Switzerland-based confectioner Nestlé launched a new publicity campaign in the United Kingdom involving the placement of GPS devices within six candy bars. Upon one of these bars being unwrapped and “activated,” Nestlé will seek out the lucky purchaser and award him or her with £10,000 (~$16,000). This is not the first campaign of its kind – a couple years ago, Unilever included similar devices in Omo laundry detergent containers, though that effort suffered from some privacy hiccups:
Omo might not have been as cool since it couldn’t be compared to Willie Wonka; but it might have been even more creepy on the privacy invasion scale since winners with GPS-enabled detergent boxes had their pictures as well as a map pinpointing their homes put up on the “Try Something New” website.
Nestlé’s “We Will Find You” endeavor is limited to the UK, but I wonder if we’ll soon see a similar effort in the US (if one hasn’t happened already), and what the public reaction to it might be. Although I find the thought of a cash-toting Oompa Loompa getting the drop on me somewhat disconcerting, I doubt it would bother me enough that I’d turn down $16,000.
Marvin Ammori 