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Overview
Plaintiff saw an advertisement for a promotion that defendant soft drink corporation was sponsoring for its products. The ad stated that one could accumulate "points" by purchasing its products and exchange them for merchandise with the product logo on it. At the end of the ad, a high school aged student was shown landing a Harrier Jet at school with a subtitle that indicated the cost of the jet was 7,000,000 points. The terms of the promotion indicated that additional points could be purchased for ten cents. Plaintiff, with the assistance of several friends, accumulated enough money to "buy" the Harrier Jet and sent a check to the defendant, demanding the jet. Defendant refused and sent a letter to plaintiff explaining that the jet was not an item for purchase and referred him to the promotional brochure for the rules. Plaintiff then sued for breach of contract. Defendant filed a motion for summary judgment. The court granted the motion. The court stated that advertisements were not contracts or offers to sell, but rather invitations to negotiate. The court noted that offers made in jest were not contracts where a reasonable person could see that no serious offer was intended.
Outcome
The court granted summary judgment in favor of defendant. The court found that no contract existed between the parties because under an objective standard, a reasonable person could tell that no offer was intended and the alleged contract was void because it was for goods in excess of $ 500.00 and not in writing.
*Source: LexisNexis
