I was flipping through a magazine the other day and saw an ad from a tobacco company having a sweepstakes. One could win an SUV, boat, fishing gear, ATV, etc. I don’t recall that they were giving away cigarettes as prizes. I was getting ready to fill out the entry card and send it in. Then I saw the following printed on the entry form…
“I certify by my signature that I am a smoker 21years of age or older.”
What’s this? I HAVE to be a smoker/tobacco user in order to enter their contest? I don’t use tobacco in any form, so I didn’t send in the form because, well, I just didn’t feel right doing so. I understand that they want to have only their product-users enter their contest.
I’ve entered, and won prizes, in a few contests before. Miller Brewing didn’t require me to certify that I’m a beer-drinker and Sears Hardware didn’t require that I be a tool-user.
This prompts a few questions from me.
-Can they legally limit the entrants/winners to only smokers?
-Do they offer the winner a cigarette and watch while they puff away in order to certify that they do smoke?
Can anyone shed any light on this? How can they legally do this?
I believe they are now required to do it as part of the tobacco lawsuit settlements.
Giving something to a non smoker is considered to be enticing them to start smoking. No more caps, jackets, bags, etc.
They still have contests, etc. to try to lure smokers of other brands.
Someone might lie to enter a contest, but I doubt they would start smoking just to enter.
In NEARLY all sweepstakes, the law prohibits sponsors from requiring people to buy their products.
So, suppose Nabisco runs ads saying, “Win a trip to Hawaii-Look for the special scratch-off ticket in every bag of Chips Ahoy Cookies.” Well, Nabisco is NOT allowed to require you to buy a bag of Chips Ahoy. If you read the fine print, I guarantee it will say, “Tickets may be obtained, free of charge, by writing to Box 555, Young America MN 66666.”
And if a Kool-Aid ad says, “Send two Kool-Aid wrappers to this address, for a chance to win a new car” Again, read the fine print. I guarantee it will say, “You may send either two wrappers or two 3 x 5 cards with your name and address.” Kool-Aid can’t force you to buy their product to enter the contest.
TOBACCO-related contests are the one exception. Their collective agreements with the government put limits on their abillity to advertise. They’re allowed to run sweepstakes, but they CAN’T be perceived as using these contests to lure new smokers, especially kids. They can only run contests for adults who already smoke.
Please feel free to enter in my name. I’ll split with you. I promise.:rolleyes: