this post was submitted on 18 Dec 2024
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IANAL Warning
Indeed, there was a story a while back where a bar had a contest for their staff; Whoever could sell the most drinks would receive a new Toyota.
Well one woman who really needed a new car busted her ass for that, and was taking to a parking lot where she was given a stuffed toy of Yoda from Star Wars; a "Toy Yoda"
She was told it was a joke and there was never any realistic chance of some local pub giving away new cars to minimum wage staff.
Well she sued over this joke, and actually won because during the contest she specifically asked what kind of Toyota it was and was told by her supervisor; the one who started the contest in the first place. That it very specifically was a real car that would be paid for in full and put in her name at no cost to her. Which invalidated any claim to this being a gag or a hoax.
You can imply that the prize is whatever you want it to be, and give whatever you want the prize to be. But the second you specify what the prize is in no unsubtle terms, you have to give it.
It's why I can say in a public ad that if you show up to my house wearing a Ballerina Outfit and a Cowboy Hat, and then knock on the door in the rhythm of the BGM "Bloody Tears", I will give you 100 Grand. You have no case if I hand you a candy bar literally called 100 Grand.
But if I said "That's right, one hundred thousand dollars in cash!", that wouldn't fly and you can take me to court.
But If I stayed on message and only said 100 Grand, using THAT exact phrasing, especially if I make other misleading but accurate claims like it being "100 Grand, yeah that's something to really sink your teeth into" then what I'm doing is hillarious.
By putting the PS5 Box in the kid's hands and saying he won a Playstation, that ended any ambiguity, taking away the box and giving him a Jersey was an act of fraud.
I remember that story. It wasn't a local pub, it was a Hooters. Hooters is an enormous nationwide chain that could easily afford a Camry.
Hooters? Fuck I was told it was just some pub, that makes it 5000 times worse
Certainly possible it happened again at a local pub, but the one I'm familiar with was Hooters
https://www.heraldnet.com/news/former-hooters-waitress-settles-toy-yoda-lawsuit/
Yeah, I remember it as hooters too