Q: So was I the only person to think...

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it was a bad idea to be offering a contest that states "Back To School iPhone 5 Giveaway!" and not be giving away the prize the headline says? Yeah in the fine print it states the prize is awarded in the form of a gift card. But as you can see by the responses on here and facebook not many people are aware they arent getting an iphone. I know if it were me Id be a little upset if someone stated I could win a $600 phone and instead got a gift card for $199. And then not have an upgrade available which is the only way you could possibly use the gift card to "win" an iphone "5", without and upgrade available you'd have to pay the full price of $550-$750. In my opinion that was kind of a shady way the lure people in.

Dont get me wrong. I as well as everyone else appreciates all the chances to win prizes. Trust me id blow that gift card the minute i received it. It just could have been done differently and not have been as misleading to the public.

shady-promotions

Acidbaby (rep: 6.63k) posted Sep 06, 2012

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17 Answers

thanks for pointing that out

encorez (rep: 9.93k) posted Sep 06, 2012

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I didn't pay much attention to the promotion or participate in it, but I read the headline as "winner will receive an iphone 5", not "winner will receive $~200 to upgrade their phone to an iphone 5 if they already have an iphone and are eligible for the maxiumum upgrade discount"...
That's absolutely ridiculous, and highly misleading, if I read what you're saying correctly.

jpanddanielle (rep: 96) posted Sep 06, 2012

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it doesn't bother me..it's marketing..i think most of other iphone giveaways were in the form of giftcard..which if you think about it, makes more sense, i think. with a macbook or ipod, they can easily order that..however, with the iphone..how do they know which iphone to buy for you? how do they know which carrier you'll go with? how do they know you wouldn't rather just pay a bit more and upgrade to a higher grade iphone (32gb vs 16gb, etc)..

i think they market the giveaway with the iphone because that's their intention..the phone is coming out, so they want you to have it..i mean, they could've easily said giveaway for $200 worth of apps!..but that doesn't seem to get people interested as much as iPhone5..

just my opinion..i mean, it's a giveaway..so in the end..you still get what you want..you just have to work a little bit harder..but i think it's the more logical way.

nimrodboy3 (rep: 67.9k) posted Sep 06, 2012

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shady shades

kffight3r (rep: 711) posted Sep 06, 2012

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nimrod that answer made absolutely no sense. Giveaway for $200 in apps? What does that have to do with anything? They could have said win an upod then too, but guess what they arent giving away an ipod so whats the point? They could have said win an Apple TV but they arent giving that away either. The problem is saying youre giving away and iphone and then not really do so. If I win I have no upgrade available, say I was a person who really wanted that iphone. ANd dang I finally win something in my life and then realize I have to pay another $350 to get it?

Acidbaby (rep: 6.63k) posted Sep 06, 2012

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I would have thought it was to win the actual phone. Thanks for pointing it out.

gangstabarbie (rep: 8.91k) posted Sep 06, 2012

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@Acidbaby..i'm not that great at conveying thoughts..what i meant was that they could have said they'd give a $200 GC, or two appleTV's, or an ipod..but they chose iPhone5 because that's what they want you to use it for. many of the past giveaways were the same way..where if you read the fine print, it stated that the prize would be in the form of a giftcard.

i don't think it's really false advertising because it's in the fine print..just like all ads on tv, there's always the fine print..as a person entering the giveaway, it's your responsibility to read the fine print to understand what you're getting out of it.

the hype right now is for the iPhone5..hence the timing of the giveaway..versus doing this giveaway a month ago..

again..i know i'm pretty poor with words, but all i was trying to say was that i didn't think it was wrong for them to market the giveaway as an iPhone5 giveaway since they clearly put it in the fine print what they would be giving away.

nimrodboy3 (rep: 67.9k) posted Sep 06, 2012

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I didnt say it was wrong. I simply said its shady and misleading and very few people realized they werent getting an iphone and then you will have the group of people who even if they wanted to couldnt get the phone because they dont have an upgrade available.

Acidbaby (rep: 6.63k) posted Sep 06, 2012

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@nimrodboy3 its misleading because an actual iPhone 5 costs much more than $200. The title does not say Win an iPhone 5 through your next phone upgrade.

kffight3r (rep: 711) posted Sep 06, 2012

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What they should have said is Win a $200 Apple GC... or Win $200 toward your iPhone 5. If I win, I dont really get an iPhone 5. If I want to buy an iPhone 5 straight up, I still need to put in an additional $400 in addition to the $200 giftcard. If it were not for the fine prints, this would be completely shady.

kffight3r (rep: 711) posted Sep 06, 2012

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@Acidbaby..i can see what you're saying..and i agree that it can be misleading. i guess i didn't take into account those who aren't eligible for an upgrade right now..

nimrodboy3 (rep: 67.9k) posted Sep 06, 2012

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