I was browsing another forum and noticed someone talking about an M&M contest. So I went and checked out the M&M site and like usual, I see the “No purchase necessary” tagged on the subscripts.
My question is, why do they put that?
In most contests, in order to win, I actually have to buy the product and look inside it to find out if I won or not. By doing that, I have purchased the product when it says “No purchase necessary.”
I know there’s some legal issues involved, but tagging on a “No purchase necessary” when it was necessary just seems… :dubious:
No, it isn’t necessary. You can write to an address they’ll have listed, and they’ll send you a gamepiece, or in some cases you send in a 3x5 card with the requested information on it which is your entry in in a drawing. They have to say “No purchase necessary”, otherwise it would be gambling which is strictly regulated. Legally, they must provide a “no-purchase” entry method.
Interesting… next time I’ll know to do that instead of actually buying the product.
But, in some cases, like this M&M one, I have to find the bag with the groovy M&Ms. This isn’t a “fill out a game card, send it to them, they will do a random draw”. I have to find the bag where the M&Ms are groovy. In order to do that, I have to open the bags. In order to open the bags, I have to buy the bags!
I’d assume they either send you a bag of M&M’s or (more likely) just the wrapper, since if you win, the wrapper will say so on the inside. As a side note I’m somewhat surprised that scratch off lottery tickets don’t do the same thing. Seems like they could make a TON of money of the under 18 crowd. But I’d guess that would be REALLY frowned upon.
They don’t charge for the game peice for these M&M type games either. They just make it obnoxios enough to get your game piece that it’s easier to buy one.
About the only people who send away for free game pieces are serious “sweepstakers.” It seems that a lot of big prizes are not won through purchases but through second-chance, free game piece or alternate entry systems. Sweepstakers keep a big supply of 3x5 cards/paper, #10 envelopes, postcards and stamps to do just that.
I did it myself for a while years ago. Never won anything big but lots of small stuff. An interesting hobby, but time-consuming and semi-expensive (stamps).
Supposedly, the keys to winning sweepstakes in this manner are:
Send in lots of entries over the lifetime of the sweepstakes. However, some sweepstakes limit entries, so be careful that you don’t disqualify yourself.
Make sure you follow entry directions exactly so your entries aren’t disqualified (e.g., if it says 3x5 paper, don’t send 3x5 card; must be handwritten; no photocopies; self-stamped).
Be selective and only enter those sweepstakes that offer prizes you are really interested in winning (it gets too expensive otherwise).
Make sure the sweepstakes is legal in your state (it is not legal to award certain types of prizes in certain states and all “games of chance” are illegal in some states).
