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Where Are My Shareholder Perks?
Motley Fool 9/20/06
Full Story - Where Are My Shareholder Perks?
Motley Fool 9/20/06
Where Are My Shareholder Perks?
It was great to be an investor in the 1990s. Not only were the bull-market gains sweet, but you wouldn't believe the stuff I got in the mail just for being a shareholder in certain companies. Rainforest Cafe would send me vouchers to get seated right away at its busy themed eateries. Disney would provide free membership in the Magic Kingdom Club, complete with discounts at the family entertainment giant's theme parks and retail stores. Pixar would send me full-sized posters of its animated features and even a VHS copy of its award-winning animated short film Geri's Game.
I didn't get these things because I was a journalist or particularly astute in the art of panhandling. All I had to do was be an active shareholder.
Times have changed, though. Rainforest Cafe got bought out by Landry's. Disney discontinued its Magic Kingdom Club card program in the fall of 2000. Pixar stopped sending out the goodies a few years before finally hooking up with Disney.
The day the doorstep dividends stopped knocking
I wrote an article detailing the various shareholder perks in 1998. I left out so many that I had to follow that up with a second article a few months later.
"Capital appreciation is the ultimate perk," I wrote at the time. It's true. A basket of freebies is no treat if your investment has tanked by a grander sum. However, if a token gesture inspires brand ambassadorship and can transform finicky traders into buy-and-hold investors, can shareholder perks really be that bad?
It was great to be an investor in the 1990s. Not only were the bull-market gains sweet, but you wouldn't believe the stuff I got in the mail just for being a shareholder in certain companies. Rainforest Cafe would send me vouchers to get seated right away at its busy themed eateries. Disney would provide free membership in the Magic Kingdom Club, complete with discounts at the family entertainment giant's theme parks and retail stores. Pixar would send me full-sized posters of its animated features and even a VHS copy of its award-winning animated short film Geri's Game.
I didn't get these things because I was a journalist or particularly astute in the art of panhandling. All I had to do was be an active shareholder.
Times have changed, though. Rainforest Cafe got bought out by Landry's. Disney discontinued its Magic Kingdom Club card program in the fall of 2000. Pixar stopped sending out the goodies a few years before finally hooking up with Disney.
The day the doorstep dividends stopped knocking
I wrote an article detailing the various shareholder perks in 1998. I left out so many that I had to follow that up with a second article a few months later.
"Capital appreciation is the ultimate perk," I wrote at the time. It's true. A basket of freebies is no treat if your investment has tanked by a grander sum. However, if a token gesture inspires brand ambassadorship and can transform finicky traders into buy-and-hold investors, can shareholder perks really be that bad?
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