M&M'S® "Flipping The Status Quo" Contest Official Rules
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.
Contest Description:
The M&M'S® "Flipping the Status QuoContest (the "Contest") is an online entry Contest that begins on 1/5/23 at 12:00:00 AM Eastern Time ("ET") and ends on 1/29/23 at 11:59:59 PM (ET) ("Contest Period"). The Contest provides eligible individuals (each, a "Nominator") with the opportunity to post an essay nominating a woman known personally to them who otherwise meets the eligibility criteria as detailed herein (a "Nominee"), as described herein. There will be up to ten (10) prize winners in the Contest that will be determined by the judging panel at the end of the Judging Period. For this Contest, the prize winners will be the Nominee associated with the highest scoring Contest Entry. There is no prize in this Contest for the Nominators.The Contest Period Consists of:
- a "Nomination Period" that begins at 12:00:00 AM (ET) on 1/5/23 and ends at 11:59:59 PM (ET) on 1/15/23;
- a "Judging Period" that begins on 1/16/23 and will conclude on 1/29/23 after determination of up to ten (10) Grand Prize winners (subject to verification).
Eligibility:
Nominators and Nominees must be legal United States residents residing in the fifty (50) United States and District of Columbia who are 18 years of age or older at time of entry; additionally, each Nominee must be a woman. Employees, officers and directors of Mars Wrigley Confectionary US, LLC (the "Sponsor"), its parent company, subsidiaries, affiliates, distributors, retailers, sales representatives, advertising and promotion agencies and each of their respective officers, directors and employees (collectively, the "Contest Entities") and each of their immediate family members (e.g., spouse, parent, child, sibling, and their respective spouses and the "steps" of each, regardless of where they reside) and persons living in the same household of each, whether or not related, are not eligible to enter or win. All federal, state, and local laws apply. Void where prohibited or restricted by law.Participation constitutes Nominators full and unconditional agreement to these Official Rules and Sponsor's decisions and interpretations, which are final and binding in all matters related to the Contest. Winning a prize is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein. Potential winners (selected Nominees) may be required to provide proof of identification and complete a background check, as required by Sponsor.
How To Enter:
To nominate your Nominee, go to MMS.com ("Website") and follow the online instructions to complete and submit your entry into the Contest by nominating a special woman that you believe "flips the status quo", detailing why you think they should be featured on the M&M's platforms and receive $10,000 in funding. The Nominee should be bold, original, impactful, authentic, a change maker, fun and inclusive. These traits compromise the judging criteria, as more fully described in rule #5. To complete a nomination, you must provide your first and last name (as the Nominator), your date of birth, email address, the first and last name of the Nominee, and a brief essay, in two hundred fifty (250) words or less, of how your Nominee "flips the status quo" in her life (the "Entry"). Online registration and entry are free. Once you have completed your nomination entry form, click "submit" to enter the Contest. Online entries must be completed and submitted by 11:59:59 PM (ET) on 1/15/23. Entries must be submitted in English.All submitted Entries become the property of Sponsor, which shall be final and binding in all respects and will not be acknowledged or returned. No automated entry devices, bots and/or other programs and/or software are permitted for entry. Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, illegible, incomplete, invalid, unintelligible, misdirected, technically corrupted or garbled entries, which will be disqualified, or for problems of any kind, whether mechanical, human or electronic. Only fully completed entries are eligible. By entering the Contest, Nominators fully and unconditionally agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of the Sponsor. In the event of a dispute over the identity of an online Nominator in the Contest, participation will be deemed completed by the Authorized Account Holder of the email address provided at the time of participation as long as such person is otherwise eligible in accordance with these Official Rules. "Authorized Account Holder" is defined as the natural person who is assigned to an email address by an Internet access provider, online service provider, wireless carrier, or other organization (e.g. business, educational institution, etc.) that is responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the submitted email address. A potential winner may be required to provide Sponsor with proof that he/she is the Authorized Account Holder of the email address associated with the winning Contest entry. If a dispute cannot be resolved to Sponsor's satisfaction, the affected Contest Entry will be deemed ineligible. Proof of submission will not be deemed to be proof of receipt by Sponsor. Entry in the Contest does not constitute entry into any other promotion, contest or sweepstakes.
