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30 Times (Not So) Lucky Winners Got A Lifetime Supply Of Something
Interview With Expert
Winning the lottery—any lottery—can be a ton of fun. It feels great to be a winner, after all! Sometimes, your victory is exactly as advertised. Other times, what you think you’ll get isn’t always what you end up receiving.
There are lots of terms and conditions when you win a lifetime supply of something. Not to mention that the companies’ circumstances can and do change. Today, we’re looking at some fascinating stories about winning a lifetime supply of something, as shared by internet users in two AskReddit threads. Scroll down for their experiences and to find out whether the reality matched their expectations.
Bored Panda reached out to Matt Johnson, PhD, a marketing psychology expert specializing in topics such as consumer psychology and serendipity, for his thoughts on the upsides and potential pitfalls of companies offering lifetime supply promotions.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Granddad got our family a lifetime subscription to national geographic magazine. So f*****g awesome.
"Promotions offering a 'lifetime supply' of a product or service create a powerful psychological impact, driving excitement, engagement, and brand loyalty. The illusion of long-term value makes the prize feel more significant than its actual cost to the company, especially if restrictions limit excessive use," the marketing psychology expert told Bored Panda in an email.
"These promotions also generate buzz, social sharing, and media coverage, reinforcing brand awareness. Additionally, the lucky winner becomes a lifelong brand advocate, further enhancing word-of-mouth marketing," Johnson said.
"Strategically, such giveaways tap into consumer perceptions of scarcity and exclusivity, making the brand more desirable. Crucially this is the case, even for those who don’t win."
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#2
I didn't really "win" it - but through a series of hilarious events (a grocery truck flipped over, my parents run a tow truck company) I became the owner of about 5000 snack pack puddings.
It was all cool and fun until I got home and started filling my cupboards. I didn't have enough room in my kitchen for all this pudding, so I kept some in my bedroom closet, and when that filled up, my dresser drawers, linen closet, and laundry room cupboards were now makeshift pudding shelters. i finally filled up the kitchen cupboards and pantry top to bottom with pudding cups.
Again, great for a bunch of guys smoking w**d and doing nothing all day, but really strange when you bring a girl back, she goes to your kitchen, and you can hear her open one cupboard, then another, and another, followed by a whispered "what the f**k...", followed by the pantry being opened and her finally yelling "Hey, what's with ALL THIS PUDDING." If I was able to talk her into spending the night, she would be greeted by a still unfathomable amount of pudding taking residence in my room. If she took a shower in the morning, She'd have to ask where towels were, because, of course, another wall of f*****g pudding was staring at her when she tried to find them in the closet.
I finally finished enough of the pudding to make room for dishes (i'd been keeping them in the dishwasher, dirty ones in the sink), and eventually started putting actual nutritious food in kitchen about three months after. I ended up giving a ton of pudding away because I couldn't bear to eat anymore of the stuff.
#3
I won a years supply of printer paper when I was in 10th grade. They gave me 12 reams, assuming that I'd go through a ream a month.
I had to buy my first new ream of paper last month. That s**t lasted 12 f*****g years.
However, there's the potential that these kinds of promotions can backfire. Johnson warned that they have to be structured carefully.
"Vague terms or overly restrictive conditions can lead to disappointment and negative publicity, making the brand seem misleading or untrustworthy. If a winner exploits loopholes—such as reselling products or demanding excessive quantities—the costs can spiral beyond expectations," he explained.
"Legal challenges may also arise if the definition of 'lifetime' is unclear or if the company tries to modify terms post-promotion. Additionally, if a brand suddenly discontinues the product or goes out of business, it risks alienating winners and damaging its reputation. Transparency and well-defined limits are crucial for success."
#4
I won free entry for life to a local Aquarium. When I was a kid. I rescued/found a washed up hurt seal pup, and contacting the Aquarium. My Dad and I wrapped it in a coat and carried it down the pier to the Aquarium. I named it Fluffy and I got on the news with another little girl that found a large Octopus, about a month later I went to use my "free entry", and they had no recollection of it!!!
