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Check in at Toys R Us on Thursday night for a special discount and a badge

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on November 22nd, 2010

Toys R Us is offering a special and a badge for foursquare users this holiday season

After you finish your Thanksgiving turkey, head to Toys R Us on Thursday night. Their stores kick off their Black Friday deals beginning at 10 pm. The first 3,000 users to check in on foursquare will receive a 15% discount good on a future purchase of $150 or more. Toys R Us is also offering a special Geoffrey the Giraffe badge for foursquare users who “show their friends that Toys”R”Us is THE destination to shop for hot toys.”

This deal is interesting in that it’s one of the first from a nationwide chain to run the same special on foursquare and Facebook Places simultaneously. The first 3,000 people to check in using Facebook Places will receive the 15% discount as well. I’d expect to see more companies going this direction as foursquare and Facebook try to carve out their share of the market.

I’m a little wary of every store offering its own branded badge just for checking in. It won’t be long before everyone’s foursquare profile becomes littered with logos from every chain under the sun. Radio Shack’s badge at least tied in to the theme of their holiday campaign, but the Toys R Us badge, at first glance, appears to be little more than an attempt to plaster their mascot on every foursquare user’s page. I hope this doesn’t become a trend.

How long will it take Toys R Us to reach 3,000 users nationwide on Thursday night? What do you think about companies offering a badge just for checking in to their stores?

  • Ching Yu

    OK, so the Indonesians all check in and we’re screwed because they can’t use the coupon. Thanks alot, Indonesians!

    • Chris Thompson

      Yeah, I’m curious how that will work as well. Plus, making it nationwide means the East Coast will have a definite advantage over the West.

    • http://www.allankintz.com ack154

      This really is an excellent point… because this is one of the first times when they’re actually counting how many people unlock it and check in, right? So all of the Indonesians will certainly be many of the first to unlock it via the mobile site and taking away valuable discounts and such for the American shoppers that they were intended for.

      And unless Foursquare plans on turning off badges for Mobile Site users, this will continue to be a problem down the road as more companies look to use these types of specials. Or, alternatively, as more companies do NOT choose to do specials like this because of a potential backlash.

      • 5square

        Up until this very moment, I didnt even care about cheaters and mobile site Indonesian’s… But thinking about it now… if foursquare wants to continue to gain new clients and keep things interesting for non-cheating users… something needs to be done starting now… With the way this promotion (and i would imagine more to follow) is set up, the only people who really win will be “toys r us” because theyll be giving out a bunch of discounts that will never get used by the people for whom they were intended for. The only way to take care of the Indonesian / cheater problem is to give Indonesia their own foursquare system, or find a way to make users or the foursquare system verify your mobile check in. Maybe make badges in the U.S. only available to i.p. address’s originated from the U.S.
        Im not a technical person, and although I use foursquare a lot, Im starting to find less and less of a point of running around trying to get badges or special promotions when some 14 year old kid in Asia doesn’t leave their couch, get hundreds of badges and wasting, sometimes, awesome promotions.
        HAVE FOURSQUARE EVER EVEN ACKNOWLEDGED CHEATING AND BADGE-SCAMMING AS A PROBLEM PUBLICLY???

      • http://www.allankintz.com ack154

        From everything I’ve seen, they’ve done absolutely everything but declare one way or another what they feel about the Indonesians. They’ll defend them as Foursquare users… which is fine – but have taken ZERO stance on whether it is right or wrong.

    • http://www.therealjamesdean.com Dean T.

      I couldn’t agree more. There comes a time where the 4SQ admins will need to break down and disable badges from the mobile site. At least in instances like this. I am in the Central timezone so I highly doubt that between the East coast and all of Indonesia checking in I have a chance at all of getting the badge. :-/

      • Anna

        Why disable badges on the mobile site?
        That’s unfair to people like me who don’t have a smart phone. I have been using Foursquare on the mobile site because it’s easier for me and it allows me to play.
        What Foursquare need is to give equal chance to everyone for badges, not make them so hard to get or easy for countries who don’t have Toys R Us.

      • http://www.allankintz.com ack154

        @Anna

        You’re exactly the reason that you CAN still unlock badges and earn mayorships on the mobile site. But the problem is not you. As far as I can tell, you’re using it the way it was truly intended. The problem is the people who use it to check in from home (regardless of country) and unlock badges and steal mayorships… all illegitimately.

        And I’m sure you don’t want to hear “just buy a smartphone” either… :)

  • http://www.allankintz.com ack154

    I don’t like the conditions of the discount.

    a) “Future Purchase”? Really? Can’t just get the discount then and there?
    b) “$150 or more”? This is dumb. I realize it is to get people to spend more money… but I don’t like it.

    I may still try to get the badge though.

    As for every story offering their own badge to be plastered on every user’s profile… why… that’s the American way! No, seriously, expect that to happen, b/c unless Foursquare doesn’t want to make money, it will.

    • Chris Thompson

      As a parent of two rugrats, you’d be surprised how quickly you rack up $150 in that place :)

    • Marilyn

      $150 is nothing when you have 2 or more children to shop for, I can spend way over that easy, it’s not a whole lot considering how the economy is. Wecome to America son!

    • http://www.allankintz.com ack154

      I realize $150 is not a lot to spend. I just finished my christmas shopping for the year and spent just shy of $1000. Trust me, I know.

      But there are a couple pieces here… 1) I do the bulk of my shopping online (for multiple reasons) and 2) If I just want to drop in and pick up a new PS3 game or something using the discount, I can’t. I’d have to buy like 3 of them. That’s dumb.

      They want to get people back in the store and spend more $, I get that… but wouldn’t it also be great to get even MORE people in the store? I might stop by to unlock the badge and pick and extra thing up or two… but I have no plans to come back for anything else to actually USE the discount if I unlock the badge.

      So there are multiple levels working here… and I definitely know $150 goes quick when shopping. But I also know that setting those kind of restrictions does not get me to come back and spend more money.

  • Sal Cano

    @ #1 agree…foursquare needs to get their s*** together

  • http://www.tecfan.moo.no Tecfan

    Will the badge also be available outside the US?

    • Chris Thompson

      I don’t know for sure, but I doubt it.

  • http://robert.aitchison.org Robert Aitchison

    What is the specific time frame here?

    After 9:30 on Thursday is not doable for me plus my kids are old enough that I don’t have much use for the coupon.

    If I’m interested in the badge can I check in on Friday or another day on the weekend? I usually avoid the heck out of shopping centers during the entire holiday season but I can make my way to the local Toys-R-Us via side streets to get a badge on Friday or Saturday if that’s an option.

    • Tam F

      I tried to go this morning a 8:30 am to unlock badge but did not get it. Is there a shout out we need to do?

      • http://robert.aitchison.org Robert Aitchison

        It looks like you actually had to check in on Thursday night to get the badge.

  • Chris (FoursquareHelp)

    So is the badge limited to 3000 unlocks or does that limit only apply to the discount? If there is a limit on badge unlocks there is no way anyone outside of Indonesia will be able to unlock it.

    I haven’t been to a ToysRUs in years… but if they make the badge available to everyone and allow it to be unlocked on Friday too, then I’ll definitely go to a store.

    • Chris Thompson

      The press release is the only information available about the badge. I believe, though, that it’s not linked to the Thursday night event, but will be available throughout the holiday season.

    • http://www.allankintz.com ack154

      To me it reads like the badge is not limited at all… but the DISCOUNT is. So the discount is only to the first 3000 check-ins. The badge is something separate…

      That’s how I interpret it anyway.

  • http://www.allankintz.com ack154

    That badge is hot. I will definitely be going to unlock that – regardless of the discount crap. My g/f will think I’m crazy, but she’ll also probably want to tag along. :)

  • jumper

    if the discount is only to the first 3000 check-ins but the badge is available throughout the holiday season, i will wait till the 3001 check-ins then :)

    • http://www.allankintz.com ack154

      Those of us in the US that may eventually use the discount would certainly appreciate that. Maybe you guys can just wait until Friday morning to unlock it or something? I mean, we pretty much accept that you’re going to anyway, but how about a 12 or 24 hour window if you can help it?