Each Entry must meet the following "Entry Requirements" (any Entry that, in Sponsor's sole and absolute discretion, violates the following criteria will be disqualified):
- Nominator must personally know the Nominee and be the rightful owner of the Entry;
- Entry essay must not exceed two hundred fifty (250) words in length and must be written in English;
- Entry must NOT contain any material that infringes or violates any right of a third-party including copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other proprietary rights. For example, Entry should NOT contain reference to sports team logos, celebrities, names or logos of businesses, copyright protected music or lyrics, or clips from television shows or movies;
- Entry must NOT include references to or names of third parties/people, who have not expressly authorized in writing the Nominator to feature their name, image, likeness or voice in the Entry or otherwise use such name, image, likeness or voice in accordance with these Official Rules (if applicable, any selected winner may be required to verify such authorization in the form of a release);
- Entry must NOT contain subject matter which is, or could be considered, in the sole discretion of the Contest Entities, obscene, pornographic, violent (e.g., relating to murder, the sales of weapons, cruelty, abuse, etc.), defamatory, libelous, discriminatory (based on race, sex, religion, natural origin, physical disability, sexual orientation or age), illegal (e.g., illegal gambling, underage drinking, substance abuse, computer hacking, etc.), offensive, threatening, profane, hateful, degrading, harassing, or otherwise unlawful, tortious or objectionable;
- Entry must NOT contain any personal identification, such as personal names or e-mail addresses other than that of the Nominator and their Nominee (as applicable);
- Entry must NOT communicate messages or images inconsistent with the positive images and/or goodwill to which Sponsor wishes to associate;
- Entry must NOT not violate any law;
- Entry must NOT contain any content that is protected by copyright (without the express prior written consent of the owner of such right), including any music or include any recognizable locations or include names and/or descriptions of any copyrighted media production, including, without limitation, films, books, television programming, etc., or identifying descriptions of any media property; and
- Entry must NOT contain any derogatory references to any of the Contest Entities.
Note:
Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any Entry in the Contest if Sponsor views the Entry as potentially infringing or otherwise a violation or potential violation of a third party's rights or if it deems the Entry to be lacking in taste, quality, or to be otherwise objectionable. Sponsor reserves the right to waive any Entry Requirement in its reasonable discretion. Nominators understand that they are submitting their Entry at their sole risk. Neither Sponsor nor any Contest Entity is responsible for any claims arising from the Entries, specifically including, but not limited to, claims for intellectual property infringement and privacy rights violations.Limit one (1) entry per person as Nominator during the Contest Period. Attempting Entries in excess of the stated limitation will be null and void.
Grant Of Rights:
Each Nominator hereby irrevocably grants to Sponsor, its designees, affiliates, successors and assigns, the non-exclusive, irrevocable, fully paid, universal license to use, copy, sublicense, transmit, distribute, publicly perform, publish, delete or display the Entry, including the original essay, in any media now known or hereafter devised including, but not limited to all forms of electronic media, print media and all forms of internet and wireless protocol in perpetuity and throughout the universe for advertising, marketing, publicity and promotional purposes in connection with the Contest and other advertising and promotions. Sponsor shall have the right, in its sole discretion, to edit, composite, morph, scan, duplicate, or alter the Entry for any purpose which Sponsor deems necessary or desirable, and each Nominator fully and irrevocably waives any and all so-called moral rights they may have therein.Winner Selection And Notification:
During the Judging Period, the judging panel will judge all eligible Entries based on the following equally weighted judging criteria: Bold; Original; Impactful; Authentic; A Change Maker; Fun; and Inclusive. The judging panel will use a judging scorecard ranging from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest) for each submitted Entry to calculate an overall judging score in order to determine the potential Grand Prize winners using the aforementioned judging criteria. The ten (10) Entries with the highest overall respective scores from the Judging Panel will be determined as the potential Grand Prize winners - subject to verification. In the event of a tie, an additional, tie-breaking judge, as determined by the Sponsor, will determine the potential Grand Prize winner from among the tied entries using the judging criteria outlined herein. At the conclusion of the Judging Period, the Nominators of the ten (10) selected potential Grand Prize winning Nominees will be contacted within seven (7) business days via email by a representative of the Sponsor or its designee. Sponsor shall have no liability for any potential winner notification that is lost, intercepted or not received by a Nominator for any reason. If, despite reasonable efforts, a Nominator does not respond within seventy-two (72) hours of the first notification attempt, an alternate Nominator of the next highest scoring Entry may be selected in accordance with the judging criteria noted herein. Sponsor, in its sole discretion, will attempt to contact up to one (1) alternate potential winner in accordance with the above procedure, after which no more potential winners will be contacted. Each potential Grand