4 ms·

The news to me here is that those contests actually pay out. I assumed the vast majority were just marketing ploys, where they never picked the winner, or chose

The news to me here is that those contests actually pay out. I assumed the vast majority were just marketing ploys, where they never picked the winner, or chose one of their own sock puppets. After all, who would ever know?

downandout 11y ago
I thought the same before reading this, however I have seen alot of legitimate radio stations that run contests use Twitter for the "share to win" concept - far more than I have seen them try to do it through Facebook or Instagram. Based solely on my own observations and experience, I suspect that the vast majority of contests you see on IG/FB are not legitimate, but at least some of those on Twitter are. It's funny that this came up. Just the other day I heard them running a "text us to win" contest on the radio while driving and I thought I should create an app that enables find-and-share capabilities for text-to-win contests.
timdorr 11y ago
The FTC: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2007/04/sweepstakes-promoters-will-pay-14-million-settle-ftc-charges https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2007/04/sweep... http://supermarketnews.com/retail-amp-financial/ap-settles-charges-over-sweepstakes http://supermarketnews.com/retail-amp-financial/ap-settles-c... https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2015/02/ftc-obtains-95-million-judgment-against-sweepstakes-promoter?utm_source=govdelivery https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2015/02/ftc-o...
- nerfhammer 11y ago
  The FTC only involves itself with prize contests where you pay to enter. These twitter contests apparently require only retweeting something or following someone
  - danielweber 11y ago
    Sweepstakes, by definition, have "no purchase necessary to win." The first link is to the FTC cracking down on a (alleged) sweepstakes.
    - nerfhammer 11y ago
      They cracked down because they were soliciting payment to enter. "The defendants’ letters led many consumers to believe that they had to pay a processing fee to receive the cash prize"
pc86 11y ago
In the US you are perfectly within your right to request notification of who the winner(s) is/are. And as part of accepting these types of prizes you typically have to agree that when requested by any participants or when audited by the state/federal government, you agree to have some of your personal information provided. Usually just first name, last initial, city when given to other entrants but it varies by state. Source: I work for a company that handles online rebates and promotions, including these types of Twitter/Instagram/FB contests. We deal with the FTC all the time.
giarc 11y ago
A friend of mine works in radio and he says that some of the contests are won by "loyal listeners" or friends of the hosts. The "winner" gets a text that basically says, "Call in now and I'll put you on hold, then play surprised when you are caller 12".
- irl_zebra 11y ago
  I'm pretty surprised by how often I win those things. If I'm driving and a contest of any sort comes up, I'll call the number immediately and repeatedly for a few minutes, just hanging up and pressing redial. Anecdotally, I seem to win whatever prize in about 1% of those that I dial in for. I've found that I sometimes don't even receive the prize, and occasionally don't even know what the prize or radio station are when I'm calling in as it's reflexive at this point.
  - thekingofspain 11y ago
    Please don't do this unless you have a hands-free system!
- slyall 11y ago
  I remember seeing a TV story about a guy who played radio competitions full time (he didn't have another job). This was in the 80s/90s in a US market with a lot of competition between a few stations that were all offering prizes. He had a several radios and 2-3 phones and just madly speed-dialed into the station when each round was announced. He even had to disguise his voice because he won so often that the stations tried to avoid him winning. I can't find the story but here is somebody similar: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2809341/Woman-addicted-entering-competitions-won-250-000-worth-prizes-given-work-fund-life-contests.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2809341/Woman-addi...

downandout 11y ago

I thought the same before reading this, however I have seen alot of legitimate radio stations that run contests use Twitter for the "share to win" concept - far more than I have seen them try to do it through Facebook or Instagram. Based solely on my own observations and experience, I suspect that the vast majority of contests you see on IG/FB are not legitimate, but at least some of those on Twitter are. It's funny that this came up. Just the other day I heard them running a "text us to win" contest on the radio while driving and I thought I should create an app that enables find-and-share capabilities for text-to-win contests.

timdorr 11y ago

The FTC: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2007/04/sweepstakes-promoters-will-pay-14-million-settle-ftc-charges https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2007/04/sweep... http://supermarketnews.com/retail-amp-financial/ap-settles-charges-over-sweepstakes http://supermarketnews.com/retail-amp-financial/ap-settles-c... https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2015/02/ftc-obtains-95-million-judgment-against-sweepstakes-promoter?utm_source=govdelivery https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2015/02/ftc-o...

nerfhammer 11y ago
The FTC only involves itself with prize contests where you pay to enter. These twitter contests apparently require only retweeting something or following someone
- danielweber 11y ago
  Sweepstakes, by definition, have "no purchase necessary to win." The first link is to the FTC cracking down on a (alleged) sweepstakes.
  - nerfhammer 11y ago
    They cracked down because they were soliciting payment to enter. "The defendants’ letters led many consumers to believe that they had to pay a processing fee to receive the cash prize"

pc86 11y ago

In the US you are perfectly within your right to request notification of who the winner(s) is/are. And as part of accepting these types of prizes you typically have to agree that when requested by any participants or when audited by the state/federal government, you agree to have some of your personal information provided. Usually just first name, last initial, city when given to other entrants but it varies by state. Source: I work for a company that handles online rebates and promotions, including these types of Twitter/Instagram/FB contests. We deal with the FTC all the time.

giarc 11y ago

A friend of mine works in radio and he says that some of the contests are won by "loyal listeners" or friends of the hosts. The "winner" gets a text that basically says, "Call in now and I'll put you on hold, then play surprised when you are caller 12".

irl_zebra 11y ago
I'm pretty surprised by how often I win those things. If I'm driving and a contest of any sort comes up, I'll call the number immediately and repeatedly for a few minutes, just hanging up and pressing redial. Anecdotally, I seem to win whatever prize in about 1% of those that I dial in for. I've found that I sometimes don't even receive the prize, and occasionally don't even know what the prize or radio station are when I'm calling in as it's reflexive at this point.
- thekingofspain 11y ago
  Please don't do this unless you have a hands-free system!
slyall 11y ago
I remember seeing a TV story about a guy who played radio competitions full time (he didn't have another job). This was in the 80s/90s in a US market with a lot of competition between a few stations that were all offering prizes. He had a several radios and 2-3 phones and just madly speed-dialed into the station when each round was announced. He even had to disguise his voice because he won so often that the stations tried to avoid him winning. I can't find the story but here is somebody similar: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2809341/Woman-addicted-entering-competitions-won-250-000-worth-prizes-given-work-fund-life-contests.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2809341/Woman-addi...