      • jumper

        sure why not as long as the badge still active at that time, well, we just like foursquare badges not coupons nor the new book of face’s foursquare copycat, go foursquare!

      • http://www.allankintz.com ack154

        From as much as we know (not much) it sounds like the badge will be available through the holiday season – much like the RadioShack badge.

        We think…

  • Jeff

    Geoffrey is wearing a Santa hat, so in some ways he is linked to the promotion.

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  • Ching Yu

    Has anyone seen a link to the Toys R Us page on foursquare to follow, or did foursquare programmer monkeys have code that searches for check ins specifically at the venues?

    • Chris Thompson

      I don’t think you’ll need to follow anyone. Looks like the monkeys have taken care of it :)

    • Gordon Werner

      just make sure you check into valid venues (named Toys”R”Us) (with quotes) … the legitimate venues also have a valid Toys”R”us Twitter link in the address

      • http://www.allankintz.com ack154

        That’s not totally true… My local one has no quotes and is the official one. There is the same Toys R Us staff assigned to the venue.

  • comment

    What I think Toys ‘R ‘Us should do is accept 3000 discounts for 3000 people who turn up at their store not based on 3000 people who CI at their stores. Of course Toys ‘R ‘Us still need to see the CI from these people who turn up to get discounts. It should be first come first serve basis. So 1st 3000 people will still get the discounts and this definitely will be Americans not Indonesians.

  • comment

    i think Indonesian users on 4square is quite significant in numbers and this is a good thing for 4square. In the future if 4square expand to Indonesia or Asia, it would be easier for them to penetrate the market and more businesses in Indonesia will most likely sign up to 4square. With the availability of this badges, Indonesians are playing 4square like crazy with some sleepless night due to different timezones in US. If there are no badges to gain, they will probably quit as soon as they get bored. The badges are the only thing keeps them going.

    • noil

      you bet, absolutely right

  • Bitchenstein

    What’s the point of being able to check in via website? Doesn’t that defeat the whole purpose of 4square in general??

    And to all the people who think 4square is “just a game”: it obviously isn’t just a game otherwise they would’ve came up with a nationwide game of hide and seek! It’s a marketing scheme to mobilize the public to go out and spend more/do more. There’s lots of money and marketing strategy behind 4square. So its not some silly game just advertised to be that way. DUH!

    • comment

      Yes you are right, it defeats the whole purpose of 4sq. So why worry about people getting badges? Badges are not the whole purpose of 4sq. If they want to get the badges and collect them, so be it. No harm done to anyone and nothing illegal. Take the iPad for example, it was created for mobile people to receive their emails, work and internet access. But on the side it can be used to play games. So if I bought iPad solely for playing games, it defeats the whole purpose of using iPad? The feature is provided, and they are simply using it.

      • noil

        i agree w/ u, absolutely right, don’t bothering at all

  • Hickory33

    Do we know if this is only unlockable at Toys R Us stores? Or does it count for their Babies R Us stores as well?

    • http://www.allankintz.com ack154

      My guess is the Toys side of things only. I see no mention in anything on the ToysRUs website about it including the Babies site.

  • noil

    Yeah better for jumpers should c/i after reach 3k c/i means 2 days, hah? LOL

  • Bitchenstein

    What does the iPad have to do with any of this??

    Dude Noil you’re annoying and your grammar doesn’t even make sense.

  • John

    What’s with all the hater? These Indonesian somewhat offended you how?? If they want to play their own game, let them. I dont think you got anything to loose.Foursquare got more fanatics users in Indonesia than in other countries. These people even made forums, gatherings,clubs for Foursquare users in Indo. Block them? I think they deserve more recognitions from Foursquare.
    And for the Toy’s R Us badge, that many people are going to line up before the Black friday. It’s not like you gonna get them badge aniway. with or without the Jumpers.
    BTW Bitch Einstein the Ipad analogy works. you just dont get it.
    And Noil “Shut Up”

    • http://www.allankintz.com ack154

      No one is trying to block Indonesia from using Foursquare. And if that’s the conclusion you’ve come to in all of these “Indonesia” discussions, then you are completely missing the whole point.

