When do "free" and "all" not mean "free" and "all"?

I live in Canada. The companies that I deal with, especially the ones that ship to me, must know that I live in Canada. (Let's not get into depressing detail about the amount of personal information that our IP addresses reveal about us.)

So, this company knows that I only use Canadian IP addresses when I use the website, that I live in Canada, and that if I order anything I have it shipped to Canada.

So why would this company tell me that it is offering free shipping this week? My first reaction, for a split-second, was "great, if I order anything I can save some money". But even before I followed the asterisk to the fine print I realized that this offer was not for me.

Now perhaps I may order a gift and have it shipped to a "continental US" address, but better segmentation and customization of the email would go a long way towards ensuring happier customers.

This teasing is just annoying.