UPDATE: After becoming the object of Internet ridicule, 1-800-Flowers has decided to change its position and not only provide the rescue group with the year’s supply of dog food, but two years’ of supply. [More]
contests
Boy Who Drilled Miracle Hockey Shot Denied $50K Prize
By 9.2.11
An 11-year-old boy and his dad are paying a heavy price for their honesty. On Aug. 11 at a charity hockey game in Minnesota, the boy’s identical twin was called to center ice to attempt a long-distance shot to win $50,000. Because his brother was headed outside to play with friends, the dad told the child he could take the shot in his place. The boy drilled the shot, but the dad confessed to the substitution afterward and the Reno, Nev. insurance company that covered the event refused to pay up. [More]
Rest Easy, America: The New AFLAC Spokesduck Has Been Chosen
By 4.27.11
Our brief national nightmare is over: supplemental insurance company AFLAC has chosen a new man to voice its spokesduck after comedian Gilbert Gottfried was fired from the job for cracking jokes about the tsunami in Japan over Twitter. The new man for the job? a 36-year-old radio sales manager from Minnesota who auditioned for the job online. [More]
Win $1000 For Making A Picture About The Dangers Of Debt
By 1.10.11
Make a picture illustrating “The Dangers of Being in Debt” and you could win $1,000 in our publisher Consumers Union’s new contest. Simply submit your Photoshop, drawing of a spider, collage or what have you on this Facebook page. Get people to vote for you and the image with the most votes wins. Then you can use your cash prize to pay down your credit card debit. See, it all circles back… [More]
Burger King Kinect Codes Make Us See Double
By 11.12.10
Lonefilms and his friend ate at Burger King and peeled off their instant win codes on their cups, which gave them a chance to win Kinect, Microsoft’s motion and voice sensor. They received the exact same code, signifying that there’s little significance to the 6-character combos Burger King is cranking out. [More]
How Have You Fared At McNopoly?
By 10.11.10
For strictly journalistic purposes not having anything whatsoever to do with me being a sucker for silly, addictive promotions, I visited McDonald’s four times over the past week to collect Monopoly game pieces. Emboldened by the ubiquitous ads that say one in four game pieces are winners, I racked up 40 chances to become a millionaire, or at least a Redbox free rentailaire. But all I have to show for my endeavors are five pounds gained and a free medium fry. [More]
Domino's Thinks Your Actual Pizza Could Star In An Ad
By 6.30.10
Do you like photography? Do you like money? Do you like pizza? Well, are you willing to tolerate Domino’s instead? The chain is running a photo contest, and has solicited photos of actual, real-life pizzas from customers. Our tipster J.P. wonders, “I wonder if they’ll be so bold as to post EVERY entry no matter how it looks?” Guess we’ll find out. [More]
TD Bank Will Pay Off Your Mortgage
By 3.16.10
Free house! TD Bank is running a new contest: apply for a new mortgage, get a chance to have them pay it off in full for you. [More]
Make A Picture About Debt, Possibly Win $1000!
By 1.14.10
Bust out your Photoshops! Consumers Union Defend Your Dollars is running a contest to see who can make the best image that shows how debt can be dangerous. Users vote and the winner gets a a $1000 cash prize. You have a pretty good chance of winning too as they’ve only got like 17 entries and the contest ends on Jan 31. I know some of you folks like to make these sorts of things so why not give it a whirl? [More]
Lee Declares All Facebook Contest Entrants Winners
By 12.5.09
Something appears to have gone wrong with a contest that Lee Jeans ran on Facebook, and the company was forced to change the rules partway through. However, instead of canceling the contest or changing the rules in their own favor, the change means that everyone who entered the contest before Wednesday, December 2, under the original rules, won automatically. Yay! [More]
Honor Your Favorite Deceased Infomercial Celebrity This Halloween
By 10.22.09
One of the inexpensive Halloween costume ideas suggested by readers was to dress in honor of the deceased and beloved infomercial pitchman Billy Mays. (This costume is especially simple if you already have dark hair and a beard.) Today, Billy Mays III announced a Billy Mays costume contest, sponsored and judged by his friends and colleagues at Sullivan Productions.
Man Sues Coors Over Invalid Contest Codes
By 10.9.09
An Illinois man has filed a class-action lawsuit against MillerCoors because the “Silver Ticket Sweepstakes” code on the case of beer he recently bought turned out to be invalid. The man says he tried entering the code online and over the phone, but it was rejected each time—not because it wasn’t a winning code, but because it wasn’t a legitimate sweepstakes entry code to begin with.
LG Looking To Buy Back 5 Phones For $10k Each
By 9.30.09
If you bought an LG Chocolate phone, compare its serial number to the ones on this site—if it matches then you can sell it back to LG for $10,000. We’re not sure if this is just a fancy way to hold a contest, or if those 5 phones accidentally shipped with alien technology inside. Either way, it’s a bit more than you’d get through Craigslist. Hurry though; the offer/contest/coverup ends today.
Papa John's Camaro Drives To Court
By 9.6.09
We all should have known that at the intersection of a long-lost car, a multi-national pizza chain, and a huge cash reward, there would be litigation. Papa John’s owner John Schnatter offered a $250,000 reward for his 1971 Camaro. A couple who formerly owned the car helped Schnatter track it down, but didn’t receive the reward because they didn’t hold the car’s title. They did receive a $25,000 “finder’s fee,” but claim that the reward should rightfully be theirs. Now the company and the couple are suing each other. [WKLY] (Thanks, Becky!)
Papa John Shells Out Quarter Mill To Re-Buy Old Car
By 8.26.09
Before John Schnatter founded Papa John’s pizza, he was a struggling businessman. Back in 1983 he was reduced to selling his black and gold 1971 Chevy Camaro Z28 for $2,800 to keep his dad’s bar afloat and to start Papa John’s.
New Subway Gamepieces Exist Outside Of Normal Time
By 8.25.09
Justin sent us this gamepiece he scraped like a wet scab off the side of his moist Subway beverage cup. (I do not like gamepieces affixed to fast food drinks.) We’re in awe at its nearly k?an-like phrasing. How is an instant win not an instant winner? How do you peel the gamepiece that has already been peeled? Feel free to use these in your meditations.
Vonage Routing Causes Reader To Miss $1,000 Giveaway
By 7.18.09
Ari’s wife had ten minutes to call into her local Washington D.C. radio station to claim a $1,000 giveaway, but couldn’t connect because Vonage routes all calls to 1-800 numbers through New York, and the radio station was only accepting local calls. For ten anguishing minutes Ari and his wife suffered through busy signals, worried that the radio station was deluged by other callers. After emailing both Vonage and the station producer, Ari and his wife finally realized what happened…
Backyard Baseball Bonus Codes Hit A Foul At GameStop
By 6.25.09
Dan’s son is learning an important consumer life lesson, which is that sometimes companies promise really fun things that just don’t happen. GameStop sent out a promotional e-mail about a really cool contest involving Backyard Baseball ’10. Except the contest isn’t working, and no one knows who can help Dan straighten it out.
