Method and system for determining prizewinning status and awarding a prize

Abstract

Method for determining prizewinning status and awarding a prize. Most consumer marketing programs which employ a sweepstakes mechanism with prizes depend on game pieces preprinted with codes or words to signify prizewinning status. Furthermore, if such status is determined to be “winning” the holder of the game piece must still physically mail the game piece in for verification before the corresponding prize is awarded. The game pieces themselves are subject to duplication, forgery, manipulation, and other forms of fraud. The number of winners in such programs depends on the number of prizes, the number of game pieces, the flow of the game pieces into distribution, and the number of participants. The method provided herein eliminates the opportunity for fraud associated with game pieces, simplifies the calculation of the number of winnres, and increases the efficiency of determining prizewinning status and awarding prizes.

Description

RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. .sctn. 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60 / 504,323, entitled METHODS FOR DETERMINING PRIZE WINING STATUS AND AWARDING A PRIZE filed Sep. 19, 2003, and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates generally to sweepstakes, and more specifically to a method for determining prizewinning status and awarding prizes. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] It is a common practice in advertising and marketing to run sweepstakes marketing programs with prizes in order to help increase sales of consumer products, food and beverage products, or consumer packaged goods. This is typically done by adding game pieces, codes, and / or sweepstakes details to the packaging of such products. Each game piece is typically preprinted with codes or words which tell the customer whether they are a winner or not. The problems associated with...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

The problems associated with these types of marketing programs are widely known in the industry.

These include duplication, forgery, manipulation, and other forms of fraud related to the game pieces themselves.

Other problems include the challenge of calculating and reporting accurate odds of winning and the number of winners because it depends on the number of prizes, the number of game pieces, the flow of product into distribution during the promotional period, and the number of total participants in the program.

For example, in a widely publicized scandal that cost McDonald's Corporation nearly $20 million, an employee of the company that administered McDonald's Monopoly Game and Sweepstakes in 2001 was caught stealing winning game pieces and having family members claim the prizes, including the grand prize.

Although standard security precautions are taken, such fraud is still eminently possible when the prize winning message is printed on the game piece and the game piece itself is to be mailed in as the proof of such winning.

Again, because prizewinning statuses and prizes were printed on the game pieces themselves, McDonald's could not print and make available any additional game pieces because that would change the odds of the entire game, as stated in the rules.

In yet another example, Pepsi's iTunes promotion with Apple Computer in 2004 proved to be a major disaster when it was discovered that customers could easily tell if the bottle was not a winner, simply by tilting the 20 oz. bottle to a 20 degree angle to reveal part of the phrase “please try again” underneath the bottle cap.

Again, because prizewinning statuses and prizes (the claim codes) were printed on the bottle caps, the program was easily compromised and thus rendered completed useless with respect to the objective of the program, which is typically to incentivize customers to make more purchases.

Further, the process of determining and proving prizewinning status is often laborious and inefficient, involving steps such as mailing-in game pieces for validation, looking up winning game piece codes against a database of winning codes, and others.

Even the awarding of the prize is inefficient, often requiring the administrator of the program to send the prize to the winner by postal mail or otherwise deliver by hand.

Finally, the problem of irretrievability is inherent to any sweepstakes program where prizewinning statuses and prizes are printed onto game pieces or items of product.

Specifically, this means, once the game pieces or products are distributed into circulation they cannot be retrieved easily.

Thus the liability for all of the prizes associated with all of the winning game pieces and products remains with the administrator of the marketing program because the administrator will have 1) no way of knowing whether a winning game piece was discarded, destroyed, or still “in play” and 2) no way of marking the game pieces as no longer valid.

Images