#5
I won a year's supply of M & M's during one of their halloween giveaways. They sent (I think 8 boxes) all at one time. There was no way I was going to eat all of those m & M's before they got stale, so I called the local Home for Children and asked how many kids they had and donated 6 boxes.
#6
My cousin won free burritos for a year at a small burrito place in our town. He gets 1 free burrito, toppings included, every day. He ate there like 6 days/wk.
Everything depends on the terms and conditions as set out by the company running the promotion. In some cases, winning a lifetime supply of a product or service might mean exactly that: you get everything for free, as often as you like, until your last day on Earth. But this is fairly rare.
Most often, certain restrictions might apply to keep things reasonable. After all, while businesses might want to appear generous, they also don’t want their profits to go down the drain if one dedicated person decides to take their stock in mass quantities. So, there needs to be some common sense and practical limits.
For example, Venable LLP explains that companies that want to promote lifetime supply giveaways should calculate the prize using practical means and then disclose those methods in their contest rules.
#7
A guy I used to work with won a lifetime supply of Ricearoni on some game show. (I think It was the one with the whammy?)He gets a case in the mail like every few weeks. As soon as he sees it he packs it off to the local food bank. He has vowed to never eat it again.
Wang Zhuang 10 hours ago (edited)
The San Francisco treat. Haven't eaten this in years Edit: I think the whammy show OP is referencing is Press Your Luck
#8
Local deli has a geocache contest where if you found the "hiding place" for a golden ticket you'd win free subs for life. Friend and I found the golden ticket(which was actually a spray painted fake sub) and got free subs for life!!!
Or until the deli closed down 3 weeks later.
#9
Won a lifetime supply of free pizza, I could claim a free pizza every week until I die. Sadly I only took advantage of it 3 or 4 times until the shop closed down.
That being said, if these boundaries are too strict, the promotion might actually backfire because the winner might feel like they’ve been cheated. Especially if the terms and conditions were ‘hidden away’ somewhere in the margins. Even if you’re legally ‘in the right’ when it comes to the restrictions you impose on the winner, how you communicate all of this really does matter. Transparency is important. And trust is hard to win and easy to lose.
Dissatisfied winners can spread their negative feelings and dissuade other customers from buying from the company in the future. Situations that touch on things like injustice also tend to go viral on social media and the news. This, in turn, can affect the company’s reputation and profit margins, which is bad for business.
#10
I won a years supply of calendars. Pretty unimpressive really.
#11
Not a lifetime supply but in the late 80's I won a years supply of Nesquik™ after my grandmother sent in an entry card for me. I believe it was a dozen bottles and once it arrived my parents made me a huge glass of chocolate milk. Later that night I snuck into the kitchen and proceeded to drink one of the bottles straight. I threw up so hard later that the chocolate was up in my sinuses and coming out of my tear ducts. I'm still not crazy over artificial chocolate flavors and if given a choice I'll take strawberry milk now.
#12
I have a "free pizza for life" card that allows me up to 2 free slices of any type of pizza every day til I die. My band played a show at the pizza place and that's what they give each band member for playing. All the band members get one - it's great! You would think I'd eat there every day but I don't. I'd rather not ruin or cheapen the experience of eating at that pizza place.
EDIT: my band got the plastic "pizza for life" card, but for the first few shows some of bands that played got the metal cards. Very cool.
Have you ever won a lifetime supply of something, dear Pandas? If so, what did you win, and what were the restrictions like? Did your victory match your expectations, or were you underwhelmed by what you got in the end?
Ideally, what lottery or lifetime supply of a thing would you love to win? We'd be happy to hear from you! If you have a moment, share your experiences in the comments down below.
