Trader Vic's Emeryville Rockin Rum contest - Tiki Drinks and Food

KK Ken Kanaka Member Joined: Jun 16, 2010 Posts: 11	KK Ken Kanaka Posted posted on Mon, Nov 15, 2010 8:39 AM Like everyone else, I was super-excited about the video contest. As a long-time Trader Vic's fan, it seemed like a great opportunity to connect with the company on a deeper level. As a person whose day job in the advertising world often involves working with contests and sweepstakes, I had some real concerns about the lack of structure this contest had from the start. But I chose to ignore those concerns because it was going to be a lot of fun. I'm sensing that this contest was the result of a brainstorming session where someone came up with the concept but had no idea what it takes to legally execute it and didn't bother to do any research. Big early mistake: no official rules! Other than needing to be 21 or over, there's no restictions whatsoever about who can enter, if the Grand Prize winner is responsible for providing their own transportation to Emeryville, etc. These rules are in place to protect not only the entrants but the company putting on the contest as well. My company has people call us and threaten to sue over contest entries on a weekly basis with very tight rules in place. With none, TV has no protection. The organizers clearly over-estimated how many people were going to enter. I mananged to find a cached version of the announcement (http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:51HuiZkj_TYJ:www.tradervics.com/%3F%26w%3D780%26h%3D580%26mode%3D0%26print%3D0%26click%3D0+trader+vic's+rockin+rum+video+contest&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us thanks Google!) and here's the original list of prizes: GRAND PRIZE – Have your drink featured at Trader Vic’s Emeryville for a month and guest bartend for an evening! 1ST PRIZE - $150 Trader Vic’s Emeryville gift card to the top 5 videos! HONORABLE MENTION – Trader Vic’s bartender shirt for the next best 50 drink videos! They were easily expecting more than 52 entries and got a dozen or so. That must have been a big disappointment. I suspect now that the dust has settled, management is trying to figure out how to make this work. Either intentionally or unintentionally changing the venue to a live event unfairly eliminates anyone not within driving distance to Emeryville. To me it's pretty clear: since they ran this as a video contest, they need to keep it a video contest. Pick the winners, lick your wounds, send out bartender shirts to everyone that entered and issue an apology. Then have your local contest in a few months after the noise has died down. I guess I'm going to wait for the next announcement from them and then decide what to do. Legal action isn't off the table, although I'd hate to resort to that. If that happens, anyone who wants to join in on the complaint is welcome.

Like everyone else, I was super-excited about the video contest. As a long-time Trader Vic's fan, it seemed like a great opportunity to connect with the company on a deeper level.

As a person whose day job in the advertising world often involves working with contests and sweepstakes, I had some real concerns about the lack of structure this contest had from the start. But I chose to ignore those concerns because it was going to be a lot of fun.

I'm sensing that this contest was the result of a brainstorming session where someone came up with the concept but had no idea what it takes to legally execute it and didn't bother to do any research.

Big early mistake: no official rules! Other than needing to be 21 or over, there's no restictions whatsoever about who can enter, if the Grand Prize winner is responsible for providing their own transportation to Emeryville, etc. These rules are in place to protect not only the entrants but the company putting on the contest as well. My company has people call us and threaten to sue over contest entries on a weekly basis with very tight rules in place. With none, TV has no protection.

The organizers clearly over-estimated how many people were going to enter. I mananged to find a cached version of the announcement (http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:51HuiZkj_TYJ:www.tradervics.com/%3F%26w%3D780%26h%3D580%26mode%3D0%26print%3D0%26click%3D0+trader+vic's+rockin+rum+video+contest&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us thanks Google!) and here's the original list of prizes:

GRAND PRIZE – Have your drink featured at Trader Vic’s Emeryville for a month and guest bartend for an evening!
1ST PRIZE - $150 Trader Vic’s Emeryville gift card to the top 5 videos!
HONORABLE MENTION – Trader Vic’s bartender shirt for the next best 50 drink videos!

They were easily expecting more than 52 entries and got a dozen or so. That must have been a big disappointment.

I suspect now that the dust has settled, management is trying to figure out how to make this work. Either intentionally or unintentionally changing the venue to a live event unfairly eliminates anyone not within driving distance to Emeryville.

To me it's pretty clear: since they ran this as a video contest, they need to keep it a video contest. Pick the winners, lick your wounds, send out bartender shirts to everyone that entered and issue an apology. Then have your local contest in a few months after the noise has died down.

I guess I'm going to wait for the next announcement from them and then decide what to do. Legal action isn't off the table, although I'd hate to resort to that. If that happens, anyone who wants to join in on the complaint is welcome.

Post #565103 by Ken Kanaka on Mon, Nov 15, 2010 8:39 AM