Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
My Perfect iTunes Scam
- Thread starter mystixman
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
tjwett said:
Nice revisionist posting. you should have pasted the entire rule:
2. WHERE TO FIND GAME PIECES: Look for game piece printed underneath bottle caps on specially-marked iTunes 20 oz. and 1 liter bottles of Pepsi, Diet Pepsi and Sierra Mist and under the rim of specially-marked 32 oz. fountain cups available at participating 7 Eleven convenience stores during the Promotion Period. Not all brands and package sizes may participate in all areas. No Purchase Necessary. To receive one free game piece and a copy of Official Rules, while supplies last, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope postmarked on or before 3/31/04 to: Pepsi iTunes Game Piece, P.O. Box 9205, Young America, MN 55558-9205. Residents of the state of VT may omit return postage. Limit one free game piece per request per stamped outer envelope. Pepsi-Cola Company (Sponsor) assumes no liability for lost, late, stolen, illegible, misdirected, mutilated, incomplete or postage-due mail or requests.
tjwett said:
so you read minds? can you read mine? or just that of "broads"?
true, he could've done much worse.
and joe murderer could've plotted to kill 50 people instead of 1. so let him go free! whooo!
your logic is... well. it's not there.
First of all I would like to point out a few things:
- as someone said, he is not screwing 25 girls, but 100 potential customers
- he is not stealing because these people are buying the drink, not the bottle. If they were buying the bottle they wouls ask for it.
On the other hand, it is a fraud since he is using 'insider knowledge' to get an advantage over the other customer.
What he is doing can be qualified of:
- imaginative
- clever
- non ethical.
Non ethical because he is not repecting the 'spirit' of the contest. Also, the contest is to promote the ITMS which he is not talking about at all. So bottom line: he is going to hell!
If I was in his situation, I would have done ALMOST the same thing except that I would have given the winning bottle to the girls, talked about the contest, act as surprised as them when she see the winning cap, congratulate her and get a date!
The hardest part of getting a date is to find a nice situation to introduce yourself and this one seem pretty good to me. After all, who doesnt like free music?
BTW, I am very surprised to see how ethical some of the people here are claiming to be. Do you respect the law in every part of your life? Because crossing the street when the light is red IS a crime... And as you all pointed out, a crime is a crime, no matter how big it is...
You can slap the guy behind the head telling him that he is doing something wrong, but dont claim that you are perfect!
- as someone said, he is not screwing 25 girls, but 100 potential customers
- he is not stealing because these people are buying the drink, not the bottle. If they were buying the bottle they wouls ask for it.
On the other hand, it is a fraud since he is using 'insider knowledge' to get an advantage over the other customer.
What he is doing can be qualified of:
- imaginative
- clever
- non ethical.
Non ethical because he is not repecting the 'spirit' of the contest. Also, the contest is to promote the ITMS which he is not talking about at all. So bottom line: he is going to hell!
If I was in his situation, I would have done ALMOST the same thing except that I would have given the winning bottle to the girls, talked about the contest, act as surprised as them when she see the winning cap, congratulate her and get a date!
The hardest part of getting a date is to find a nice situation to introduce yourself and this one seem pretty good to me. After all, who doesnt like free music?
BTW, I am very surprised to see how ethical some of the people here are claiming to be. Do you respect the law in every part of your life? Because crossing the street when the light is red IS a crime... And as you all pointed out, a crime is a crime, no matter how big it is...
You can slap the guy behind the head telling him that he is doing something wrong, but dont claim that you are perfect!
Mantat said:
Some of us really try. I am the one you curse at for not running the red light, allowing a pedestrian that is in a cross walk the right of way, trying to stay within 5mph of the speed limit. Am i perfect, no. But we should strive to be the very best that we can be.
By encouraging such behavior we are sending the wrong message. Not to say that he would go on to worse things, but yet others started small and went on to bigger crimes.
The problem I see is that church has fallen out of favor for many families. Otherwise we wouldn't see some of the problems that we do. I was brought up to do unto others as you would have others do unto you.