#13
Our local Beef O'Brady's had a drawing for a free meal every week for a year and I won! I owned my own store at that time, so I decided to make this a win-win situation for everyone. To drum up business for my store, I told my customers that we would be giving out that free meal every week. They would have to come to my store Saturday night to put in their names for a drawing. Then, we'd all meet at Beef O'Brady's, where I would pick a name and announce the winner. Of course, even if they didn't win, the customers stayed and bought food. I thought it was a good idea.
Wang Zhuang 10 hours ago
I hope Beef O'Brady's did more for OP after all the business they brought to the restaurant
#14
A co-worker of mine used to buy those scratch off lottery tickets religiously, once a week. He won the prize that gives $5k a week for life. He kept working too and retired after about another 10 years. Some people have all the luck.
#15
There was a local raffle where the winner would receive a lifetime supply of new tires for their car.
I never win anything so I thought I would throw my name in the hat for giggles.
I received an email the next day that I won! I was so excited. I drove to the shop to get my prize and it was a $100 off coupon with a purchase of 4 new tires. They said I should receive one every year and that I can pool them together and get all of my tires for free if I waited long enough.
The business closed down last year after only receiving 2 coupons.
This is my luck...
#16
When I was younger my parents found a pencil baked into a wonder bread loaf. They proceeded to call the company who made it up by telling us we would get a life time supply of their bread products, and boy did they deliver.
The problem was however they delivered it all at once, literally in one day. One if their trucks showed up and gave us a f**k ton of it. Two pallet full standing at about 5 feet high.
Anyways we fit what we could in the freezer and have the rest away.
#17
I won a year supply of beer a few years back. I got a $500 gift card which didn't last a year.
Ace 15 hours ago (edited)
Not sure how much beer costs chez vous, but this would get me less than two pints a week in any bars around here. Not exactly what I'd call a year's supply. Then again, Lidl do a range of acceptable ales for around 1.20 francs for a half litre can, so that's around 8 per week, which might be considered (but not by me) to be a reasonable amount.
#18
Several years ago, I won a lifetime supply of gourmet coffee beans in a contest.
The object was to guess - within a margin of error - how many coffee beans were in a large glass barrel-shaped container.
Each month, 3-4 pounds of coffee beans of my choice arrive, which is usually more than I can use. (The excess, as I've mentioned here in *ask*reddit quite some time ago, are given to friends and family.).
#19
One time I bought a few boxes of rice pilaf that had defective flavor packets. The seal was faulty and the seasoning got all over the raw rice. Without any expectation of reward, I called the manufacturer to report that they had some defective products in circulation. They made note of the issue and asked for my address to follow up by mail. A few days later I received a box full of coupon books for free rice packets. Thousands of them.
Lee Gilliland 5 hours ago
You nipped a problem in the bud and they grateful. Very appropriate.
#20
Was at an airshow once, and there was a flight simulator set up to land a plane, and somehow it scored points, various prizes, and I end up winning a years supply of aviation oil for a light aircraft. Needless to say I was quite surprised when several cases of oil end up on my front door. I don't own a plane, nor did I intend on purchasing one in the near future. Managed to sell it to someone at the local airport for probably far less than what it was worth, but got me a few cases of beer in return.
Huddo's sister 16 hours ago
What an odd prize. I would imagine most people at an air show don't have their own plane.
#21
When I was 5 my parents won lifetime video rentals from Rogers Video. It was the best! Any movies we wanted even the new releases were free! Every time we would have a babysitter they'd go and rent eight or nine videos just so there would be options. I'm pretty sure Rogers hated us. It lasted about eight years before they took it away, right around the time DVDs were becoming popular.
#22
When a burger king opened near me, they had a raffle for a tv, videogame system of some kind, some other stuff and a year supply of fries.
I won the 19" tv and a lady won the year supply of fries. The supply of fries ended up being 52 coupons for a free small fry. That's it.
