BIZARRE fine print! Attn Canadians!

[hopskip]

I'm not Canadian but I had to share this weird piece of text that I took from the fine print of the "Disney Club and Walt Disney Pictures - OPENING WEEKEND SWEEPSTAKES". This was on the Disney Club website & this excerpt reads:

"6. WINNERS: Will be notified by U.S. Mail on or about July 15, 2002. Disqualification and the selection of an alternate winner will result from any of the following: (1) failure of a potential winner to continue to be a valid Member at time of notification; (2) the return of a notification or prize as undeliverable; (3) failure of a potential winner to respond to notification within ten (10) days; or (4) any other non-compliance with Official Rules ("Rules"). <b>All Canadian residents will be required to answer correctly a mathematical skill testing question without assistance of any kind whether mechanical or otherwise to be declared a winner and be eligible to collect a prize.</b> All taxes are solely the winner's responsibility. For list of winners (after July 15, 2002) and/or Rules (before July 5, 2002), send a self-addressed, stamped #10 envelope to: The Disney Club, 500 South Buena Vista Street, Burbank, CA 91521."

Can anyone explain this? What a weird statement!

 

[sammi]

LOL...... We always have to answer a "skill testing question" when we are winners of anything in Canada.......it's just the law here.

But we don't have to pay any taxes on prizes that we win in Canada including lotteries so I guess it balances itself out.

 

[hopskip]

I knew there had to be a simple explanation! I see the government is breeding a nation full of mathematical geniuses!! LOL (-:

 

[sammi]

ROTFLMBO!!!!!!! You're right there! LOL

 

[Scratch42]

Even though they say don't use any help. Everyone
I know keeps a mini calculator on hand to help them out and then write the answer on the boxes
if it's a leave your entry here type contest.

 

[SpecialFXKid]

Umm.. you know people who NEED a calculator to answer those questions? It's like grade 6 or 7 level mathematics.. they're so easy Or, is it just casue i've grown up with them? lol.

What skill is there in 4 + (9X2) - 5?

hehe.. just a thought. I thought that calculator statment was a little silly. But rules are rules.. Guess it's not that bad in a world where there are instructions on those peanut bags the airlines have...

 

[RuthAnne123]

Hopskip I think that was really sweet of you to hopskip (lol sorry) over here and warn everybody!

You couldn't have known that it is a law here that we complete a mathmatical question before we recieve our winnings!

I have duel citizenship ( Canadian and American) and I never thought it was strange to have to complete a question before winning.........I just liked it that you got to keep all the money! Of course, I'm not sure if that includes me as I get taxed coming and going! It's great for everyone else though!!

The math questions are easy but if I won I would use a calculator! I would be too nervous to think straight!

Rooth

P.S. That's not grade 6 or 7 math anymore in Ontario it's grade 2 or 3 these days!

 

[SandraC]

LOL ~ real math is 2002-1964=

 

[SpecialFXKid]

Grade 2 and 3.. LOL! the funniest thing about that statement is that it's compleatly true.. the education system here really scares me. I don't have kids yet, but i know people who do, and what the kids are doing as opposed to what i've done.

At least those kiddies don't have to save up money to go to Disney... the parents do it. hehe..

Oh.. Sandra.. if that's a caculation for your age.. then the answer is... uhh.. 22.

 

[timC]

Hi all.... This is funny.. As a Canadian, we seem to take it for granted that a skill testing question is standard practice...but do we all know why?

I pulled this off some lawyer web-site that basically sums it up.


Skill-testing question: The Criminal Code prohibits awarding a prize solely on the basis of chance. All contest winners must demonstrate "skill" to qualify for a prize. Presumably this was intended to curtail the kind of mindless gambling that is now the sole preserve of provincial lotteries. Regardless, unless your contest is a competition where winners are judged on the quality of their entries, you are required to add a skill component. Hence the ubiquitous testing question. Contest sponsors turned to mathematical questions after a series of decisions by Canadian courts determined, for example, that shooting a turkey at 100 yards did not require sufficient "skill".