Thought you folks would get a kick out of this ad. Read the text carefully.
2,000 Points
Earn 2,000 Points when you purchase a FREE Motorola Camera Phone! Plus receive a Bonus – a $25 Amex Cheque! Hurry, Limited Time Offer! InPhonic Inc.
Maybe this should have gone in the fractured English thread — “purchase” a “free” phone? I’m sure they mean purchase the calling plan.
I’m glad you explained it. I never noticed a thing. That ad definitely does not make any sense! I wonder how many weird things I fall for?
They left out “unfree service contract” evidently.
It seems dishonest, to me, to call something “free” which requires a purchase. For example, “two for the price of one” seems more straightforward than “buy one get one free.”
…hopefully you stay away from the WaldCo marketing department!
in the traids it is called BOGO, which is easier to pronounce than TFTPOO…
I find the two alike enough…both imply you get two things for the price of what one normally costs.
What I don’t like is the dishonesty in “2 for $10.00” price signs…It implies that you have to buy two to get that price, when most places will happily sell you one for $5.00.
My local grocery store did this recently with some canned vegetables..10 for $10. People were buying them up, thinking they were getting a deal. Normally the veggies are 80 cents each.
You can get the Waldco Guide to Financially Savvy Consumerism, for just 18 easy payments of $19.99, plus shipping and handling. 
what bugs me is that it is cheaper to buy 4 5-pound bags of flour in the grocery store than one 20-pound bag of flour!
The one I hate is the Sale - buy one get the second for half price. This is usually applied to something I would never buy two of. To me this is a no sale.
Ron
The example I gave was silly and understated, but I think you can get my general point, which concerns things like Internet banner ads claiming that you won some item, and really, it’s not free at all, but you have to subscribe to some big buying thing or something.