Punch-Drunk Give-Away

December 13, 2005 7:35 AM

I'd like 128 20oz Cokes, please... hold the coke. If you buy 64 sodas from Wendy's before February, Airtran will give you a free round-trip flight, anywhere they fly, limit two.
posted by empath (49 comments total)

Normally, I wouldn't post this kind of thing, but considering that 2 round-trip tickets from Washington to Miami, for example would normally cost over $400, this seems like an almost unbelievable offer. I wonder if there is a catch?
posted by empath at 7:37 AM on December 13, 2005

Woops, I botched the third link, it should be this list of destinations.
posted by empath at 7:41 AM on December 13, 2005

They expect you to buy some burgers, etc with your drinks. Fast food pop is practicaly free for the resturant.
posted by delmoi at 7:44 AM on December 13, 2005

Does the offer apply to Pepsi Blue?
posted by brettski at 7:49 AM on December 13, 2005

I'll have my burger and fries with a cool, refreshing Pepsi Blue, thanks.
posted by you just lost the game at 7:49 AM on December 13, 2005

I was wondering yesterday if this would work. I was a bit worried that if I ordered 128 cups, they would give me one special cup and 127 regular cups. But about two cups a day would do it, eh?
posted by leapingsheep at 7:49 AM on December 13, 2005

Also, "Normally, I wouldn't post this kind of thing..." is the MeFi equivalent of Penthouse Forum letters that start out "I never thought something like this would happen to me, but..."

/ darn you, brettski
posted by you just lost the game at 7:50 AM on December 13, 2005

Most excellent post title.

Reminds me of this image I saw, where someone has purchased (apparently) a thousand 1.5 liter pepsi bottles to get a laptop worth 1850 euros. With the deposit for the bottles (that you pay initially and then get back when you return the bottles) the laptop ends up costing 800 euros and to boot you get 1500 liters of pepsi.

Crazy stuff.
posted by slimepuppy at 7:52 AM on December 13, 2005

Oops. I think I mean 100 bottles. A thousand bottles would be worth way more than the laptop.
posted by slimepuppy at 7:55 AM on December 13, 2005

From Wendy's web site:

HOW TO PARTICIPATE: On or about 11/1/05 through 12/31/05, or while supplies last, when you purchase a specially-marked 20 oz. or 32 oz. Coca-Cola beverage at a participating Wendy's you will find a Proof of Purchase/AirTran Flight Coupon printed on the cup. Limit five (5) drinks per transaction.
posted by evoo at 7:56 AM on December 13, 2005

Oops, that's from the AIRTRAN web site.
posted by evoo at 7:58 AM on December 13, 2005

I wonder how many promotional cups were created. I bet after this gets more publicity, Wendy's will run out of them quickly.
posted by brain_drain at 7:58 AM on December 13, 2005

If only I had known about this back when the promotion started in November..
posted by robocop is bleeding at 7:59 AM on December 13, 2005

Mod note: fixed empath's fpp link
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:04 AM on December 13, 2005

I saw this over at slickdeals.net

Some of the people in that forum started dumpster diving at Wendy's to pull in 50 at a time :)

Oh, and FYI - The promo cups are blue, and the 5 per order seems to be pretty strictly enforced..
posted by p3t3 at 8:05 AM on December 13, 2005

128 cokes from the Wendy's $.99 menu = $126.72

Travelocity's lowest fare offer from "WAS" to "MIA" = $163

Southwest Ailines lowest fare round trip BWI to West Palm Beach = $84



meh.
posted by Pollomacho at 8:21 AM on December 13, 2005

In case anyone missed the joke in the post title, "Punch Drunk Love" was a pretty cool Adam Sandler movie where Adam's character takes advantage of a very similar promotional opportunity. I found it to be very inspirational.

