How to win free $LOCAL_SPORTING_TEAM tickets
I just got an email from my gas company that seems to be offering me a chance to win Red Sox tickets. I say “seems” because the email doesn’t say “Red Sox” even once. Here’s what it says instead:
Subject: “KeySpan Wants to Take You Out to the Ball Game”
“Let KeySpan Energy Delivery Take You Out to the Ball Game! Complete a Quick Online Energy Survey for a Chance to Win”
“[…]you will be entered to win one of 12 pairs of tickets to a game in Boston*.”
That sounds like “free Red Sox tickets”, right? But they don’t actually specify. I’m left to wonder. Is there some legal reason they can’t say Red Sox? It wouldn’t surprise me. Are they trying to cover themselves in case they can’t get Red Sox tickets, and send people to see a minor league team or perhaps Somerville High’s lacrosse team? But the fine print clearly says “home game” and “professional baseball”.
It’s probably the legal thing, but I’m fascinated by all the circumlocution. “Fill out this survey and you could see a baseball team play in Boston, if you catch our drift.”
Josh said,
June 5, 2007 @ 7:10 pm
Professional baseball definitely includes the minor leagues. My guess is that at least some of the tickets are to a Paw Sox or Sea Dogs game.
Zole said,
June 5, 2007 @ 7:54 pm
Good point, Josh. They do say “in Boston” but there was that geographical survey where people living in Portland and Providence identified their nearest city as Boston.
regis said,
June 5, 2007 @ 8:57 pm
i’ve always assumed it’s some promotional thing where they’re not allowed to explicitly advertise the red sox tickets. like all the ads in january that reference “the big football game”, or ads for companies where they’re not allowed to specify what brands they have on sale or something.
Count Shrimpula said,
June 5, 2007 @ 9:52 pm
Well, the ads in January for “the big game” are because the NFL tradmarks the term “Super Bowl” and enforces that trademark like a bunch of Nazis, lest people advertise their program for them for free.
The ads for companies where they aren’t allowed to specify brands is when they’re advertising a certain amount below what the MSRP is for an item. The manufacturer won’t let them advertise if they go too far below that because they don’t want to dilute the value of their product. The Nazis in this example are Apple, who are notoriously picky about the pricing they let their Apple Authorized Resellers use. I think Wal-Mart is the only ones I’ve ever seen discount iPods, and it was literally like $1.40 off.
In this instance it’s probably some sort of clause in getting the tickets. “You can have some free promotional tickets for your company, but you’re not allowed to use them to advertise for your product.”