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Original poster

Kit Kat rip off

44 replies

talkhouse · 29/07/2011 08:54

Whatever you do, don't get sucked in to the current Kit Kat competition inviting you to buy a bar in the hope you will win £10,000. It stinks. My six-year-old son has bought several bars in the hope of winning the cash prize with his pocket money (even though I have tried to persuade him not to!). You are told to key in a code on the kit kat website - and they do, of course, ask for your email - and then what a surprise, after you have inserted the code, you are told you haven't on this occasion won £10,000. It encourages you to then buy another bar. My son has been in sobs of tears over it because he truly believes (like any child would) he can win.

It is a disgusting marketing ploy to not only encourage children to eat more chocolate but to also convince them they really will win a lot of money.

TOTAL TOTAL rip off.

OP posts:

Littlefish · 29/07/2011 08:59

It doesn't sound any different from any other competition. How old is your child?

TheGrumpalo · 29/07/2011 09:00

Sounds like any other competition to me, it's only a rip off imo if there is no prize. Would you still find it a rip off if he won?
Do you play the lottery and expect to win every time?

Original poster

talkhouse · 29/07/2011 09:02

Of course it is like any other competition and of course I know we won't win - but try telling an excited six-year-old child this. I just thought I'd post a note to warn other parents beware of tears if you do decide to enter!!!

OP posts:

QueenOfFeckingEverything · 29/07/2011 09:02

That's normal for competitions on junk food! They run them for precisely this reason - you didn't think it was out of actual kindness did you?

Never mind 'persuading him not to' keep buying them, just bloody tell him. Talk to him about advertising and how its all a big con.

5inthebed · 29/07/2011 09:04

More fool you for letting him I say.

My Ds1 would cal all the competition son the TV if I et him, but I ont as I know the chances to win are next to nothing.

Lady1nTheRadiator · 29/07/2011 09:05

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

grumpypants · 29/07/2011 09:06

I am really by your surprise. There must have been some participation on your part - taking him to the shop, logging on to the PC - are you sure it's not you who is totally distraught at not winning ten grand?

lawnimp · 29/07/2011 09:07

did he find a kitkat with a red inside?

lawnimp · 29/07/2011 09:10

some right miseries on this thread!

5inthebed · 29/07/2011 09:17

Miseries? Op is letting her son buy loads of Kit Kats and not winning. How is that being miserable? The chances of winning out of millions of kit kats are very slim.

PamSco · 29/07/2011 09:17

teach him the basics of probability

Chandon · 29/07/2011 09:21

My 6 year old was very excited about the prospect too.

He soon figured it all out though, same way he figured out lots of commercials are full of lies.

It's a sad life lesson to learn, but there you go.

ChaosTrulyReigns · 29/07/2011 09:23

Seriously?

Thanks for the warning , but I think most of us consider the odds before getting emotionally invested (or allowing DC to become excited).

You need to distract him from this, and work on strategies that will teach him to spend his pocket money in a more productive manner.

Winning a competition is a pleasant byproduct of buying a product, not the raison d'etre of purchasing the item.

nenevomito · 29/07/2011 09:24

Why not try try telling him he can't buy the chocolate, not letting him log in and not helping him to get to the website and putting in the details.

As an adult you know perfectly well that he's not going to win the 10k, so why is it the company's fault that you didn't explain it to your child?

lawnimp · 29/07/2011 09:36

well the ad shows that if you find the red kitkat you win - so if the op;s son found it and then didn't it sounds quite cruel

CaptainNancy · 29/07/2011 09:40

Competitions are all aimed at getting you to spend more money- that's why they run them

chocolatchaud · 29/07/2011 09:41

My 9yo wants to enter the GMTV competition every morning as he is convinced he is going to win it, because he knows the answer to the question. I have explained many times that he has got a tiny chance of winning.

Isn't it your job to warn him that he is NOT going to win £10,000?

PatriciaHolm · 29/07/2011 09:43

I'd be a bit worried about a child who reacted that badly to something like this, tbh. Is he normally this highly strung? It's no different to any other of thousands of competitions out there, I can't see how anyone needs warning against it.

BalloonSlayer · 29/07/2011 09:46

My DCs - like chocolatchaud's - are convinced they will win the ITV competitions and want to enter every one.

OP, what I do is this:

I don't let them. And I explain why. (eg it costs £1 to call and the £10,000 prize is obtained by 10,000 people phoning in)

purplepidjin · 29/07/2011 09:47

Read "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" with him and explain about all the millions of other children who weren't Charlie...

When i was six I truly believed that if I wore a skirt and drank cherry coke I'd fly. Funnily enough, my mum debunked the theory pdq - but there a purchase of cherry coke involved in the debunking...

violetwellies · 29/07/2011 09:49

Kit Kat - Nestle - you shouldn't let a child any where near it.

LoveBeingAtHomeOnMyOwn · 29/07/2011 09:49

Op you really need to get mnhq to change your thread title before they delete it for you.

LoveBeingAtHomeOnMyOwn · 29/07/2011 09:51

Btw the t&cs clearly state you have to be over 18 to enter so he wouldn't be able to claim it anyway.

LawrieMarlow · 29/07/2011 09:52

A 6 year old isn't going to go out and buy a kitkat on his own. You need to have given him the money and gone with him to the shop. And you can tell him that no, he isn't buying one.

It isn't a rip off. It's just a way for KitKat to make money. Which is fine.

BalloonSlayer · 29/07/2011 09:52

What would make it not be a rip off for you, OP?

If there was a cheque for £10,000 in every Kit Kat?

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