Office Depot - use of "offer a brick to win a gem"

Office Depot provides another excellent example of "offer a brick to win a gem" strategy.
Office Depot advertise that you can "buy and try" any (almost) product for two weeks.
If you do not like it - just return it - no questions asked.
People come there 'cause they know that they will not end up with something that doesn't suit them perfectly. If not they can just return and take another brand or design.

Analysis:
Well it's pretty obvious - they offer the "buy and try" = "the brick" to attract customers and sales = "the gem".

See definition of the "offer a brick to win a gem" strategy and other examples of it's use here.

Apple stores, Drugstore Wars and the use of "offer a brick to win a gem"

Apple Stores Success.
In an article in New York Times the author tells about the outstanding success of the Apple retail stores chain compared to all the competitors. The bottom line - he attributes the success of the stores to the "Genius Bar" located at every store and staffed with the diagnostic wizards whose expertise is available in one-on-one consultations — free. The offered ability to come and consult the wizards with the problems and to get the sometimes badly needed advice - that's what brings the people to the stores. They can also come and test the hard- and software before buying them.
The "genius bar" - "the brick" attracts people and as a result - sales.
Here is the New York Times article.

Drugstore Wars of the 80's.
In the great Drugstore Wars of the 1980's the competition was equal across the board. One chain of stores broke the deadlock by offering blood pressure machines in their stores. Customers could wander in, sit at the machine with their arm in the automated cuff, and have their blood pressure taken for free. No hassle, no pressure to buy anything, no charge for the service. Each machine was placed back in the pharmacy section so the customers walked the length of the store to get to the machine.

Equipping each store with an automated blood pressure machine required an investment, but it turned casual customers into consistent customers. Thousands and thousands of people suffer from high blood pressure, and the handy, free reading prompted them to use this certain drug store chain whenever they needed any of the items stocked there. They could pick up what they needed and check their blood pressure. Thus, the outlay of a few thousand dollars per store, with maintenance of a few hundred dollars every year, returned thousands of dollars more in revenue and profit.

See definition of the "offer a brick to win a gem" strategy.

Strategy: "Offer a brick to win a gem"

This is also one of the original 36 Chinese stratagems.

The idea is very simple - offer something of lesser value ("the brick") to gain something of higher value ("the gem").
I would say that this is probably one of the most used strategies.
"The brick" may be of real or illusionary value and may come in many forms - e.g. power, wealth, sex. When somebody flirts with the person in power trying to get him to do something, or tells him that "I could do this or that for you" - it is essentially "offer a brick to win a gem" in action.
It does not have to be an illusionary "bait" - the value may be very real. When store owners offer sales and discounts - they offer a little price reduction to get the profit or to get back the money invested in the "stale" product. Same thing when they offer to pay in many installments.
With kids - actually every time when you say "if you do this, you will get that" - using a "reward" - you use the "offer a brick to win a gem" strategy.
The simple applications of the strategy may look straightforward and maybe unexciting , but it may be used to reach the goal very effectively and in more sophisticated ways. As in the following examples:

Examples:
1. Apple stores, Drugstore Wars
2. Office Depot