Just had an annoying page takeover on Stuff this morning telling me New World’s Little Shop promotion is back. I already knew. As a father of two young girls going two days without visiting the local supermarket is nigh unheard of!

My initial feeling of getting two little packets and a tick sheet from the shop assistant yesterday was “best keep this secret from my girls as long as possible”. The items received are currently sitting unopened on the fridge.

You see, as a parent, it’s bloody annoying! The kids go completely patho on the whole thing and it rapidly turns into a bore for those with the wallets.

I’m not alone here. After mentioning the launch to another parent her response was “Bugger. Just a pain.” And my wife’s response was similar.

When Little Shop initially launched I could absolutely see the genius in the promotion. It felt fresh and really did make my wife and I go to New World over Countdown or Pak n Save so we could help our kids achieve their goal of getting every item.

But it all ended rather quickly and the items disappeared under the couch and gradually wound their way to the bin.

As a promotional tactic it feels clever but as a brand marketing experience is it creating resentment from the people who actually do the shopping?