Prize winner (the Nominee) will be required to execute and return a notarized Affidavit of Eligibility, a Liability Release and, unless prohibited by law, a Publicity Release and other related documents required by the Sponsor (the "Winner's Documents"), within five (5) days of issuance. Potential Grand Prize winning Nominees may also be required to complete a winner background check, at Sponsor's sole discretion. Potential Grand Prize winning Nominees will not be declared an official winner unless and until all such properly executed Winner's Documents are returned as directed by Sponsor; and if required by Sponsor, a winner background check has been completed. If any potential winner is found to be ineligible or if he or she has not complied with these Official Rules or declines the prize in the Contest, such potential winner will be disqualified and an alternate potential winner may be selected, at Sponsor's sole discretion. Refusal or return of such documents as non-deliverable or potential winner's noncompliance with these Official Rules will also result in disqualification and forfeiture of the prize and, at Sponsor's sole discretion, may cause an alternate potential winner to be selected as noted herein. Sponsor reserves the right to not select ten (10) Grand Prize winners if, in its sole discretion, it does not receive a sufficient number of eligible and qualified entries. The decisions of Sponsor are final and binding on all matters relating to this Contest.Prizes And Approximate Retail Values (ARV):
Ten (10) Grand Prizes are available.Each Grand Prize consists of one (1) $10,000 grant (to be awarded in the form of a check to the winner/Nominee) to be used towards the advancement of the winner/Nominee's business/endeavors (the "Prize") (ARV $10,000 each winner + 30% additional funds for consideration of winner's taxes on prize - total prize ARV $13,000). Total approximate retail value of all available prizes $130,000. Prize will be awarded to each winner by Promo Watch ("Contest Administrator"), on behalf of the Sponsor. Limit one (1) prize per person. All prizes will be awarded to the Nominee associated with a winning Entry. Nominators will not receive a prize for their Entry being selected as a winner.</u>GENERAL PRIZE CONDITIONS:
EACH WINNING NOMINEE WILL BE ISSUED A FORM 1099 FOR TAX PURPOSES IN THE AMOUNT OF THE ACTUAL RETAIL VALUE OF THE PRIZE AND MUST SUBMIT HIS/HER SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER OR THE EIN OF THEIR BUSINESS, AS APPLICABLE, AND AS REQUIRED BY LAW. ALL FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL TAXES IMPOSED ON THE ACCEPTANCE OF A PRIZE ARE SOLELY THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE WINNER.General:
The Nominator is solely responsible for submitting the Entry during the Contest Period, and the Nominee is solely responsible for properly claiming the prize if the Nominator and Nominee receive a prize-winning notification. Acceptance of a prize constitutes Nominator and the corresponding Nominee's permission for Sponsor and its designees to use Nominee and/or Nominator's name, photograph, likeness, voice, biographical information, statements and address (city and state) for advertising and/or publicity purposes worldwide and in all forms of media now known or hereafter developed, in perpetuity, without further compensation, except where prohibited by law.By participating in this Contest and/or by accepting any prize awarded herein (Nominees), Nominators and Nominees agree that the Contest Entities and each of their respective affiliates, subsidiaries, representatives, consultants, contractors, legal counsel, advertising, public relations, promotional, fulfillment and marketing agencies, website providers, Web masters and their respective officers, directors, owners, employees, representatives, designees and agents ("Released Parties") are not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, stolen, delayed, garbled, inaccurate, misdirected or undeliverable entries or email notifications; or for any computer, telephone, satellite, cable, network, electronic or Internet hardware or software malfunctions, failures, connections or availability; or garbled, corrupt or jumbled transmissions, service provider/Internet/website/use net accessibility, availability or traffic congestion; or unauthorized human intervention; or the incorrect or inaccurate capture of registration information; or the failure to capture, or loss of, any such information; or for errors or difficulties of any kind whether human, mechanical, electronic, computer, network, typographical, printing or otherwise relating to or in connection with the Contest, including, without limitation, errors or difficulties which may occur in connection with the administration of the Contest, the processing or judging of entries, the announcement of the prizes or in any Contest-related materials. The Released Parties are not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by any website users, tampering or hacking or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest and assume no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect or delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, technical error, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to any Contest-related website or social media platform. The Released Parties are not responsible for any injury or damage, whether personal or property, to participants or to any person's computer related to or resulting from participating in the Contest and/or accepting or using a Prize. The Released Parties shall not be responsible or liable for Entries that are entered by any automated computer, program, mechanism or device, for any entries in excess of the stated limit or for entries that are late, forged, lost, misplaced, misdirected, tampered with, incomplete, deleted, damaged, garbled or otherwise not in compliance with the Official Rules, and all such entries may, in Sponsor's sole discretion, be disqualified.
