Have you been craving sugary, candy-colored, magical food items since the Unicorn Frappuccino went away? General Mills has some good news: In a promotion, it will be giving away thousands of Lucky Charms boxes that contain only dehydrated marshmallows, fulfilling a fantasy that many people have had while intoxicated. But getting one of these rare boxes of cereal won’t be as special as it was the first time — and there are much easier ways to eat a bowl of hard, candy-colored marshmallows. [More]
sweepstakes
Get A Golden Bud Light Can, Win A Remote Chance To Win Super Bowl Tickets
By 11.28.16
The premise of the Golden Ticket promotion in the book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the two movies based on it was simple: there were five pieces of gold-colored paper hidden in chocolate bars all over the world, and the bearers of those tickets would get to visit Willy Wonka’s candy factory. The grown-up version of this promotion involves 37,000 golden-colored cans of beer hidden in cases of Bud Light, but only seven winners. [More]
Reminder: There Are No Fees To Claim Your Prize When You Win The Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes
By 11.23.15
The day has finally come — you’ve won the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes! At least, that’s what the guy on the phone is telling you. But don’t send your thanks to the ghost of Ed McMahon just yet: if someone is telling you to fork over huge wads of cash in order to claim your prize from PCH, it’s a scam and you should hang up the phone and start hoping anew. [More]
Here’s Why You Can’t Expect Fast Food Restaurants To Hand Over A Sweepstakes Game Piece Without Purchase
By 10.26.15
Whenever you read the fine print on a sweepstakes promotion, or hear it read quickly during a commercial, the terms “no purchase required” might stand out. While it might sound like an easy way to get a chance to win something without spending a dime, it’s a little bit more complicated than walking into a fast food restaurant and demanding a game piece. [More]
TV Stations & Radios Can Now Just Tell You To Go Online For Contest Rules
By 9.17.15
In 1976, the Federal Communications Commission adopted the so-called “Contest Rule,” which sought to increase transparency in on-air contests by requiring that TV and radio broadcasters disclose the terms of the contest over the air. And even though there have been huge technological and cultural changes in the nearly 40 years since, allowing shows to also put their rules online, broadcasters must still explain them on air. That’s about to change. [More]
Win In Publishers Clearing House Game Due To ‘Technical Malfunction’
By 7.17.15
Have you ever wondered whether anyone really wins the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes? One woman thought she did while playing a game for real money on the company’s website. She won five separate digital slots-style games, racking up a total of $5,000. She was happy to wait for her check…and wait…and she kept waiting. [More]
FTC Orders Sweepstakes Promoter To Pay $9.5M For Deceiving Consumers…Again
By 2.11.15
Just like some people have a habit of entering as many sweepstakes as possible, some scammers can’t break their addiction to promoting bogus sweepstakes. Just ask the woman who now must pay $9.5 million because she continued pushing fake sweepstakes even after being caught by the feds. [More]
General Mills’ New Policy: If You Engage With Us Online, You Can Never Sue The Company
By 4.17.14
Companies want customers to engage with them online as if they’re just another pal on Facebook or Twitter, one that can offer downloadable coupons and promote contests with attractive prizes. But in new language recently added to General Mills’ website, consumers who interact with the company online will be agreeing to give up the right to sue the company in the future. [More]
Actual Living, Breathing Human Wins Publishers Clearing House Prize Of $5K A Week — Forever
By 8.30.13
Every time the doorbell rang when I was growing up, I knew without a doubt that it would be the prize crew from Publishers Clearing House on my doorstep with a big, fat check, and that I’d be able to keep myself in LEGO, Barbies and Pixie Sticks for a lifetime. But the actual odds of winning PCH’s “Forever” Prize — $5,000 per week for life — are about 1 in 1.215 billion.* As such, the doorbell usually heralded the Fuller Brush Man or one of my neighborhood pals, and I had to find money in the lemonade stand. [More]
Bogus Weight-Loss Products, Fraudulent Prizes Top List Of Biggest Scams
By 4.19.13
More than 1-in-10 American adults fall victim to some sort of fraud, according to a new report from the Federal Trade Commission. And scams related to fraudulent weight-loss products are by far the most prevalent. [More]
If You’re Going To Rig A Sweepstakes, Don’t Give The Prize To Your Facebook Admin
By 1.7.13
For some reason, some people are still convinced that Facebook “likes” are some sort of currency and will do just about anything to get them. For example, the jewelry store that is now being accused of rigging a sweepstakes and then accidentally outing its misdeeds online. [More]
FTC Warns Against Scammers Pretending To Be From The FTC
By 8.3.12
While the Federal Trade Commission is working to protect American consumers from scam artists, badvertisers, robocallers, and other unseemly types, the agency is not handing out $250,000 sweepstakes prizes. [More]
"Lost" Sweepstakes Prize Disappears Into Electromagnetic Anomaly (Or Maybe Just FedEx)
By 2.3.10
Last night was the much-anticipated season premiere of “Lost,” and ABC built up excitement with a sweepstakes where 815 fans would receive a USB drive with exclusive video clips from the premiere. Sounds pretty awesome. Reader and Lost fan Nicholas writes that he won the sweepstakes, but his prize never showed up. The marketing firm running the contest and FedEx blame each other, and Nicholas is left without his cool prize. [More]
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.
Congratulations! You Just Won A Scam!
By 5.7.09
Is there anything scammers won’t try in their attempts to disguise advance fee fraud? Nope. Chelsea and her husband just found out that OMG THEY JUST WON 350K!!!1! from the Gaming Association of America. They’ll be receiving their check shortly, but in the meantime the GAA has sent them a much smaller check for about $5,000 to cover any fees associated with the prize. All they need to do is contact the “non-government service tax agent (GST)” to take care of cashing and handing over that $5k, and they’ll be swimming with hookers in champagne-filled pools.
The FTC Will Never Ask You For Money Because You Won The Lottery. We Promise.
By 10.23.08
Apparently, some group of geniuses has been calling people and pretending that they are from the FTC. They start out with some nonsense like “Hi, I’m calling from the Federal Trade Commission to tell you that you have won $250,000…”
Lawsuit Says Verizon's Text Message TV Show Contests Are "Illegal Gambling"
By 3.29.08
A class-action lawsuit has been filed in California against Verizon and several third-party companies, alleging that they promoted illegal gambling by enticing customers to pay to enter contests in which there was an “infinitesimally” small chance of winning, reports RCRWireless. “The suit centers on 99-cent charges levied on wireless consumers who played contests associated with popular TV shows like ‘Deal or No Deal’ and ‘Sole Survivor.'” The plaintiffs claim that the contests were less promotional sweepstakes than “illegal lotteries designed to generate revenues far in excess of the value of the cash awarded.”
