Reply #121: I don't see anything wrong with it

[hyphenate]

at all from a commercial point of view.

I think that we're reading more into it than is there. Frankly, there are lots and lots of tie-in promotional events that happen everywhere, everyday, and this, to me, sound like just another promotion. It's equivalent to McDonald's or Burger King offering toys or other items from current movies to boost the sale of little kids' meals; it's equivalent to getting a discount at a hotel because of your membership in AAA or an airline frequent miles program. It's essentially the same as any of these, and many, many others.

I worked for awhile with a merchandising department of a film studio, and often these things are as the result of a planned promotion. The Quiznos might very well have brokered a deal with the churches to include a sponsorship or commercial ad in the weekly brochure in exchange for giving the discount to those who brought in that very same newsletter. Both sides win in such an exchange, and it's all about advertising, and really has nothing to do with creed or deference to a specific group. By that reckoning, I would say that they likely went with the church group they did because they actually did have newsletters, while many other groups did not. If there were other possible places they could work out the same kind of a deal, I am sure they would jump at the chance, providing that the group didn't want to charge exorbitant amounts for such a deal.

I know we can be all a bit touchy when it comes to the RRR, and on that, I wholly agree. But since I've been in a position where this kind of a deal is based solely on financial gain, I don't see any conspiracy in it. We must not assume the worst case scenario all the time, because then we would be chasing ghosts forever.