Free is OK; it gives me a chance to try new stuffs which otherwise I would not pay out of my pocket to do so. They may very well try to influence their ideas or products on me but in the end I get to decide if I liked the 'free' stuff. Just don't feel obliged to buy or try their products right away, I know, it is hard to resist when you have a cute marketing chick on the other side ;) BTW, when is a free cup of coffee not good?

@panacea very true. Most of the time you can't help but feel obliged to buy. They say - free money is one of the worst enemy. One of the best example I have seen in Canada are the aboriginals - they are imprisoned in a virtual jail of money. The government stops allowances if they go out of their designated area.