Coupon Experiment Gone Awry

About 40 product coupons from some of the biggest manufacturers were released last week without the manufactures' knowledge or permission. The high-valued coupons were released by the San Jose marketing company Vryl Mkt during a marketing experiment that got out of control. Industry spokepersons say it could cost a million dollars by the time it is over.

According to the reports, Vryl Mkt released coupons for grocery and personal products without implementing the proper security measures. This allowed coupon-clippers uncontrolled access to the coupons which were placed on Facebook and Vryl Mkt's website. Consumers were able to print and use multiple copies of the coupons at will.

"None of our members provided Vryl Mkt Inc. with permission to create or to release these coupons or to use our members' copyrighted or trademarked images," according to the Coupon Information Corp. and the Association of Coupon Professionals.

Vryl Mkt president Harry Soza admitted that permission had not been obtained by all the manufactures and that Vryl Mkt would cover any financial losses to retailers who accepted the coupons. The company also issued a statement to retailers not to take anymore of the Vryl Mkt coupons.

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