Here's the WSJ story. It was on the first page of the Jan. 24 paper, far right column. I'm the guy who has had his fill of Healthy Choice products!


January 24, 2000

Business Fare

Pudding Guy Is the Legend,
But Others Buy for the Miles

By JANE COSTELLO
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL INTERACTIVE EDITION

David "Pudding Guy" Phillips has become a legend in cyberspace chat
rooms, but he isn't the only one buying consumer products in search of
frequent-flier miles.

Susan Michael, a real-estate broker from suburban Chicago, bought
between 200 and 300 liters of Diet Coke last year because Coca-Cola
sponsored "Diet Coke Rewards" (www.dietcokerewards.com), a
marketing promotion which offered customers the chance to pad their
Delta accounts with thousands of frequent-flier miles.

Whenever Ms. Michael saw the soda on sale, she would fill her car and
move on to the next store. If there was a limit per customer, she
enlisted the aid of her husband and her 16-year-old son.

"It got embarrassing," she says. "The trunk was so full I'd get worried
about the tires on my car."

Ms. Michael admits that her loyalty is up for sale, and she's well aware
of the impact frequent-flier miles have had on her spending. "I literally
go out and buy the things just to get the miles," she says. "I used to
only buy Diet Rite until the Coke thing came along. It's exactly what
they want me to do."

Like her "hero" Pudding Guy, whom she discovered through an online
frequent-flier discussion group, Ms. Michael isn't a frequent flier. She
says she travels strictly for pleasure, and plays the frequent-flier
game from the comfort of home.

Her "hobby" has resulted in more than 400,000 miles, or about $8,000
worth of airline tickets.

While it's evident that frequent-flier programs carry considerable
marketing clout beyond their own industry, there's no guarantee that
mileage-related promotions offer other business a lasting impact on
consumer behavior. Shoppers may be reluctant to shell out $2 a can for
Mediterranean bean soup without the allure of a free trip to Greece to
sweeten the pot.

David Fisher, a computer salesman from Issaquah, Wash., racked up an
additional 12,000 Northwest frequent-flier miles by making Healthy
Choice foods a staple of his diet last year. But he's clearly had his fill.

"I shudder now when passing those little green boxes in the frozen food
aisle," says Mr. Fisher, who says he now knows how many calories and
fat grams they all contain. "The one product I looked forward to eating
was their French bread pizza, but the worst was those little rubbery
and tasteless strips they call mozzarella cheese. They should sell it to
road repair companies to fill potholes."

Write to Jane Costello at [email protected]

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Addicted to airline miles? Check out: The Airline Mileage Workshop

David--well deserved fame for an ex-Haddonfielder. Too bad they didn't mention your Mileage Workshop site.

Djlawman

Congratulations MileageAddict. Your web site could well be another story by itself, and I am sure that the Healthy Choice miles are a tiny fraction of what you have earned through other sources. Also, since you post tips to this newsgroup and on your web site, you have earned the thanks of lots of folks.

[This message has been edited by PG (edited 01-27-2000).]

As PG and DJlawman have said, congrat's MA. I did in fact miss that it was you- surprisingly in retrospect!

Also, the article is on pg B1, the Marketplace section.

[This message has been edited by doc (edited 01-28-2000).]

Doc,

Thanks for the correction. I received an email from a friend that simply stated that it was on the front page. It makes more sense that it would have been in the Marketplace section...

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Addicted to airline miles? Check out: The Airline Mileage Workshop

I did not see this article, but I know that sometimes the same article shows up in different pages in different parts of the US.