Countdown collectables continue to dominate lives of parents

Another popular supermarket promotion has parents taking to social media to collect and swap cards for their children.

A recent collectable promotion at Countdown saw customers receive a free Disney Movie Star card with every $20 they spend. There are 42 cards that can be collected and six cards complete a Disney story.

Additional extras, such as a projector to view the cards with, have to be bought to view the full Disney story and cost $10.

Mother-of-two Isabelle Vincent made a post on Neighbourly about the cards her daughter needed to complete her collection, and received numerous responses from parents.

“I was surprised with the response I received. I had parents dropping Disney Star cards off in my letter box,” said Ms Vincent.

Ms Vincent said that collecting the cards has helped her children learn how to value items.

“I think they are great, they give the kids something to look forward to and collect. It also gives them something to show interest in and learn how to look after items like the cards,” said Ms Vincent.

Fi Perez was one of many parents who commented on Ms Vincent’s post asking if anyone had the cards her grandson needed.

Ms Perez said that the Disney Star cards is a good idea for kids, but believes it also bribes parents to shop at supermarkets who promote collectables more.

“I think that it can be expensive for parents, because their children would pester them to buy from supermarkets like Countdown which is not a very cheap store,” said Ms Perez.

Senior writer at Consumer NZ, an organisation that provides advice to consumers about products, Belinda Castles said the promotions encourage pestering behaviours by kids.

“I think that kids probably annoy their parents for it because my kids do that, it’s a pester power of it. It’s addictive and kids want the whole collection because their friends are doing it.

“It’s frustrating because kids nag for them and it’s another way of marketing for children via the parents. It’s all about selling more products by getting parents to change what supermarkets they go to depending on what promotion is being advertised,” said Mrs Castles.

There have been several other collectables promotions that have been popular, such as New World Little Shop where both parents and children collected the mini plastic food products.

Countdown spokesperson Luke Chivers said the collectables are popular because they are fun and inspire imagination for children.