  • Pingback: Foursquare Black Friday Deals « MasqueMagazine

  • 5square

    I only care about Indonesians who take my discounts.

    If people want to sit at home and collect badges from their couch, for checking in to places they will never even see….. then awesome!! I wish I had that kind of time.

    This whole discussion is about someone taking something that has no use to them and screwing the people who could use it.

    To lightly use the iPad analogy.. If a store was giving out free iPads, but you had to be in person, in line to receive it… then out of nowhere they said “Sorry, no iPads, we gave them all away online to a country that cant use them 8 hours before you even got here. But rest assured…. they aren’t using them for games, or email or anything but a doorstop”

    You wouldn’t be upset, or see that as bad marketing?

    Toys R us is marketing to Americans in America… Yet, I bet not one person reading this even gets the discount…

    I hope foursquare starts an Indo/Asian network… Im going to use the mobile site, quit my job, and take every discount, limited badges and mayorships all to myself… then read about people bitching about me on a like “about foursquare” blog written in type I cant understand.

    It will be awesome.
    Or maybe ill just stop caring and stop trying.
    I mean… its only Americas economy we’re trying to help.

    Happy Thankstaking, Yall.

  • bram dari timor

    “This whole discussion is about someone taking something that has no use to them and screwing the people who could use it. ” quote from 5square.

    Ok, use your time dude, its limited badges which come with discount, so i made promise to my self not to make a fake check-in during the period.

    but…. some badges are not limited to unlock, so why you have worry if some one at the other planet gets the badge?

    at all, for me it’s just a GAME

    ——————————-
    quote: “I haven’t been to a ToysRUs in years… but if they make the badge available to everyone and allow it to be unlocked on Friday too, then I’ll definitely go to a store.” – Chris (FoursquareHelp)

    i hope you can get that Chris, you got my respect.

    Yuk teman-teman, biarkan mereka mendapatkan badge dan discountnya, semoga setelah 3000 unlock, toysRus memperpanjang dan membuat badge ini un-limited supaya kita juga bisa punya badge ini.
    Kita hanya butuh badge, mereka buuh discount, saya kira mereka orang kaya semua, ternyata masih butuh discount, mari beramal discount untuk mereka.

    Bravo 4sq

  • 4sqpartners

    It appears that Toys”R”Us has generated a lot of duplicate venues because original venues were not spelled as Toys”R”Us. Many people will likely be checking into the original venue and if it isn’t merged with the new venue with (currently zero) checkins, then a lot of people will not be receiving a Toys”R”Us discount nor a Geoffrey Badge.

  • comment

    So how is Toys ‘R ‘Us going to give discounts to first 3000 people who check in. Will they be sending the coupons to those 3000 people? At what address? So how about the people who is going to the store just to get the badge and will never ever spend a cent on Toys ‘R ‘Us? Are you going to hate them too? It just seems silly to me that Toys ‘R ‘Us is limiting to only 3000 badges. What I think is Toys ‘R ‘Us will do is accept 3000 people who turn up at their store with the badge.

    • http://smalltownbigcincy.wordpress.com Rachel

      It’s not the badge… its the coupon code. Much like the mayor/check-in specials that you have to unlock. Thats the special. Not the badge. The badge is infinite, hence why people are upset that non-americans will be checking in to get the badge, and therefore be getting the discount and taking it away from someone who truly wants the discount, not necessarily the badge.

  • Dan

    O so the one Im sitting outside right now, says to check in at 10pm to unlock the badge. not 930. which one is it?

  • Ben

    I was just reading over this a few times, and actually a friend brought this up:

    It’s not the first time that we’ve seen a badge with just a company’s logo on.

    We already have the CNN badges, and ones from MTV, Zagat, Bravo, the Wall Street Journal, the Redskins, Mazda, Conan, People, and the actual faces of Jon Stewart, Andy Cohen, Ellen, and Stephen Colbert. If that’s not product placement, I dont know what is!

    I dont really mind having them on there, honestly. Kinda like having a bumper sticker; you’re showing support, but more often than not, you dont really care.

  • Ben

    Also, in response to the information, I think that the first 3000 people who check in, AND show up will get the discount.

