It shouldn't surprise anyone that "reality television" is often anything but real. While the television show "Extreme Couponing" was canceled two years ago, it lives on in syndication. Whenever it airs in reruns, readers write with questions about what they're seeing on TV:
"Dear Jill.
I was watching 'Extreme Couponing' on TV the other day. I did notice on a couple of the shows where the couponer bought $1,000 or so of food and accessories for 1 cent and everybody was happy that they paid 'nothing' for all that food.
Who pays the taxes that are clearly listed on the tape register? You may have a 1-cent balance after all the coupons are run, but somebody has to pay the taxes, and I'm sure it's not the store. I've yet to hear anyone address this issue on the shows or from what I've seen in your articles. Can you elaborate?
Ron B."
Having viewed many episodes of "Extreme Couponing," I too noticed that the tax often is not included in the "shown on TV" total dollar amount that the shopper pays. The shopper should be responsible for the sales tax in states where tax is collected. In addition to the "missing tax" there have been numerous instances of falsehoods documented on "Extreme Couponing." If you're watching, keep in mind that it's definitely not a "how-to" show.
Here are some details of "Extreme Couponing" that you didn't see on TV:
• Some stores doubled coupons for "Extreme Couponing" shoppers, but do not regularly double coupons for their own shoppers. One episode filmed at a Fry's Supermarket showed all coupons doubled, but the store's policy only allowed the first three coupons to double. Fry's responded: "We do want to make it clear that the show was done for promotional purposes and that our coupon policy posted here on Facebook remains the same and is for all Fry's stores."
• A Pennsylvania supermarket doubled coupons for its on-TV shopper, but it does not double coupons for anyone else. The store's owner later stated that they normally don't double, but for the show, "We did help her out and double it up."
• A episode filmed at Price Chopper showed all of the shopper's coupons doubled, even though the store's policy was to double just four coupons. After complaints erupted on Facebook, Price Chopper responded "we agreed to participate with the show to help out a good customer who has shopped us for many years."
• Lowes Foods apologized publicly to its customers for participating in the show after bending the rules, too. In a lengthy statement, Lowes said "While we cannot undo our participation in the taping of 'Extreme Couponing,' what we can do is share with you … some of what appears in the clip you saw was staged by the production company. In fact, the young man who approaches the empty shelf in dismay is actually a crew member. We definitely made a poor decision by participating in the show."
One participant in "Extreme Couponing" blogged about her experience after the filming, saying, "The entire show is scripted. The producer handed us coupons to give them and told us what to say. Totally fake. Sorry if it ruins it for anyone."
There are many instances of TV shoppers being allowed to use coupons for products they did not buy. One shopper had a $1,900 shopping trip for which she paid about $100. Many readers emailed me to point out that the majority of the coupons she used were for products she didn't buy. Her Safeway store later told the media that her "strategy was to use coupons for products she wasn't buying."
If that's not enough evidence against the "reality" of this show, I'll leave you with this – two shoppers were busted for using counterfeit coupons on the show. One shopper used 34 counterfeit coupons for free toilet paper, and the other used 200 coupons for free laundry detergent. In both cases, the counterfeit coupons were being sold on auction websites – another reason I always advise never to purchase coupons online.
Jill Cataldo can be reached at [email protected].
