Free T-shirt love for targeted consumers

Free love can be dispersed in many ways, whether to all those who happen to be in the right place at the right time or to a select group of qualified recipients. Much like SOOPZ, a network through which food bloggers can sign up for the chance to receive free samples, Gitchers is a new site that allows consumers to sign up for the chance to receive a free, branded T-shirt. Gitchers is essentially a database of people who want free T-shirts, either for themselves or for their dogs (special canine T-shirts are distributed through the site as well). To sign up, consumers tell Gitchers what type of shirt they’re interested in–featuring the logo of a favourite brand or website, for example–along with key demographic information such as their birthday, gender and location. (Each Gitchers account is associated with only one T-shirt request, so users must create separate accounts–using distinct e-mail addresses for each–to request more than one type.) Participating companies, meanwhile, tell Gitchers what types of consumers they’d like their T-shirts to be sent to–women aged 35 to 50 in Columbus, Ohio, for example–and pay USD 10.99 each for a minimum of 100 shirts. The first Gitchers users in the database meeting the advertiser’s criteria are then the lucky ones to receive the shirts. There’s no arguing with the power of free love, so it seems likely that there will be increasing opportunities for companies that serve as intermediaries, making the distribution effort more targeted. Consumers get free stuff, companies get targeted advertising, and the world just gets more love! 😉