  • Roy

    geez guys ! its just a badge for god sake LOL and btw the discount is for the first 3000 people to text FOURSQBF to 30364 ! FYI

    Badge Message:

    “Congratulations on unlocking the Toys”R”Us Black Friday Badge! First 3000 to text FOURSQBF to 30364 receive 15% Off of Purchases $150 or more on you next visit. GO! Offer valid 11/28-12/2″

  • dj

    A friend just got the badge. It gives you a code to text in order to get the discount.

  • http://www.therealjamesdean.com Dean T.

    I went to the Toys R Us in my area and checked in and didn’t get it, only to realize that the special was attached to the connected Babies R Us (which is in the same building). I then checked into that and still never got the badge. :-( I don’t care about the discount really, but hopefully if I go back later in the holiday season the badge alone will still be available.

    As a side note, I checked twitter for unlocks once the badge was open and not a single one I checked was from anywhere but…you guessed it – Indonesia. *sigh* I think 4SQ needs to disable earning badges via the mobile website. Check-in all you want, but badges should have to be physically in person which can only be verified with GPS or cell signal. Yeah, I’m slightly bitter. Tis the season. lol

  • http://foursquare.com/bauserdotcom Michael Bauser

    Here’s the thing: There was an Epic Swarm at a Toys “R” Us in New York, just before midnight Thursday (EST).

    This is the problem with cheaters that Foursquare isn’t addressing. Whenever there’s an event with a badge (like Black Friday, Comic Con, or the Rally to Restore Sanity), it’s going to get swarmed by the kids from Jakarta. People who aren’t cheating are going to unlock bogus swarm badges because of the cheaters.

    I have a “Swarm” from Internet Week that I don’t know I can trust. (Honestly, it didn’t look that crowded when I was there.) A friend of mine has “Epic Swarm” from The Rally that I don’t know I can trust. Every swarm from a high-profile event is potentially fake. Until Foursquare deals with its badge-cheater problem, Swarms are a completly meaningless accomplishment — if you’re proud of having one, it means you don’t know how broken the system is.

    • http://www.therealjamesdean.com Dean T.

      Excellent excellent point. I know so many people with the Epic swarm badge now that previously had struggled to get the original Swarm badge of 50 people.

      I think it’s funny that as a whole, the entire country of Indonesia has nothing better to do than sit on their computer and “jump” around the globe getting badges. I wish I had that kind of time to research available badges and get them within seconds of becoming available. How is that a game to them? It’s a game if you have to play to get the badges, it’s pointless if you login to the mobile site and check-in 15 places in 2 minutes so you can get a bunch of badges.

      Woohoo for them. And for everyone who’s getting badges they shouldn’t be just because of the large number of Indonesians checking in from across the globe. This cheating is ridiculous. It’s not a “different way of playing the game” like they say it is. It’s cheating, plain and simple.

  • Chris (FoursquareHelp)

    Anyone have an idea on the specifics to unlock this badge? There are a few Toys “R” Us venues in my area all with the correct formating/backward R/etc, but they haven’t been claimed by anyone. Really don’t want to waste a trip to find out I won’t be able to unlock the badge.

  • Hickory

    First, the correct locations all have a “Special” for free caryons and coloring book.

    Second, I checked in at 11:30am EST, and got the badge and the discount (when you check-in it gives you a code to text in)

    I’m sure why everyone is so worked up about Indonesians…

    Chill out everyone, it’s the holidays.

  • http://www.vandykfamily.com Matt Van Dyk

    Chris, I unlocked it here this morning: http://foursquare.com/venue/1336685 I’d suggest checking the venue you intend to go to against this venue for similarities/differences — in particular, the “special offer”. If there’s a special offer at the venue you’re going to, it should issue the badge, I would think.

    • Chris (FoursquareHelp)

      Ok, I see now. I was searching by Toys “R” Us instead of Toys”R”Us which was causing the correct venues to not show up. Thanks for your help!

      • http://foursquare.com/bauserdotcom Michael Bauser

        You need to learn not to “overspecify” your searches. Foursquare’s venue database if built by lazy amateurs (the users), so depending on exact matches is unwise. You never know when the person who added a venue is bad speller.

