Here’s comes the ham

Turkey reigns supreme at Thanksgiving, but when it comes to Easter the meat du jour is ham. Not surprising then that Target and other retailers got aggressive this week with ham prices in keeping with the well-worn strategy of offering a compelling value on the main course to drive store traffic and sales of related items. Target offered an attractive price of $1.59 a pound on a spiral cut ham, but what made the offer standout from supermarket competitors is the high quality image and large photo, which made the ham look attractive. Target also prints its ads on a better grade of paper than the newsprint commonly use by supermarkets, which doesn’t allow for quality photo reproduction and can detract from the appearance of even the highest quality meats. Conversely, the roast turkey (78 cents a pound) and prime rib ($5.99 a pound) that were also featured in Target’s circular appear very appetizing.