Totally NOT what I said, as you well know. If he wants to offer to throw away the bottles and caps for all 100 of the people, and then gets them out of the trash, so long as he doesn't know beforehand which are winners, then there would be nothing wrong with it. Now that he has segregated the winners from the losers, however, that isn't an option anymore.tjwett said:
Nothing you say is going to make this situation anything less than intentional deception, perpetrated on all of the customers. If you're ok with that, fine. That is between you and your conscience. Trying to make everyone see it as OK to soothe your conscience, though, is totally uncool.
As for someone's statement about exploiting inside information, ask Martha Stewart if that's ok.
Much as you apparently don't want to believe it, there are people out here that actually (GASP) follow the law. That means no jay-walking, not speeding up when the light turns yellow, following the speed limits (ya know, it is the MAXIMUM speed, not the MINIMUM) and all those other little things that people seem to think don't matter anymore. And while I can't speak for the others that follow the rules (bless them) I for one think those that don't are the real root of all (yes, all) of the problems in our society.Mantat said:
Chip NoVaMac said:
Church wouldnt solve the problem at all. Its full of vice and perversion. What people need is moral, either from religion (as you stated) or common sens. The single most important thing to know and do in life is:
'dont do something that you would not want someone else to do to you'.
Its all about being a good citizen...
edit: Before getting flamed, I want to precise that I am not at all againts the principle dictated by the bible but againts some of its messenger.
edit: I do respect the law as much as I can btw.
Chip NoVaMac said:
why? the rest of it is of absolutely no consequence to this conversation, and a waste of space.
russed said:
NO. it means that there you don't necessarily have to have bought the item to claim a winning prize. for example, if you found it on the street. just like a lottery ticket.
IndyGopher said:
my conscience is just fine, because i haven't done anything wrong. and i would never have the audacity to claim to know how someone else is feeling, or what their conscience is telling them. i'll let YOU know when i feel bad about what i'm saying.
IndyGopher said:
sounds like fun! yes, jaywalkers are the reason there is so much racism, poverty, AIDS, war, murder, drugs, and every other evil we suffer from. gosh, it must be nice to grow up in such a sheltered existence. i'm guessing you haven't seen ANY of these things first hand. you sound like one of these "3 strikes" supporters who give drug addicts the death sentence. i admire people who can cast judgments on the rest of society from atop Mt. Pleasant where the air is fresh, everyone drives the speed limit, and all the ladies are virgins. trust me dood, jaywalkers and people who go through yellow light are NOT the reason for our downfall. maybe in your town, but not out here in civilization. i have never stolen anything, never killed anyone, i take my vitamins, i've never had a cavity. but i jaywalk all the time, i go through yellow lights, and sometimes i even speed! it's called BEING IN A HURRY. forgive me for not feeling guilty for contributing to the decline of society.
He didn't say jaywalking was the root cause of all evil. He said that people who don't follow the rules are. There is a big difference there. Do jaywalkers cause all of the murders? No. Do murderers cause all of the murders? Yes. They are both not following the rules, but they can both be in the same general category. Of course, they can be split too.
Back on topic, I still think that it is stealing, because the code is for those who pay for the Pepsi, not the guy selling, handling, shipping, delivering, etc. The customer's dollar was used to pay for the bottle and therefore has the right to redeem the code. Essentially, he's using some other person's money for purchasing items/goods.
It was worthwhile to have the entire rule posted, because the rule didn't stop at "No Purchase Necessary". It says "No Purchase Necessary" then goes on to tell how you can get a game piece without buying anything.
Back on topic, I still think that it is stealing, because the code is for those who pay for the Pepsi, not the guy selling, handling, shipping, delivering, etc. The customer's dollar was used to pay for the bottle and therefore has the right to redeem the code. Essentially, he's using some other person's money for purchasing items/goods.
It was worthwhile to have the entire rule posted, because the rule didn't stop at "No Purchase Necessary". It says "No Purchase Necessary" then goes on to tell how you can get a game piece without buying anything.
tomf87 said:
look i just yet edited another quote!
about 5 years ago there was a woman who went into about 20 supermarkets peeling stickers off of cereal boxes in attempt to win a prize. she eventually found a winner. she was also caught and brought to court. guess what? she won. why? NO PURCHASE NECCESSARY.
