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The feeling of winning is unlike any other, isn’t it? That’s why so many people hastily scratch lottery tickets and try their luck in sweepstakes for that slight opportunity to experience the shock, the surprise, and that sweet moment of victory.
But if you think only a lucky few can brag about their triumphs, these two Ask Reddit threads may prove otherwise. Users Kelvin_Inman and DangerousBeans addressed the people who won a lifetime supply of some product and wanted to know about the aftermath of their winnings. Responses came flying in and delivered hundreds of stories with forever winners opening up about their experiences and how it all went down.
Whether they guessed the right number of jelly beans or got the correct answer on a local radio show, they were set with their favorite candy bars, shampoos, or magazines for life. Bored Panda has collected some of the most interesting and amusing replies from these threads, so continue scrolling and upvote the ones you enjoyed most! Just to warn you though, while it all may sound like a dream, some real-life prizewinners reveal it’s not as magical as it seems.
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#1
I knew someone who won free pizza for a year from a chain (mind you, we live in NJ with some of the best pizza there is. No one is ordering from a chain). He bought the whole "year worth" in one shot and threw a pizza party for the kids at an underprivileged youth camp.
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#2
I currently receive what seems to be a lifetime supply of toilet paper. Over 20 years ago, I became fond of a variety of Charmin that was infused with baby oil [because] it was so soft and smooth. When I moved for work, the local stores didn't have baby oil Charmin, and I was told that it didn't exist. I called Proctor and Gamble to find out what was up, and was told that the baby oil version was only offered as a test market and didn't turn out so well, so it was no longer sold in stores. I was crushed. The company did, however, take my name and address, and I was told that I would receive coupons in the mail for my inquiry, and interest in their product. About three weeks later, a box arrived from Proctor and Gamble that contained two separate four packs of toilet paper, one marked 'A' and the other 'B.' The letter that was enclosed stated that since I had such a penchant for toilet paper, I had been selected to test out their new varieties."
"I was instructed to use the package marked 'A' for a week, and then switch to the package marked 'B' the following week. After two weeks, I received a call from the company asking about the results of my test. They asked questions like, 'Could I name three adjectives describing my experience with both types of paper?' It was definitely a phone call to remember. At the end of the call, I was told that I would receive coupons and other considerations in the mail for my participation in this test. Ever since then, I have received a free four-pack of Charmin toilet paper once a month, every month. This has gone on for over 20 years, and it does not look like it will stop
We managed to get in touch with the creator of one of these Ask Reddit threads, Kelvin_Inman. The user revealed they do not remember how they came up with the question but guessed it was likely something that inspired them at the moment. They found the comments to be very interesting and were glad their thread received so much attention, since “you never know which post gets traction”.
Bored Panda was curious to hear their take on why so many of these lifetime supply contests didn’t turn out as expected. Kelvin_Inman said that one reason could be the strange products these competitions usually offer, “the ones that either expire or the winner could easily get sick of.”
#3
I once went to a grand opening for QFC — Quality Food Center, a big grocery store — when I was 12. They were having a free raffle, so I entered. Did I win the plasma TV? No. Did I win the iPod classic? No. I won a year's supply of Tillamook cheese. It was a sheet of 12 coupons, each for two blocks of cheese. WTF was I going to do with cheese? I honestly didn't even like cheese at the time. After going home and moping for a while, I had an idea."
"After I discussed it with my parents, we went back to the QFC, and I met with the manager and proposed my idea. After being given a few more sheets, I sat in the entryway of the QFC with a cheese hat and sold them for face value. What did I do with the profit, you ask? I donated it to hurricane relief in New Orleans. I sat there for the whole day saying, 'Cheesy for the Big Easy?' to every customer who came in. This was shortly after Hurricane Katrina, and we ended up raising $500 that day.
#4
I won lifetime passes to the Oregon Aquarium for being, like, their fifth millionth visitor. My original pass didn't expire until, like, the year of 2999. Then when I got a replacement, it showed the expiration as 2099. They got smart. I planned to name every child my name so they all could use that pass.
They also mentioned that their favorite story from the thread was about donated cat food. User HazelKathleen typed out a reply about their dad who won a year’s supply of cat food but “it was delivered in one go and the cat didn’t like it (of course). The people at the shelter were super happy though, so it ended well!”
Kelvin_Inman told us that this comment was a perfect example of how poorly executed these contests can be, but luckily it had a great result due to the creative and caring winner. “If I were to win a contest like this, I’d want it to be for paper towels — I go through a ton of those,” they revealed.
#5
Not a 'lifetime,' but my family once won a year's supply of Oreos. When we were kids, we were rarely allowed to eat junk food. But when my little brother was really sick and wouldn't eat, my mom was so desperate to get him to eat something, she told him that he could have any food in the world he wanted. He picked Oreos. The one box of Oreos we bought turned out to be the winning box of a year's supply of Oreos. How many, you ask, is a year's supply of Oreos?"
"I'm glad you asked, hypothetical reader. It was 365 boxes. For a family of four individuals who did not normally eat junk food, this was quite more than one year's worth of Oreos for us. We kept a couple of boxes, and then my parents took the rest to a food bank as they were delivered
#6
My dad won a lifetime supply of Subway sandwiches. By "won" I mean that the owner of a subway hit him with her car while he was walking through the parking lot and he didn't sue.
If you believe that people often win competitions out of sheer coincidence, it’s also possible to make your own luck. There are plenty of people who win a variety of contests regularly by entering a lot of them at once, and they often see it as a fun and exciting hobby. They are called the “sweepers”, and Carolyn Wilman of Ontario, Canada, is one of them.
