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A savvy man was sent over $300 worth of freebies from his favorite brands — after he wrote them poems.

Andrew Cunningham, 29, spotted a tip online which suggested supermarkets send free gifts if customers send them a poem.

He decided to test it out and wrote brand-specific short poems for 50 of his favorite household brands, restaurants and shops including Duracell, Boots, Waitrose, Odeon, Costco and Yorkshire Tea.

Incredibly, Andrew was sent over $300 worth of freebies from 16 of the companies he contacted.


  Andrew Cunningham was able to score hundreds of dollars worth of free merchandise from different brands by writing the companies personalized poems. Andrew Cunningham / SWNS Andrew Cunningham was able to score hundreds of dollars worth of free merchandise from different brands by writing the companies personalized poems. Andrew Cunningham / SWNS

His top results including bagging himself $52 of Scrub Daddy supplies, $39 of Odeon Luxe cinema tickets and $52 worth of Molton Brown goods.

He also got free food and drinks from KFC, Pringles, Richmond, Tunnock’s and Yorkshire Tea.

Andrew’s experiment was such a triumph that he’s compiling more poems to a further 50 companies to see how much more he can get.

Andrew, who runs money blog Capital Matters, from Glasgow, Scotland, said: “I had seen people posting online that they got free stuff from supermarkets after sending a poem.


  Some of the freebies Cunningham got in the mail after contacting 50 companies. Andrew Cunningham / SWNS Some of the freebies Cunningham got in the mail after contacting 50 companies. Andrew Cunningham / SWNS

“I thought ‘why don’t I try it with other places as well as supermarkets?’

“I wandered around my house and took notes of the most common brands I use, so if I did get any freebies I knew I’d use them.

“Then I started writing the poems — I tried to personalize them focusing on all the things I liked about that brand.

“I sent out 50 and got 16 freebies back which is a 32 percent success rate.


  Cunningham also received coupons from some of the brands. Andrew Cunningham / SWNS Cunningham also received coupons from some of the brands. Andrew Cunningham / SWNS

“If I’ve learnt anything from this, it’s if you’re looking to buy something expensive soon, email them a poem and they might give you a discount or a freebie.”

Andrew’s first approach was to Yorkshire Tea, with the following poem:

He was sent $13 of free decaf teabags as a thank you for the poem.

While lots of brands didn’t get back to him — from Persil to Disney Store and Tresemme to Moet — several did.

After sending personalized poems, he got a 16-pack of AA batteries from Duracell and free cinema tickets from both Odeon Luxe and Scotsman Picturehouse, Edinburgh.


  Cunningham got a coupon to a local Thai restaurant in Glasgow. Andrew Cunningham / SWNS Cunningham got a coupon to a local Thai restaurant in Glasgow. Andrew Cunningham / SWNS

  Cunningham said that Scrub Daddy was his favorite package. Andrew Cunningham / SWNS Cunningham said that Scrub Daddy was his favorite package. Andrew Cunningham / SWNS

He also got a 50 percent off voucher for his local Thai restaurant, Thaikun, in Glasgow, and teacakes with a matching branded hat from Tunnock’s.

Andrew said: “The branded woolly hat was probably the funniest thing I got. They sent me a box of teacakes too.”

Some of his most successful outcomes included getting a gift box from Scrub Daddy worth $52, after he sent them the following poem:

He also got a selection of handwash and a branded soap holder from Molton Brown, which he estimated came to around $52 too.

His poem to Molton Brown had read:

He also got a $4 Pringles voucher, a free KFC chicken burger and popcorn chicken, a $6.50 voucher for Caesars dog food and a $7.80 voucher for Richmond sausages.

Andrew said: “The poems were never aimed to be anything serious, they’re just for fun.

“I think the Scrub Daddy one was my favorite — we got a selection of sponges, a Dish Daddy and lots of refills.


  His gift from Molton Brown was worth about $52. Andrew Cunningham / SWNS His gift from Molton Brown was worth about $52. Andrew Cunningham / SWNS

“They sent it in a really fun box with nice packaging — they’re a really fun company.

“I think that would be my tip — if you know a company that does fun and light-hearted marketing, they’ll probably be a good shout.”

WHAT HE GOT:

  • Yorkshire Tea – Free Regular Decaf and Bedtime Decaf teabags worth $13
  • Duracell – 16 AA Batteries worth $13
  • Treasure Trails – 3-For-2 Coupon
  • ODEON – 2 ODEON Luxe Cinema Tickets worth $39
  • Richmond Sausages – vouchers with $7.80
  • KFC – vouchers worth $13
  • Pringles – vouchers worth $3.90
  • Scrub Daddy – Gift Box worth $52
  • Ocean Saver Spray – 15% Off Coupon
  • Tunnocks – Box of 6 Teacakes and Branded Hat
  • Caesars Dog Food – $6.50 in Vouchers
  • LSA – 20% Off Coupon
  • Woodwick – 20% Off Coupon
  • Thaikun Thai – 50% Off Voucher
  • Molton Brown – Metal Infinite Bottle with Body Wash and samples – worth $52
  • Scotsman Picturehouse, Edinburgh – 2 Free Cinema Tickets worth $39

ESTIMATED TOTAL WORTH: $309

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