Competition influx for consumers

Press, 18 November 1982, Page 12

Competition influx for consumers

Everyone wants to be a winner in the sudden influx of grocery competitions. Manufacturers and retailers want to boost flagging sales and the public wants the prizes, which range from $lO,OOO in a coffee brand cash sweepstake to 1000 pairs of jeans in a chocolate bar competition. There are even overseas trips and new cars offered. The competitions join the new rash of free gift offers, recipe promotions, and coupon books.

A spokesman for a big grocery distribution firm said the number of competitions had grown in the last six months, and would peak just before Christmas. He blamed a depressed economic climate for the sudden influx. “There are tonnes of them. I have never known so many manufacturers to be involved in contests,” he said. But if there were plenty of competitions, there were also plenty of people willing to enter.

Some require shoppers to collect product labels and post them away for a gift, such as a jam knife or plastic straws. Others have entry form clues such as this one from the recently finished “Mortein’s Drive Against Flies” competition for a new Ford Laser car. It required a “true or false” answer to the statement. “Mortein Super Fly Spray and Ford Laser cars are two products which provide quality and performance at budget prices.”