Coke-a-Cola Puts the Breaks on a Big Win
Flashy contests can be effective marketing promotions, but few people expect to actually win. One man says that sometimes, it doesn't matter whether you win or lose... just as long as you play the game.
Jason Osbourne finished a soda last month, and decided to play Coke-a-Cola's "Twist Text…You Could Win Big" game. He text messaged a code printed underneath his bottle cap in hopes of being a lucky winner. By the end of his lunch hour, a text message exchange had him revving up his engine.
"I just twisted off the cap, saw it, texted it and I got back a text pretty much saying enter your birthday to get started," says Jason. "So it's normal, enter my birthday. Then it says, you won a prize, wait for the next message to see what you won and details. And the next message that came across was 'You won a Ford hybrid.'"
He logged onto Coke's rewards website where he was was asked to create a username and password, and provide some general information. But, the website was unable to recognize his winning code. That's when he called Coke-a-Cola customer service to find out how he could get a hold of his prize.
Initally, a customer service reprensentative told Jason that his bottle cap was part of the next phase of promotion that would start on May 1st. He was told to save his cap, code and text messages and try entering his information on the website again on May 1st.
Jason says he was satisfied until he received another message... This time, a bit less bubbly.
"... the guy from Coke-a-Cola pretty much said that it was a test that was being run and that I didn't actually win anything," says Jason, "but that they'd like to offer me a thousand dollars just as a gift... Not for like any other reason except for that he just said it was a gift."
Jason shifted into reverse. Though he appreciated the offer, it didn't quite stand up to a new car. He tried asking a Coke-a-Cola operations specialist about the so-called "test," but failed to get any answers. He re-read the fine print on the bottle and the website, but found no mention of any tests.
Once May first rolled around, Jason was in for another surprise. When he tried re-entering his information online, he discovered his user name and password had been deleted from the system. In fact, there was no trace of Jason ever having visited the website at all.
"I mean either the bottle wasn't supposed to be released until the first, or the game wasn't supposed to be activated until the first," says Jason. "But either way, somebody in the company of Coke-a-Cola probably messed up and they're just using the test excuse so they don't have to give me the prize."
Like Jason, we thought the cirumstances surrounding the contest left a strange aftertaste. To make sure he wasn't short-changed, we called Coke-a-Cola. Here's what they had to say...
"We routinely execute technical tests on our promotional mechanisms prior to the start of promotions to ensure that they run smoothly... Since the promotion had not officially started, these consumers did not actually enter the promotion and they are not official winners. However, because The Coca-Cola Company values its consumers and as a gesture of good will, we have offered affected Coca-Cola drinkers a gift from Coca-Cola North America."
Though Jason never got the keys to that new car, he did walk away a thousand dollars richer. He accepted Coke-a-Cola's offer and says he's okay with the way it all played out. After all, a thousand dollars for drinking your favorite soda is a pretty sweet deal.
Comments: 9
BOGUS! It's pure BS for Coke to say they were conducting a test. If they were conducting tests, they should not do it using the public as guinea pigs. Any true IT professional knows you don't conduct a system test on a production system.
While I usually enjoy this segment, I admit that I'm disappointed in the outcome with the Coke story. It seems Howard did not help as they offered the $1000 before he got involved. What was there reason behind running the contest before it started? That's a 30k car...$1000 in my opinion does not cut it.
A "test promotion"???
I think it just a lame excuse to not stick up to the deal. They give out the promotion, they setup the rules, a person joined, and win, and they back down from the deal...
I don't care what the promotion actually is, and promotion didn't say it is a test (or no one would bother to play), so I think the fault is on cola.
Cola should at least pay Jason half of the what the Ford hybrid is worth now, instead of too cheap to just pay $1000. Cola make tons of money, $1000 is nothing to them.
Try to do this again, and I wonder who would still play this promotion game if the other side won't honor the promised deal.
That is complete and utter nonsense. What happened to the customer is always right? What right do these people have to promote a product by offering a prize, only to refuse to hold on to their end of the deal? It is not that young mans' fault that the Coca-Cola company cannot run their business properly. Furthermore, how does it make sense to run a standard test when there could be a potential player logging in? Why isn't there a notice on their website or brands stating this? How is a consumer going to know the difference between a fake and the real thing? It's a flippen gimmick to get people to buy their products without fulfilling their part in their promotional "game." I prefer Pepsi anyway.
Coca Cola should pay Jason the full amount for the prize that he rightfully won. What type of example are they setting for the consumer that purchase their product? What ever happened to doing the right thing? This is very wrong what they did and they should be ashamed of themselves.
Wow he is lucky they even gave him that... I am a regular contest player.. I make sure I read all the rules which doesnt sound like this guy did. He is not owed anything & got lucky that he got $1000... Maybe next time he will read & follow the rules.
This is so funny because i know this kid. but it sucks coke should just fork over the vehicle they have enough cash. Well JO sorry to hear about that but i guess ill talk to you about it when i see you.
This kid actually didn't read the fine print because I had one a prize as well but it actually says on the bottle that this is a testing phase and won't occur until May 1, but you can call to claim a prize. I know him and he tried to swindle them, he's done this before.
He once threw a fried chicken head in his mcnuggets and tried to sue mcdonalds over it but they found out that it was not from their shop because it was fried with corn oil, which mcdonald's doesn't use.
OMG, read the rules before you enter ANYTHING.
Even if he got a winning screen, heck, even if he had one that said "You won the Coca-Cola Corporation!!!", YOU ARE NOT A WINNER. At that point, you are a POTENTIAL winner. You have to complete affidavits, get them notarized, and return them. Once they confirm that everything is in order, then you are the official winner.
If you're going to enter contests/sweepstakes,. LEARN HOW THEY ARE RUN AND HOW WINNERS ARE DECIDED.
He's lucky Coke offered him $1000. They truly owed him nothing.