Sweet. Krispy Kreme is holding a sweepstakes and the top prize is a family vacation for life. Â Assuming a 35 year old husband and wife and two kids won, adding up airfare and hotels for the next 40 years would be quite expensive… so what a valuable prize this is. Â Or is it?
*MOUSE PRINT: “Ownership one week timeshare at a nationally recognized vacation club based in Orlando, FL and $5000 …” Â Alternatively, you can take $15,000 instead of the timeshare and $5000. [Newspaper insert April 2, 2006]
Who would have expected that the prize was really a timeshare? Also, note that airfare is not part of your vacation. Â You will surely use up your $5000 pretty quickly on that, and on maintenance fees normally charged on timeshares. Â And, unless you always want to vacation in Orlando, there may be extra charges to swap your week for a week in another location.
Sweet?
P.S. Â You don’t have to buy a dozen donuts to get a game ticket. You can just ask for one with no purchase necessary.
OK, I have to say that anyone with even a little common sense would not be expecting to win a trip to anywhere they want for the next 40 or 50 years, including airfare and any other expenses. Of course the headline has to be attention grabbing, but most people would not be surprised by the actual prize.
It’s obviously deceptive. And with the hidden fees (possibly) imposed by
maintenance, it could actually COST you money instead of you getting a
free vacation. By your saying, I could hold a contest for free groceries
for a year as my attention grabbing headline and give out only a week’s
worth of free potato chips with no issues? That’s extremely different
from the stated prize. If you can’t give it away, don’t advertise to do so.
Just remember there are hidden fees in any prize you win. Taxes always have to be paid. Ever watch the home & garden Dream home giveaway? They have been giving away a dream home each year for the past two years. Last year they added a cash prize to the winnings because all but one of the past winners was able to keep the home due to the taxes. Wouldn’t that suck,…winning a dream home and then not being able to keep it because you can’t afford the taxes. So the moral goes, nothing is free, but with a little luck you can win some perks. I feel the ad may promise more than delivered, but again it is advertising, and well…that’s the way it goes. IF they were actually selling the product I would call it deceptive, but since it is a prize (with no purchase necessary), it seems fair to me. Disappointing, but fair.
Personally, I’m a big fan of sweepstakes, both online and offline. Your chances of winning might be pretty low, but they are still much higher than your average lottery. The point is to have fun with it, anyway. If you can’t have fun with a contest or sweepstakes, don’t enter, period!
Woo – whooo! No purchase to participate?! And maybe with all the fees that you’ll have to pay to all the hands that Krispy Kreme may have struck deals with so that you can actually enjoy the vacation (over and over again); Krispy Kreme may even send you a rebate check for a percentage of their earnings…NOT!
I receive countless offers of vacations that I’ve earned or won some kind of way where so much has to be paid for that it hardly seems like a prize. The time that I’ve inquired, I even had to choose from preselected companies/accommodations at which to shop. Example: a Disney Land vacation where my choice of hotels (that I still had to pay for were preselected) and I had to get there on my own (through transportation selections, ect.
Deals like these do sounds like there may be a savings somewhere for the consumer but capitalizing off all the “free” involved and presenting it as a ‘special gift’ will probably draw enough traffic to a lot ‘pay spots’ to make up for your discounts.
This Krispy Kreme game will probably net a lot of ‘winners’. It’s called ‘bulk rate’.