How in the world could you possibly win this case. I mean game shows have been around forever.
July 9, 2007, 12:17 pm
Text Message Gambling?
Can a rubber ducky keep NBC dealing in dough from cellphone messages?
During each episode of the NBC game show, “Deal or No Deal,” a contestant tries to guess how much money is in 26 briefcases. Viewers at home on their couch can also participate by text messaging in guesses. The on-air contestant has the chance to win $1 million; at-home viewers have the chance to win $10,000.
Only catch: at-home viewers pay a 99 cent charge each time they send in a premium text message to enter.
Some of the most popular television shows like “Deal or No Deal,” “The Apprentice” and “One vs. 100″ have been raking in cash from similar text message contests. (They share the revenues with cell phone carriers.) The 99 cent charges are clearly disclosed to viewers. Yet, some viewers are upset about it.
Two game show fans in Georgia, a hairdresser and a secretary, have filed a class-action suit in Los Angeles alleging that these shows’ contests equate to gambling. The suits, reported in Advertising Age in late June, were first dismissed by a judge in Georgia before being filed in federal court in Los Angeles.
The issue at hand, whether the text message contests are promotions or lotteries, is a tricky one. Advertisers and media companies routinely run promotions where users pay to enter contests. Take the famous bottle cap contests long run by Coca Cola and Pepsi. Consumers buy a soda to see if they can win the grand prize. The difference here, the lawsuits say, is that losers in those contests still get to drink the soda whereas losers in premium text message campaigns are left with zero. They gambled - like they would in a lottery or at a casino - and lost.
It’s unclear if the lawsuits will go anywhere, but in the meantime, Limbo, a cell phone entertainment company, is promoting its Web site as a solution to the problem. Limbo has created a point system for text message contests, which lets people who participate in contests earn points that can be redeemed for CDs, magazines, toys and other goodies. Limbo says that the game shows should offer all viewers who participate in their text message contests something in exchange.
It’s not quite $1 million, but maybe the rubber ducky on Limbo’s site will do.
Text Message Gambling?
Can a rubber ducky keep NBC dealing in dough from cellphone messages?
During each episode of the NBC game show, “Deal or No Deal,” a contestant tries to guess how much money is in 26 briefcases. Viewers at home on their couch can also participate by text messaging in guesses. The on-air contestant has the chance to win $1 million; at-home viewers have the chance to win $10,000.
Only catch: at-home viewers pay a 99 cent charge each time they send in a premium text message to enter.
Some of the most popular television shows like “Deal or No Deal,” “The Apprentice” and “One vs. 100″ have been raking in cash from similar text message contests. (They share the revenues with cell phone carriers.) The 99 cent charges are clearly disclosed to viewers. Yet, some viewers are upset about it.
Two game show fans in Georgia, a hairdresser and a secretary, have filed a class-action suit in Los Angeles alleging that these shows’ contests equate to gambling. The suits, reported in Advertising Age in late June, were first dismissed by a judge in Georgia before being filed in federal court in Los Angeles.
The issue at hand, whether the text message contests are promotions or lotteries, is a tricky one. Advertisers and media companies routinely run promotions where users pay to enter contests. Take the famous bottle cap contests long run by Coca Cola and Pepsi. Consumers buy a soda to see if they can win the grand prize. The difference here, the lawsuits say, is that losers in those contests still get to drink the soda whereas losers in premium text message campaigns are left with zero. They gambled - like they would in a lottery or at a casino - and lost.
It’s unclear if the lawsuits will go anywhere, but in the meantime, Limbo, a cell phone entertainment company, is promoting its Web site as a solution to the problem. Limbo has created a point system for text message contests, which lets people who participate in contests earn points that can be redeemed for CDs, magazines, toys and other goodies. Limbo says that the game shows should offer all viewers who participate in their text message contests something in exchange.
It’s not quite $1 million, but maybe the rubber ducky on Limbo’s site will do.