  • http://www.vandykfamily.com Matt Van Dyk

    Also, note that http://foursquare.com/user/4247741 is listed as staff on the “correct” venues.

  • Spike-A-Rooney

    1) This badge will only unlock today (Friday)?
    2) Can you just check-in and get the badge?

  • Michael

    D’oh. Why doesn’t Foursquare ever have people go through and do merges of duplicate addresses? The “correct” ones in Metro Detroit have 0 or 1 check-in.

    • http://www.vandykfamily.com Matt Van Dyk

      They do. I just went through and marked all the duplicates in the Detroit Metro Area for merge. There’s a system in place for the merges to process and that system has been on the fritz the last week or so, but I would expect that the merges would process in the next couple of days. If another SU reads this, if you would, please clear out the Detroit Merge Queue. There were at least 2-3 duplicates of every Toys”R”Us. Thanks!

    • Michael

      Thanks, Matt! I’m a SU1, so I could have requested the merges. But it shouldn’t be up to users. Though I know the staff is short at the office.

  • Brian

    I guess this whole TRU badge thing was a US phenomenon only? It doesn’t mention that on their website.

    I went to a TRU store and did almost 400 Euros worth of shopping, but I really only did it for the badge and when I checked in, I didn’t get it. Wasn’t looking for the discount, just the badge. Pretty disappointing.

    • http://foursquare.com/bauserdotcom Michael Bauser

      To which website are you referring. The Toys R Us press release used the word “nationwide.”

      Also, it was a Black Friday badge. Unless your Euro-currency country has Thanksgiving the same day as the United States, Black Friday probably isn’t a real thing there. You shouldn’t be shocked that a Black Friday badge is only active in the country that has Black Friday.

      And finally, why did you wait until you spent all that money to check-in? That seems silly.

  • Chris (FoursquareHelp)

    Looking at Twitter, people stopped earning the badge about 10 hours ago (12:50 am est time) so maybe it was only available on Black Friday and not through the Holiday Season like some have speculated?

  • Matt Van Dyk

    @Michael: I don’t think it’s many different than typical merge problems. Staff basically punts that to SU’s. We should be grateful they tried to tie it to existing venues this time rather than doing a blanket import & creating a dupe mess (like they did several months ago with the RadioShack import).

    @Chris: Could be. Could also be that Toys”R”Us was closed overnight. We’ll know for sure after today, I think.

    • Chris (FoursquareHelp)

      That wouldn’t stop the Indonesians from unlocking it though. I’ll be visiting a Toys R Us later today so I’ll find out for sure then.

      • Chris (FoursquareHelp)

        The badge is no longer available. I went to a Toys”R”Us today and didn’t unlock it.

  • KnightFal

    Yes, it won’t…

    In fact, they preparing for NASA badge now :D

    Try yourself jump around the globe and hunts all badges, using new/ other4sq account.. and feel how good it is to get many badges and collect them all.

    It’s a phenomenon, yes it is. This jumper thing is not crossing 4sq creator/developer minds in beginning. Bu now, ..i think 4sq should find a way/ solution to this jumper activity, by adding more feature or expand their business in Asia,or anything that can absorb this potential users into something usefull and profitable to 4sq it self and partners.

    Without doubt, 4sq should count Indonesia as potential opportunity for them. Don’t look thousand of people cheat just to get epic swarm badge, but look as how easy for indonesians to gather 1000 users to check in at the same time, as indicated how big 4sq users in indonesia.

    As 4th place country in population, should be no problem for them :D

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population

    • http://foursquare.com/bauserdotcom Michael Bauser

      Adding more badges in Asia won’t magically make cheating stop. It will just give the cheaters more to cheat about.

      Likewise, a nation where the entire userbase is a bunch of cheaters isn’t actually desirable to most companies. You knuckleheads are probably making Indonesia less desirable, not more. All the energy that Foursquare could be using to think about international expansion is being wasted trying to keep Indonesia from pissing off the entire rest of the world.

      • Jump!

        It’s ok mike, we had koprol.
        If Koprol starting to launch their own “badges system”, we will be out of foursquare, and you’ll live happily ever after…
        :)

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