By the way, anyone want to buy 20 cases of Healthy Choice pudding cups, let me know.
posted by notmtwain at 8:35 AM on December 13, 2005

Pollomacho, that 128 cokes gets you two round-trips. One round-trip is 64 cokes, which comes out to $63.36 for a trip anywhere in the US. That's not a meh, that's awesome! Not that I like soda, or Wendy's, or flying really. But I do like dumpster diving.
posted by Bistle at 8:35 AM on December 13, 2005

Which cities have rehab clinics for insulin shock?
posted by StarForce5 at 8:36 AM on December 13, 2005

Pollomacho 128 cokes gets you 2 (two) roundtrip tickets, so the price you use for comparison with Southwest's and Travelocity's fares should be $63.36. It deserves better than 'meh'.
posted by notmtwain at 8:40 AM on December 13, 2005

adam sandler's character in punch drunk love collects all those pudding labels
posted by chuckforthought.com at 8:55 AM on December 13, 2005

Related: How many of those drinks it will take to kill you.
posted by banished at 9:05 AM on December 13, 2005

There was a thing, was there not, when Hoover in the UK tried a similar promotion? Buy a Hoover and get two free tickets on BA I think it was. The long and short of it was that most of Britain went out and bought new Hoovers and cost the company a small fortune.

And, check it out, the full story is on Wikipedia.

The happy ending for my family is that we got a new Hoover *and* got to fly out to New York to see chums. And get staggeringly drunk on weak Yankee beer.
posted by Jofus at 9:16 AM on December 13, 2005

Hope it's better than the infamous UK Hoover free flights mess.
posted by scruss at 9:19 AM on December 13, 2005

Don't forget to add in the dental costs of replacing your teeth after drinking so much soda. That will make the ticket price a few bucks higher...
posted by Todd Lokken at 9:29 AM on December 13, 2005

Weak. You all forget the majesty of airline promo hacking that was Pudding Guy.
posted by eriko at 9:41 AM on December 13, 2005

It has to be a medium drink. She and I already have two tickets and plan on getting 2 more. It works out to about $80.00 for 64 mediums. I found a Wendy's where they either don't know about the 5 drinks at a time or don't care. Get 'em while you can cuz it ends the last day of this month or when the cups run out.
posted by wsg at 10:01 AM on December 13, 2005

Sorry, I was wrong. Wendy's drink prices have gone up to $1.29, so that makes it $165.12 for 2 tickets.

Two tickets on Southwest would be $168 and you don't have to pay for driving around to different Wendy's or mailing in the proofs of purchase.

I stand by my meh.
posted by Pollomacho at 10:03 AM on December 13, 2005

This sounds a lot harder than just buying a goddamned plane ticket.
posted by wakko at 10:16 AM on December 13, 2005

(which makes it funnier to me, honestly... just thinking of all the people buying like 5 drinks, every day... all that extra effort to go to wendy's, wasting all that soda and a bunch of money in gas every day... just to save like $30-50 over simply BUYING a ticket.)
posted by wakko at 10:17 AM on December 13, 2005

If I had to do it 5 drinks at a time I wouldn't bother. It only works for me if I can get them all in one stop, which I can at my Wendy's.
posted by wsg at 10:20 AM on December 13, 2005

A similar promotional stunt is what drove the CEO of Red Lobster's parent corp out of his job. Remember the "Endless Crab" promo? He didn't count on the fact that many Americans are gluttenous pigs, and it cost him.

"DES MOINES, Iowa -- Darden Restaurants said this week it had replaced the head of Red Lobster, its biggest chain, after an all-you-can-eat crab promotion went awry.
Darden President and Chief Operating Officer Dick Rivera will succeed Edna Morris as president of Red Lobster.

Morris, who had been in that job just 18 months, left to pursue other interests, the company said.

Darden executives said Red Lobster management had badly miscalculated how many times customers would refill their plates after paying $20 for an "endless" crab entree. Meanwhile, crab prices were going up, sending the profit margin crashing.

"It wasn't the second helping on all-you-can-eat but the third," company Chairman Joe R. Lee said during a conference call.

"And maybe the fourth," Rivera added. "
posted by drstein at 10:21 AM on December 13, 2005

And I love who AirTran says can't participate. They spell it out very clearly.

"Void where restricted or prohibited by law. Employees of Wendy's International, Inc., their respective affiliates, franchisees, subsidiaries, advertising and promotion agencies, suppliers and the immediate family members (mother, father, sister, brother, husband, wife, daughter, son, step-father, step-mother, step-daughter, step-son, step brother, step-sister, half-brother, half-sister) and/or those living in the same household of each are not eligible to participate."

