Wednesday, October 12, 2011

No Purchase Necessary

Why do companies have to have a "no purchase necessary" clause in their contracts?

I'm sure there is some legal precedence here and I could simply look it up, but I'm like most americans and I'm lazy.

I'm sure someone sued because they declared not getting a "1 in 4 WINS!" game token from some fast food chain without buying something was unconsitutional or something. The place running the contest is trying to generate business by enticing customers to win! win! win!. Yet under some most like idiotic rule, they have to allow non customers to play.

This isn't true for the lotto/powerball. I can't just walking into a 7-11 and say "I'm not going to buy anything, but give me a lottery ticket." I guess that is different though since with the lottery, we are ~buying~ a chance to win with no other deliverable promise of any type of good or service. It's definitivly a gamble.

Hrm. So I get that reasoning for a lottery, if I'm correct of course. But why do we have to give non customers a chance to win a prize we are giving out in hopes of creating more customers.

Ugh. Now I'm curious but I don't want to google it in spite. (in spite of what? no idea.)


Another question. Why do coupons retain a value? (worth 1/27th of a cent). Does that actually mean I can collect coupons and turn them in somewhere for money? Where does the worth come from? Who would reimburse me?

3 comments:

nancy said...

I lasted approx 8 seconds after publishing to google it. I was wrong in my guess. And the answer is actually kind of interesting. (in case you want to know and you refuse to google "no purchase necessary" you can just check it out here http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2243/why-do-contests-say-no-purchase-required )

Sarah said...

I have always wondered that too!

No purchase necessary. So, um, I have to take the cap off the bottle of soda in the store and then get the code, screw the cap back on and set it on the shelf? And I can win?

The 1/27th of a cent thing I think is for the redeemer -- so if you go to the grocery store and use the coupon, they get reimbursed from the company, I think. Not 100% sure.

StuiesJuJu said...

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/79145

Long boring explnation of the coupon thing.