Don't edit me!!! Had to say it..
Any way, I don't think the court system is always centered around what is morally right. Just like the McDonald's case where the woman spilled the coffee in her lap and sued. She won because the coffee was too hot. Just another case where the court doesn't have its sights clear, IMHO.
Had to say it.. Any way, I don't think the court system is always centered around what is morally right. Just like the McDonald's case where the woman spilled the coffee in her lap and sued. She won because the coffee was too hot. Just another case where the court doesn't have its sights clear, IMHO.
tomf87 said:
i just don't see things as being this black & white. i never said that this little iTunes scam was a GOOD thing to do. i'd probably feel a little bad about it. but i don't feel i have the right to judge anyone. maybe this kid doesn't see it as a bad thing at all. maybe he does. and maybe he doesn't care. that's not for me to decide and surely not for me to get on his case about it. that's what his parents are for. my job is to laugh about it because i get a kick out of the way kids think. yes, it would be nice to see his ingenuity go in a more positive direction. maybe it will someday. for now, i'm just gonna laugh and not get my briefs in a situation over his cafeteria antics.
tomf87 said:Don't edit me!!!
Any way, I don't think the court system is always centered around what is morally right. Just like the McDonald's case where the woman spilled the coffee in her lap and sued. She won because the coffee was too hot. Just another case where the court doesn't have its sights clear, IMHO.
i agree with you on that. it's similar to these parents of fat kids who are now suing all the fast food chains for the poor health of their children. it's just absurdity to the nth degree. now, no the other hand i DO think that fast food places should indeed have to print nutritional facts and ingredients on all the packaging. they get by without doing under this lame loophole in the law that considers them to be a "restaurant". there are people (me included) who have serious conditions and allergies to certain foods. i would never in a million years expect it to be healthy, but it would be nice to know exactly what the is in there.
That's true that we are not to judge one another. I'm not judging the person. What I am doing is pointing out that is not a moral thing to do. I guess that is one of the gray areas where people can say you're judging, not guiding and vice versa.
At any rate, my 2 cents were given. Cheers everyone!
And tjwett, don't quote only part of me!
At any rate, my 2 cents were given. Cheers everyone!
And tjwett, don't quote only part of me!
tjwett said:i agree with you on that. it's similar to these parents of fat kids who are now suing all the fast food chains for the poor health of their children. it's just absurdity to the nth degree. now, no the other hand i DO think that fast food places should indeed have to print nutritional facts and ingredients on all the packaging. they get by without doing under this lame loophole in the law that considers them to be a "restaurant". there are people (me included) who have serious conditions and allergies to certain foods. i would never in a million years expect it to be healthy, but it would be nice to know exactly what the is in there.
I think that is a law they have to provide you that information if requested. I've seen in the Burger King and McD's in the area where they have the entire nutritional information on their food posted on the wall with several copies, free for the taking.
What gets me about this whole thing is not him taking the caps nor bragging about his fortune online, but rather that his scheme is based solely on the gender-based stereotypes that women 1. don't use computers and 2. females that take cosmotology are mentally inferior. It's amazing how antiquated some people's mindsets are in this modern day. I hope not that he get busted for his fraud but that a group of feminists finds out about this and makes his life a living hell. If there is one group of people with the resources and determination to do such a thing, a group of highly motivated feminists would be them. Anybody have Martha Burk's phone number?
tjwett said:
If you remember your reading comprehension class, it does. The part you omitted was only to suit your purpose. The "no purchase necessary" was referring to the subsequent details in section #2. But everyone else knows that.
Nice try, but you get and "F" on this assignment.
Saw your other post. That does not mean that another judge would agree with your position.
BTW tell me where you drive so that you don't end up running that yellow light that is really red and run into me or my friends. Slow down you'll live longer (and so will the rest of us because of it).
Chip NoVaMac said:
actually i omitted the last part because it was just some jibberish about self addresses stamped envelopes with an address and rules about them not being responsible for lost or misprinted mail. i've reread over the part i omitted about 5 times now and i still don't see the relevance. i drive in NYC and i think anyone who's been in the back of a yellow cab would agree that going through the occasional yellow light is nothing compared to the other lunatics on the road.