Was just meaning there has to be a limit to how far this kind of thing can be pushed without getting downright dodgy in and of itself, and outright psychological manipulation for profit can reach a level where it is really not much better than theft.

I don't think that adding a couple of stamps to a loyalty card is particularly bad, and was just joking to make a point, but the pathological obsessiveness of modern marketing and the way that it can feed back into a mindset of treating your customers as punters or even prey, is something that I think is pretty destructive in our current culture.

[edit] I just realised the above is readable either way. I was meaning that I don't think that the shop adding a couple of extra stamps is really that bad. Obviously adding them yourself is nicking coffee and is only remotely acceptable when either dying of thirst, or possibly when visiting starbucks. :)