File this one under “no purchase necessary”. Dunkin Donuts recently started their “Bases Loaded” promotion in some markets. Customers are invited to come in, buy an iced coffee (or some other products), and receive a peel-off instant win game piece that will either reveal a prize instantly, or reveal a code that can be entered online at the Dunkin Donuts Bases Loaded official game website. Prizes range from free food to baseball tickets to 46″ Sharp AQUOS HDTVs.
All corporate sweepstakes as opposed to lotteries require no purchase in order to play. This is usually buried in the fine print in promotional materials for the sweepstakes. However usually the official rules require that one sends a self addressed stamped envelope (SASE) to the promotion headquarters. The effort and cost of postage required to send SASEs usually outweighs the expected value of the game piece you’ll receive in return, but occasionally this is not the case. Notably, the authors of this blog made out like bandits by submitting thousands of SASEs to the McDonald’s Monopoly promotion when they were offering “Best Buy Bucks”. In that case, it turned out that for every $.80 in postage you spent, you would receive an expected $1.66 in Best Buy credit, in addition to any ancillary food prizes you would win.
As you might have guessed by now, this new Dunkin Donuts promotion also presents an interesting “no purchase necessary” play. In the Dunkin Donuts Bases Loaded sweepstakes official rules, this gem is buried in section four, “How to Enter”:
If you would like to play the Instant-Win Game without becoming a Dunkin’ Perks member or purchasing a Dunkin’ Donuts specially marked iced coffee, iced espresso drink, iced tea, Coolatta ® or smoothie (16, 24, or 32 oz.) drink, you may use the following Code 33FYVD3JHR99 to receive up to three (3) Instant-Win Game plays per day, during the Promotion Period.
The odds of actually winning something are still pretty dismal given the relatively small prize pools, but at least you can get a shot at winning something, for free, simply by returning to the official game site once every day and pasting in that code three times. I’ve done it for the past three days, and I still haven’t won anything. But perhaps you will! If you win with the free code you found here, maybe you can invite me with you to enjoy the prize.
Good luck!
13 responses so far ↓
1 MLA // Jul 5, 2008 at 5:28 am
Thanks Pete, I’ll try it.
2 Dave // Jul 8, 2008 at 9:30 am
This promotion is a JOKE! In the past 7 days I’ve received 4 of the same codes. I contacted Dunkin Donuts and they refered me to the same “throw away code” as you have here. No wonder no ones winning, I bet where all trying to use the same BS code.
43HJ3DFRRPFJ
3 dani // Jul 10, 2008 at 2:33 pm
This game is pretty annoying. It tricks me because the batter hits the ball every time and the ball just goes right through his bat. Waste of time!
4 Mike // Jul 23, 2008 at 5:29 am
Of course it’s a joke. The odd part is that people are surprised by this. It’s a ploy to get people drinking the stuff and talking about it, just like the McDonalds monopoly of 10 years ago. Remember how many frustrated people there were who had two of the three properties? C’mon. Do you think they’re going to make a “fair” game where any schmuck with too much free time on his hands can go on, figure out the “special” way to click the mouse and get a home run, and then just start handing out prizes? The fact of the matter is, Dunkins, like any other corporation that has succeeded in winning over America, knows how to play to the masses. And that’s all it takes to succeed in business. The game is designed to be impossible. Quite intentionally, in fact. That’s the fascinating thing. We know this. Yet look at us. We continue to play right into it. It honestly amazes me, yet I do not claim to be any different. Your product can absolutely suck, but as long as people love it, or need it, or believe one of those two things, you’ll get rich.
So now that my diatribe is over, I have 2 more at bats to use today, so wish me luck.
5 Alex // Jul 23, 2008 at 8:46 am
33FYVD3JHR99 seems like a repeat game, waste of time, but code works, but no winnings
6 KERRY // Jul 25, 2008 at 1:17 pm
I AM SO ANNOYED WITH THIS… I ENTER 3 CODES EVERYDAY (NO I DONT DRINK 3 COFFEES A DAY, BUT MY FRIENDS GIVE ME THEIRS BECAUSE THEY DONT WANT TO TAKE THE TIME TO ENTER THE CODES) – I HAVENT WON ANYTHING AND I HAVE ENTERED 20 CODES ALREADY… WHAT A WASTE OF TIME, WONDER IF ANYONE HAS WON YET?
7 Smiddy // Jul 28, 2008 at 7:17 am
GOD DAMN IT!!!! 76 different codes and NOT ONE DAMN HIT!
8 Veronica // Jul 29, 2008 at 5:49 am
I agree with Kerry – I’ve entered 2 to 3 codes every day for the past month and haven’t won jack sh*t. Why do I keep going back?!
9 Tanya // Jul 31, 2008 at 3:46 pm
I get codes everyday because my friend works at dunkin’s. And I have gotten about 20 repeats and I have entered 52 AND STILL NO HOME RUN! THIS GAMES A FAKE!
10 twon // Aug 10, 2008 at 11:55 am
i hit today! the table, that is that i’m sitting at.
this game has to be a ploy. there is’nt anyone on the whole internet that says they hit the damn ball. but i want to win soooo bad. just to see the ball get hit now, not for the prize mostly.
when you see the section that shows you the amount of prizes and the prize pools, you cant help but to think that there are legitimate prizes.
dunkin donuuuts can afford to be for real. so why whould they do this? i can’t understand it.
please just let me hit the ball!!please!!
thanks, twon
11 GB // Aug 11, 2008 at 6:45 am
I too have been playing 3 times a day for about 2 weeks and have never seen a hit… never mind a home run! I think the ‘game’ is just a waste of time… they should have just put up a screen that says ‘winner’ or ‘loser’ after you punch in a code. Lame.
12 Crown Point Bob // Sep 22, 2008 at 8:21 am
I’m a loser!! I too have been playing 6 times a day with the free code since the contest’s inception. Any winners out there???
13 Justin // Oct 29, 2008 at 10:23 am
I won the Grand Prize, the 46″ Sharp Aquos. It is showing up within the hour.
[Editor’s reply: Sure it is.]
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