Jonas Fisher 12 hours ago
I'm not sure about the "That's it." 52 small fry coupons strikes me as a pretty reasonable estimation of free fries for a year.
#23
Barbasol. Bought a can when I first needed to start shaving, and maybe it isn't a lifetime supply, but I think I've only ever bought 1-2 more cans. I'm in my mid 30's.
#24
When a new Buffalo Wild Wings opened up near me. they said the first 100 people in line would get a year of free wings. My friends and I waited in line from 9 pm to 8 am the next morning. We got the free wings, but the prize was 52 individual coupons for a free snack sized wings (they cost about $8). Also, each coupon activated and expired every Monday and sunday of each week for a whole year. We went almost every week. It wasn't a years worth of wings but the coupons did last a year haha. It was obviously worth the wait and is a great story to tell.
#25
I work in the promotions biz; "lifetime supply" needs to be a legally defendable amount. So we calculate a normal year's usage of whatever the prize is, and then multiply that by a reasonable amount of time, like 50 years or so. (Since lifetimes vary based on how long people live, and how old the winner is when they win, a standard, reasonable length of time applied to all is deemed fair and legal.)
Then we calculate the cash value of that amount, and just award the cash. That's the thing few people understand: the prize is almost always converted to cash.
For example, when we gave away a lifetime supply of Xbox, the cash value was a surprisingly small, less than $30 grand, I believe. That's why lifetime supplies are a popular prize: they sound more valuable to participants than they cost in reality for the promoter. Promotionally speaking, you get a lot of bang for your buck with a "lifetime supply" prize.
#26
Didn't "win" but when I took on a contract to do advertising for Fido they gave me a lifetime supply of candy. It was about three massive boxes filled with thousands of small bags of bone shaped hard candy. Im not sure what they wanted me to do with this and it was never mentioned. No way to know how long it would have lasted me as I didnt plan to ever eat that much candy. I gave one of the boxes to my friends for their dorm at college, kept a second in the closet for guests and conversation... What I did with the third box though is what is still hilarious to me to this day.
I lived in a building with a large parking lot. In this parking lot was a little yellow car that I always noticed every day. For no reason other than random compulsion I went out one day and left a bag of candy on the hood of this car. Then the next day I left another. Then the next day another. I did this for about a year off and on. Never leaving candy on any other cars and always just leaving one bag. I have no idea who owned that car, but I still laugh to myself wondering what they thought was going on. I once forgot my candy upstairs so instead wrote them an apology for no candy that day and left two the next day... Part of me is sad to think Ill never know what those people thought was going on.
tl;dr got way too much candy, used it to harmlessly f**k with a neighbor.
#27
One free lifetime of anxiety and depression.
Hasn't let up yet!
#28
Back in the mid nineties I won a 'Lifetime Supply' of Butterfingers from the local radio station for calling in with the right answer when they had a week long series of Simpsons Treehouse of Horror trivia.
I recieved two cases of the candy bars (48 bars total). Butterfingers have always been my favorite. They lasted for about three months. Probably the best thing I ever won (including a trip to Jamaica but that's a story for another ask reddit querry entirely).
#29
I received a year supply of Pizza for winning Pizza Huts biggest fan award. I got 12 coupons for 2 large pizzas and the 12 coupons were only good once a month and were only good at a one certain Pizza Hut.
#30
I won a trivia contest at a minor league baseball. The prize was a "lifetime supply" of barbequed pork. It turned out to be five pounds of frozen pork. I guess that's a lifetime supply if you don't eat barbeque.
Note: this post originally had 70images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
What do you think ?
Warren Peece 5 hours ago (edited)
Bored Panda Staff: "Let's repost this series every month. It is easier than finding new content. And some people will pay for a Premium subscription regardless of what we post."
Warren Peece 5 hours ago (edited)
Bored Panda Staff: "Let's repost this series every month. It is easier than finding new content. And some people will pay for a Premium subscription regardless of what we post."
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