SOMETHING FOR NOTHING
In my younger years it was practically a hobby of mine to try to determine how advertisers, using “sweepstakes-give-aways” could offer nothing of much (or any) value and still make it sound like a windfall of good fortune. The level of sophistication evolved over the years from the awarding of actual prizes with value… to actual prizes with value as long as the recipient paid the shipping/handling costs which could be as much as the cost of the item given… to inflating the cost of prizes and deflating the value of savings certificates to get these prizes. Here is an example: The January, 1992 issue of Consumer Reports includes an article on page 67 about some of the sweepstakes that offer free prizes that actually have little or no value. They site a particular case in which an individual received a notice that he had won two prizes from a list that included $10,000.00 cash, $1,000 cash, a $100.00 U.S. Savings…
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