Olympic Towel Freebies

    One thing I've always loved about Japanese grocery stores is the freebies.

    Specifically speaking, these things are not entirely free, but come at the cost of a regularly priced product that they are encouraging you to buy. Usually, the freebie stand has listed how many of the item you need to buy in order to qualify for the free product, usually in groups of 2 or 4. It's only really neat if the product is something you will actually use and the giveaway is something cool or fun. In this case, the deal was one Olympic towel in my choice of a variety of styles, all made out of old Coca-Cola bottles and for the low low price of four 500 ML bottles of Coke products. It applied to a variety of Coca-Cola products that were all lined up next to a TV screen that ran through highlights from the Olympic torch run as it has continued so far in 2021.

    Speaking of the torch, I would expect that many grocery stores in towns across Japan see similar displays to this in the week leading up to the Torches approach. The day after the torch came through, this was all dismantled entirely. The freebies are limited, though in my little town there were still some towels left in the day before the torch run, though not in all of the style varieties.

    If you want to get your hands on one of these, headed to the grocery store the week the Olympic torch is in your town, provided you live in one of the prefectures left on the run to Tokyo.

    The labels on the towels explained that they are made out of recycled plastic bottles and the towels themselves are surprisingly soft. While they aren't incredibly absorbent, they are a fun and colorful way to celebrate the Olympics.