So, your half-sister's hot roommate cannot participate. heh.
posted by drstein at 10:22 AM on December 13, 2005

I saw this when I was in Alabama in November...I figured there had to be a scam to it, so I just threw away my cup.
posted by Kickstart70 at 10:28 AM on December 13, 2005

wsg: if your wendy's played by the rules it would be a real pain in the ass. good thing they are a renegade wendy's.
posted by wakko at 10:33 AM on December 13, 2005

"We have spaghetti, and blankets."
posted by wakko at 10:44 AM on December 13, 2005

So if I goto Wendy's every day, and buy 5 drinks, I get to fly ValuJet?

I can't imagine why everyone isn't doing that!
posted by I Love Tacos at 10:45 AM on December 13, 2005

this runway sort of looks like a swamp.
posted by wakko at 10:48 AM on December 13, 2005

Seats are limited, subject to availability and may not be available on all flights. Blackout dates apply. Offer participants are responsible for all taxes and fees, including per-segment tax of up to $3.30. A segment is defined as one takeoff and one landing. The September 11th security fee of up to $10 is not included. Airport Passenger Facility Charges of up to $18 are not included. Fares to/from Grand Bahama Island do not include U.S. and Bahamian taxes of up to $89.20.

This offer just gets better and better.
posted by I Love Tacos at 10:48 AM on December 13, 2005

'Cause I want to go to Biloxi.
posted by Smedleyman at 10:51 AM on December 13, 2005

What if we pooled our cups together and sent matt to iceland?
posted by dial-tone at 11:23 AM on December 13, 2005

What if we pooled our cups together and sent matt to iceland?

Does Air-Tranny go to Iceland? I think the best we could get would be sending him to Akron.
posted by Pollomacho at 11:34 AM on December 13, 2005

So, it says 5 cups per transaction. Does that mean that mean that I just have to buy 5 sodas, go to the end of the line, and repeat 13 times without leaving the store?

Most of the time I see them say per visit, not per transaction...
posted by darkness at 4:45 PM on December 13, 2005

As an employee of the airline industry, I've got to say, this is a new low. From the people who brought you "ValuJet," no less. Congratulations on cheapening the profession for us all, again, AirTran.

Also, drink your 128 sodas, then get bumped. As I understand it, the "free" "tickets" are for flying standby. Which means good luck flying to or from Florida, Phoenix, Vegas or the East Coast, and/or on Sunday, Monday, Thursday, or Friday. Once you've eliminated those destinations and dates, be sure you're not too close to any holidays and you might have a fighting chance to make your flight and hopefully not lose out on any non-refundable hotel or rental car reservations for your trip...
posted by gazole at 5:11 PM on December 13, 2005

As I understand it, the "free" "tickets" are for flying standby.

That's why I figured it was a "scam" - though good for the dumpster divers. Make 'em pay!

Availability of seats for A+ Rewards travel on AirTran Airways is subject to capacity controls and blackout dates, and seats are limited and may not be available on all flights

*Unspecified* capacity controls and blackout dates. Fuck 'em.

Double meh.
posted by mrgrimm at 6:32 PM on December 13, 2005

I netted $75 in Best Buy Bucks from 5 bags of McDonald's trash. One hour of pawing throught chewed meat clumps and ketchup packets is worth $75. I also earned several free hamburgers and McFlurrys.

From the coupons, not the bags.
posted by JDC8 at 9:23 PM on December 13, 2005

wakko: ""We have spaghetti, and blankets.""

I miss Mitch.
posted by mindless progress at 11:37 PM on December 13, 2005

A couple weeks ago ebay was flooded with auctions for the cups (Wendy's employees? Dumpster divers?) that got about $1/cup (most were for 128 or 256). Now they're flooded with auctions for 256 straws, 128 plasticware sets, 128 square pieces, and 128 water balloons from a sister named Wendy.

Some of these auctions are getting bids.
posted by jaysus chris at 11:41 AM on December 14, 2005

I also earned several free hamburgers and McFlurrys.

There's always lots of edible food in the garbage.

Now they're flooded with auctions for 256 straws, 128 plasticware sets, 128 square pieces, and 128 water balloons from a sister named Wendy.

Auction ended early with Buy It Now. For $140. This depresses me more than you can imagine.
posted by mrgrimm at 5:07 PM on December 14, 2005