If, for any reason, the Contest is not capable of running as planned, Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Contest and/or aspects of the Contest, including but not limited to: the selection of winners in a manner it deems fair and reasonable, including but not limited to the selection of the winners from among eligible Entries received prior to such cancellation, termination, modification or suspension. In no event will more prizes be awarded than are stated in these Official Rules. This Contest is subject to all federal, state and local laws and regulations.
By entering the Contest and/or accepting any prize awarded herein, each Nominator and Nominee unconditionally agrees: (i) to be bound by these Official Rules and by all applicable laws and by the decisions of Sponsor, which shall be binding and final; (ii) to waive any rights to claim ambiguity with respect to these Official Rules; (iii) to fully and irrevocably waive all of their rights to bring any claim, action or proceeding against any of the Released Parties in connection with the Contest; (iv) to award the prize funds to the Nominee to be used towards the advancement of the Nominee's business/endeavors; and (v) to forever and irrevocably release and hold harmless each of the Released Parties from any and all claims, lawsuits, judgments, causes of action, proceedings, demands, fines, penalties, liability, costs and expenses (including but not limited to reasonable outside attorneys' fees) that may arise in connection with: (a) the Contest, including but not limited to any Contest-related activity or element thereof, and the Nominator's registration, participation or inability to participate in the Contest, (b) the violation of any third-party privacy, personal, publicity or proprietary rights, (c) typographical or printing errors in these Official Rules or any Contest materials, (d) acceptance, receipt, delivery of, possession, use, non-use, misuse, inability to use, loss, damage, destruction, negligence or willful misconduct in connection with the use of a Prize (or any component thereof), (e) any change in the prizing (or any components thereof) due to unavailability or due to reasons beyond Sponsor's control, including but not limited to: by reason of any acts of God, any action(s), regulation(s), order(s) or request(s) by any governmental or quasi-governmental entity (whether or not such action(s), regulation(s), order(s) or request(s) prove(s) to be invalid), equipment failure, threatened or actual terrorist acts, earthquake, war, fire, flood, explosion, unusually severe weather, hurricane, embargo, labor dispute or strike (whether legal or illegal), labor or material shortage, transportation interruption of any kind, work slow-down, civil disturbance, insurrection, riot or any other cause beyond any of the Released Parties' control, or as otherwise permitted in these Official Rules, (f) any interruptions in or postponement, cancellation or modification of the Contest, (g) human error, (h) incorrect or inaccurate transcription, receipt or transmission of any part of any registration (including but not limited to the registration information or any parts thereof), (i) any technical malfunctions or unavailability of the website or any telephone network, computer system, computer online system, mobile device, computer timing and/or dating mechanism, computer equipment, software or Internet service provider, or mail service utilized by any of the Released Parties or by a Nominator, (j) interruption or inability to access the Contest, any Contest-related websites or applications or any online service via the Internet due to hardware or software compatibility problems, (k) any damage to Nominator's (or any third person's) equipment used to access the Contest and/or its contents related to or resulting from any part of the Contest, (l) any lost/delayed data transmissions, omissions, interruptions, defects and/or any other errors or malfunctions, (m) any late, lost, stolen, mutilated, misdirected, delayed, garbled, corrupted, destroyed, incomplete, undeliverable or damaged entries, (n) any wrongful, negligent or unauthorized act or omission on the part of any of the Released Parties, (o) lost, late, stolen, misdirected, damaged or destroyed prizing (or any element thereof) or (p) the negligence or willful misconduct by Nominator.
Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any individual (and void all associated entries) found, in its sole opinion, to be tampering with the operation of the Contest, to be acting in violation of these Official Rules or to be acting in an unsportsmanlike manner or with the intent to disrupt the normal operation of the Contest. CAUTION AND WARNING: ANY ATTEMPT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY CONTEST SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM OR TO UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THIS CONTEST IS A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS. SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, THE SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES (INCLUDING REASONABLE ATTORNEYS' FEES) OR OTHER REMEDIES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON(S) RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ATTEMPT TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. If any provision of these Official Rules or any word, phrase, clause, sentence or other portion thereof should be held unenforceable or invalid for any reason, then that provision or portion thereof shall be modified or deleted in such manner as to render the remaining provisions of these Official Rules valid and enforceable. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of these Official Rules or the prize documents will not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision. Sponsor's interpretation of these Official Rules is final and binding in all matters related to the Contest. Sponsor's failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision and such provision shall remain in full force and effect. All registrations and/or materials submitted become the property of Sponsor and will not be returned. In the event of any conflict with any Contest details contained in these Official Rules and Contest details contained in any promotional materials (including but not limited to point of sale, television and print advertising, promotional packaging and other promotional media), the details of the Contest as set forth in these Official Rules shall prevail.