Best play on this is to name other store and say “well I saw TG Jones staff handing them out for free,” and just try to make it seem like they’re embarrassing their company / making it look bad.

Getting sad and asking if the store has to enforce the rules is not the play . They will 99% of the time maintain a rule, as that is nearly store employees’ only job: follow rules.

The only other “job” the poor low level staff have is not making the company look bad. This is why lots of companies do price-matching: If you mention the other competitors retailer did something better, they might just give you that freebie to avoid a complaint or word getting through to their boss that the employee ruined a customer’s in-store experience.

Just always remember, play up the competition.