Life is Funny

Over the last year or so, I have faithfully participated in two different Readers Digest sweepstakes contest.  There is promise of cars, sums of cash, and more.  Now I know Readers Digest is a legitimate organization, but they do seem to use their literary skills in a technical way to sell you products unknowingly.

Things they say (paraphrasing / not actually a quote) are “Affix this gold seal to have a chance at Winning $40,000 and also receive our special free gift**”

Then buried 3 paragraphs down it will say something like “Not only will we send you our special free gift, but we will also send exciting new books to you each month. There’s no obligation, simply return the unwanted purchases. In the event you do not return them, we’ll assume you want them, and you’ll be automatically charged on your credit card”

AGAIN – DISCLAIMER. THESE ARE NOT ACTUAL STATEMENTS BY READERS DIGEST — I AM PARAPHRASING EXAMPLES OF WHAT THEY “MIGHT’ SAY IN THEIR SWEEPSTAKES LITERATURE.

But you get the point. Read the fine print. Actually, it’s not really “fine print” either. There is just pages and pages of print.  It gets confusing and information overload takes over. Soon, you find yourself peeling off the gold seal sticker, and affixing it without fully understanding what you are getting into…

But hats off to Readers Digest for running these sweepstakes anyway — atleast people do get lucky and win some money, or a brand new car — and it is free to enter them.

Have you participated in one of these Readers Digest sweepstakes free contest before?