In April Nestle Ice Cream conducted a contest for kids ages 6-12 to become a Flavorologist for a Day." Nestle asked contestants to create a new kind of ice cream treat, and in exchange for assigning all intellectual property rights in the invention, 10 grand prize winners would receive an all-expenses paid trip for the winner and 3 family members to visit the top secret flavor lab (closed to the public!) at the Nestl Ice Cream factory in Bakersfield, CA to "sample one of the tastiest jobs in America."
The contest promomotional materials promised the winners would receive a behind-the-scenes tour where each child would have an opportunity to learn the fun science behind frozen pops, put their taste buds to the test on a variety of outlandish flavors, and sample their very own flavor creations.
We are delighted to offer pint-sized inventors a hands-on opportunity to dream up their own frozen pop creations, said John Harrison, Official Taster for Nestle Ice Cream."
But the contest turned out to be a FRAUD, and a classic bait-and-switch scam.in a voice mail message from Nestle's Julie Harshberger on Thursday, September 5th, my son was treated to Juliesquealing "Congratulations! You've won!" followed by a disengenious "apology" that because the lab is considered top secret (just as the promo materials indicated!), winners would not be coming to California after all.
In exchange for assigning their ideas to Nestle, the children will receive a $2,000 savings bond, some gift cards to Toys R Us, Target, and Amazon, and some lame Nestle promotional materials which Nestle
believes "exceeds the value" of the promised prize. Exactly how does this exceed the value of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit Nestle's flavor lab and have your invention created. Mr. Harrison, how is this a "hands-on opportunity"? Attention, Nestle - has anyone there ever been a kid? Kids don't care about savings bonds. You should be ashamed of yourselves. Boycott nestle products!
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