You Might Be a Winner
A blog from the attorneys of Verrill
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Gambling and more particularly the regulation of gambling has been part of the United States before we were even the United States. Societal...
In an astonishing reversal (of fortune), the FTC today (April 1) announced that “No Purchase Necessary” is no longer necessary for games of...
The 94th Academy Awards might have had dramas you never heard of (subtext COVID), but it wasn’t lacking in drama. When Will smacked Chris, a...
You read that right. The exact quote from the Second Circuit’s March 21, 2022 decision in Olsen v. Major League Baseball, Docket No. 20-1831, reads...
Two recent “routine monitoring” determinations of the National Advertising Division of BBB National Programs may indicate a trend toward the...
A custom PC company, Artesian Builds, who hyped its image by offering frequent giveaways ranging from $100 gift cards to t-shirts to custom built...
Last month, a class action lawsuit was dismissed, in part, against plaintiffs who opted into Coinbase Global’s $1.2 Dogecoin sweepstakes. Dogecoin...
The Winter Olympics are here. I just watched the women’s U.S. hockey team take on Team Canada and it got me wonderin’: are those sweaters “Made...
When defending Helen Keller from a charge of plagiarism, Mark Twain famously wrote, “substantially all ideas are second-hand.” While it’s...
It's a world of laughter A world of tears It's a world of hopes And a world of fears There's so much that we share That it's time we're...
The State of California is getting a firm grip on regulating charitable sales promotions with its new law AB 488 which passed in October 2021 and...
With the current debt crisis looming and people tightening their belts, perhaps we’ll see more brands doubling down on sweepstakes promotions to...
Everyone not under a rock recently learned that you can soon purchase – for a mere $375 – a personalized video greeting from America’s former...
Oh, Canada, you give us ice hockey, maple syrup, Tom Hortons, and one stubborn province that had a noted aversion to “publicity contests.” But no...
“NIL” is short for “Name, Image, Likeness,” but for college athletes it may now mean “no income limits.” All three branches of government...
Every six-year-old boy, at some time in his short life, comes up with the idea of running a raffle as an ingenious way of earning some easy money. It...
On June 8, 2021, the Second Circuit handed down its opinion in the case Soliman v. Subway Franchisee Advertising Fund Trust, Ltd., No. 20-946,...
I literally had no idea. None. Until I recently saw that a bill in Oregon failed to pass (for the third time!) which would have prohibited the...
I love it when there are new and innovative approaches to sweepstakes. That’s been the genesis and driving force behind sweepstakes promotions...
Sometimes doing good isn’t easy. Say you’re a company that wants to run a sweepstakes by asking entrants for donations to charity. Sounds simple....
“Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth.” Muhammad Ali We are seeing a nation pitching in to flatten the curve and...
This piece will review important issues when running a commercial co-venture (CCV) during a time of a global pandemic. Filing Requirements: The...
Forfeit prizes, cancellation, deadlines, termination, Stores closed, goods sold, how do we get through? Test kits, verification, new prizes,...
I came across an interesting article in USA Today about how it’s really easy for miscreants to change the dates on documents abbreviating the New...
Women in the kitchen and men in the wilderness. An ad concept as old as time. But has its time come? The U.S. has traditionally taken a hands-off...
2018 brought us the type of lawsuits you would expect in the world of sweepstakes, contests and giveaways. From "The Annoyance Lawyer" to Bobbleheads...
On November 2, 2018, the New York Attorney General came crashing down on a number of moving services that paid for at least 60 fake positive online...
Prop 215 was enacted in California twenty-two years today on November 5, 1996. This law was the first of its kind in the U.S. to legalize medical...
Every beer drinking football fan in Cleveland knows by now that there will be magic beer fridges stationed throughout Cleveland that will...
You're offered a $1 million game piece for $40,000 dollars. What do you do? As you might expect, this may be an offer you can't refuse. A recent...
About the Blog
Promotion and sweepstakes laws vary widely across the fifty states and under federal regulations, creating complex challenges for today’s innovative marketers. This blog explores the latest updates and trends in promotion and marketing law, offering practical insights to help brands stay compliant while pushing creative boundaries. We’ll also discuss noteworthy, questionable, and groundbreaking promotional campaigns to encourage thoughtful discussion among marketing and legal professionals.
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“You Might Be A Winner”—everyone knows this phrase. It is a tried-and-true marketing device that calls people to action to purchase a product, visit a website, or share an idea in return for the opportunity to win a prize. Through this blog, our goal is to make you a winner by providing useful information in the promotion marketing world.
Promotional marketing law covers many topics, including sweepstakes, contests, games, giveaways, and coupons. It also includes cause marketing, an area that has proliferated in recent years, which includes commercial co-ventures, flat donations, and sponsorships designed to raise money for charities. Laws often differ among the fifty states (and the federal government) and often can’t keep up with the ever-changing landscape created by innovative marketers. We will try to keep you abreast of promotion marketing law developments and elicit discussion over questionable, interesting, or innovative promotions.
The blog’s editor, Rob Laplaca, has more than thirty years of experience counseling major brands and marketing agencies as they develop fun and legally sound promotions. He is a frequent speaker at national conferences on promotion law topics and “that guy” who can be seen trying to read the fine print on ads and TV commercials.