing this for years.. ‘Puppies vs. Kittens’, ‘Star Wars vs. Star Trek’, etc.
I don’t see anywhere in the article where it says that it’s new or innovative. Maybe it’s just a funny article? LET’S GET ANGRY ABOUT HUMOR.
I’m not angry at all, I was just wondering why they were bothering to mention this. It isn’t news, it isn’t even really a rare or special thing to warrant writing an article. That’s all.
What are they tipping in a grocery store? I really can’t tell from the picture.
me neither, but some grocery stores follow an old-fashioned approach and have services that you simply do not see in a contemporary food retailer.
Such as?
When I was growing up (1970s), there was a grocery store in San Antonio called Handy-Andy. On the end of your shopping cart were two plastic cards, each with the same number printed on them. After you went through the checkout, you took one of the cards with you to your car, while the bagger took the cart (with the other card) to a staging area off to the side of the store. You then pulled your car over to this covered bay, and handed the card to one of the waiting guys, who would find the corresponding cart and load the groceries into your car for you. I don’t know if they got tips, but if a grocery store provided that service today, I’d pay for it.
This will end quickly now that it has been published and made public. A cease-and-desist letter is already on the way at Bat-speed!
Sad, but that was exactly my first thought as well.
The folks at ALL stores need to stop begging for tips.
If you go above and beyond, I will give you a tip. Otherwise, NOT.
how selfishly american of you. you get to enjoy the lower prices which the lower pay of employees ensures, with the understanding that you, the consumer, can choose to help out the people who have worked hard for you to be able to frequent a store and purchase a good, and you choose only to do so in case of extraordinary help.
i would love it if all stores would cancel tipping, and raise employees’ wages, and just raise the prices on all goods that way cheap-asses would be forced to pay the people who work hard in order to run a business who services they enjoy.
these people work hard. yes the tipping system defrays the costs of employment from the employer, but it is a cost you would have to pay anyway if the employees made a living wage. get the math?
even if you get only acceptable service, those workers have been cleaning and mopping and stocking and doing all sorts of work you don’t see and are not aware of just to keep the establishment running. this work directly benefits you as a consumer and customer of the store.
have some love and appreciation for your fellow man. tip a little no matter what. tip more for better service.
Clearly you’ve never been to my local coffee shop, with insane prices for food and beverages served by inattentive hipsters who would rather adjust their music or talk to their friends rather than give you quick service. Get down off your soap box please.
Wow, you don’t feel to entitled do you?
Should we tip the person who sells us gas, our vehicles, insurance, our homes? How about it we rent, should we tip the landlord, the clerk at your banks?
How about the cop that gives you a ticket for speeding, afterall he is looking at not only for your safety but that of everyone else around you?
So you tip every person who is on the clock and does something for you? You must be broke.
Two more things:
1) If every store raised their prices to pay a “living wage” would that living wage not be a living wage anymore?
2) If they raised their pay to a “living wage”, what’s to keep them from putting the tip jar out? These aren’t waiters who are paid less than minimum wage. These are just some of the ever growing workers who just put out a tip jar.
Bro, it’s a fucking grocery store. Whatever minimum wage they make is quite adequate for a no-skill job.
Bruce wayne has a fricken belt. True, that belt had an endlessly stupid amount of one-time-use only things, such as shark repellent, but it’s not beating missiles and flying and repulsors. Its just not.
I’ll just shout, “I’M THE PENGUIN!” and steal the tip jar.
I would totally steal that jar from you and give it to Catwoman.
Catwoman is an interesting character. A theif that Batman lets slide because she is an attractive female.
It’s that damned Catsuit and the Eartha Kitt “purr”. No male can resist, no matter if it’s Julie Newmar, Lee Meriwether, Eartha Kitt, Michelle Pfeiffer, or Halle Berry in the suit… Not a batman, a catman, nor a human.
A bar I frequent has been doing stuff like for a while. Each week they switch it up. Last week was “What band is worse?” with Nickelback and Creed jars.
I hope Nickelback won by a landslide.
Me too.
Damn, if I were there, I’d have spent all my beer money on tips!
Amy’s Ice Creams in Austin also has at least one store that does this:
Kirk or Picard
Frankenstein or Dracula
etc etc
“Mary Ann or Ginger?”
or
“Betty or Wilma?”
I’ll take Iron Man over Batman any day. I’m just a Marvel lovin’ fool. What I’d like to see is Deadpool vs. [Insert Marvel Character here] and see what kind of results they get.
Ironman is a douchenozzel who supported Mutant registration.
Batman is the God Damned Batman. Batman > Superman, and since it’s a forgone conclusion that Superman > Ironman, Batman > Ironman.
They should use pictures of two girls instead, maybe a blonde and a brunette. Or make it a three way and add a redhead.
Yeah, because they would get so many tips from their female customers that way…
You have to tip to buy groceries in NYC? Wow. No wonder the cost of living is so high!
A grocery store? What do they do that is tip-worthy? Stock the shelves? Ring me up?
I applaud the idea though.
umm… why is there a tip jar at a freaking GROCERY STORE. Tipping is out of hand in this country.
Wonder how many times they had to empty out that Batman tip jar. Clearly he’s better.
I think the best tipping scheme I’ve ever seen was at a piano bar in Dallas. There were two pianists and there was a competition to see which football team had the most support (or some silly title, I can’t exactly remember), measured purely in dollars. So, for your team to “win” its fans had to tip the most money. Someone tipped $100 on behalf of UT, so that they could “beat” LSU who had the highest tip contributions at that point. It was really ridiculous the money these people were dropping so their team could “win” this totally insignificant competition, but what a brilliant and lucrative idea on behalf of the performers. It probably helped that everyone was drinking.
I dunno… I can understand this being interpreted as a “fun” approach, but I don’t subscribe to that theory. I think you should EARN your tip, and not go riding Batman’s cape to get it.
We get the same around here (Phila burbs) during election seasons at the 7-11s. Nothing helps tips more than an angry partisan seeing more in the opposition’s jar.
But come on… Should I be tipping at a 7-11?