The sweepstakes specialist runs a blog called Contest Queen and is the author of You Can’t Win If You Don’t Enter and How To Win Cash, Cars, Trips and More, all dedicated to winning things for free. “‘Sweepers find, enter, and win sweepstakes as a hobby. It’s very simple and a lot of fun,” she told Bored Panda and added that people call them contests in Canada and competitions in the UK and Australia. “The hobby is the same globally, no matter what you call it.”
#7
My buddy doesn't want to make an account, so I'm posting this for him.
When he was 16, he won a lifetime supply of M&Ms. He found one of the packs with all white M&Ms. The contest was to win $1,000,000. He gave it to his mom and had her send it in since he wasn't 18.
She didn't believe he had won a million dollars, so she procrastinated sending it in. After she eventually did, they got a letter stating that they had not gotten the wrapper sent in on time, so no million bucks, but they were gonna get a lifetime supply of M&Ms.
In the letter was a redemption card he could send in and get 52 coupons for 1 pack of free M&Ms each, plus a redemption card for the next year. He did this for 5 or 6 years until he lost the redemption card.
The first year he got all of the M&Ms and ate them himself. After that, as soon as he got them, he would usually trade all 52 coupons for a quarter bag of weed.
As you can imagine, he really wished he had gotten the million.
#8
My brother-in-law won the Chipotle Adventurrito thing and won free burritos for a year. There are 52 coupons for burritos. He's used some of them, but now he uses them as alternative currency. Homeless man asking for money? Chipotle burrito. Not sure what to do for a casual gift? Chipotle burrito coupon. Want to tip a person without giving money? Here's a burrito. Guess what I got for Christmas?
#9
My parents won a win for life. They get a 1000 bucks each week, a little less than that because of taxes.
When asked about the most memorable prizes she has ever won, three things came to Wilman’s mind. “A trip for four to the Vancouver Winter Olympics, a trip to the set of the Harry Potter movies, and meeting Sting,” she revealed. But while entering contests may seem like a very time-consuming activity, she doesn’t spend as much time as people may believe — only around one or two hours per day.
It also doesn’t take long for her to find competitions to enter. “I can spot the word ‘win’ at 100 paces plus I use a sweepstakes aggregate.” Wilman mentioned she created her website as “a hub of all things contesting,” making it easy for anyone to get started. “I have a list of sweepstakes aggregates people can check out. All of them post legitimate sweepstakes for people to enter. They are all different formats and styles,” she said.
“I recommend people try different ones out and see what they like. When they are having fun, they win. If it feels like work, stop. This hobby is supposed to be fun!”
#10
A friend of mine won a lifetime supply of Juicy Fruit gum when she was 12 years old. She told me that she was absolutely in love with Juicy Fruit at the time. Her mom entered her in this random contest as a joke. One day, without any notice, UPS showed up at her door with about 15 huge boxes. She was so confused...
So they open up the boxes and there it was... a couple thousand packs of gum. The company never sent her a letter or any piece of acknowledgement that she won, just a ton of gum.
Today (about 12 years later) the sight of Juicy Fruit makes her sick :(
#11
A friend of mine used to run science fiction conventions. Once word gets out, movie studios send you free promo swag — normally, it's like 50 posters, 100 keychains, or 200 buttons. One day, a truck pulled up and gave him eight pallets of foam 'novelty flying discs' for the movie Blade. Each pallet had dozens of boxes, and each box had about 50 of these red, foam, ninja-star-like foam disks about the size of a salad plate and about an inch thick. They didn't fly; they were too thick and too light. It was like throwing a huge potato chip."
"People thought at first, 'Oh, cool! Ninja frisbees!' But then when they didn't fly and left ink on their hands, they didn't want them. So my friend was stuck with thousands of these things. Later, he ended up using it to supplement his attic insulation. I wonder years from now, when someone buys his house, if they will wonder what weird insulation company the previous owner used
#12
New York has a trendy, expensive spot that does an annual food writing contest for their hot chocolate, which is kind of like a mug of warm pudding with fancy homemade marshmallows. Some upscale folks are really passionate about it come winter, and the place is established enough that they get lots of submissions. Even some well-known writers supposedly submit their entries. Anyhow, my sister lives near the place and insisted I enter and win the contest so she could have the prize, a week of free $6 hot chocolates. The theme that year was: 'Hot chocolate: with or without marshmallows, and why?' My contribution was a completely over the top, multi-generational epic designed to at least land third place in the long-form category. The story won, and they decided to create a new category for it they called 'best screenplay potential.' My sister was thrilled."
"About a year later, I was in the place for only the second time, since a friend wanted to try what was supposedly the best hot chocolate in the city. The manager says, 'Hey, you're that guy that wrote that story!' I was shocked since he'd only met me once, a year earlier. I asked how on earth he remembered me, and he said it was because my year of free hot chocolate was up. They gave my sister and me a YEAR of free hot chocolate instead of a week because they liked the story so much, but they never told us
However, even when the Contest Queen manages to win so many competitions, it’s still not enough to make a living out of it. You see, some prizes cost money. “I always say it’s a cheap trip, not a free trip. The last trip we went on that we won was to Universal Studios before the lockdowns.”
“The trip was four days and three nights with park passes and spending money, but we still had to cover getting to and from the airport (at our end), tips, souvenirs, etc. If you win concert tickets, you still pay for a babysitter, gas, parking, dinner out. You get the picture. This hobby enhances your life. It cannot fund it,” she explained.
#13
My grandmother didn't "win" this, per se, but her father bought her a lifetime subscription to National Geographic when she was a child. She still receives it. I inherit all her old issues (she brings them to me when she's done with them). I have a collection that dates back to 1924; I recycled many of the more common ones from part of the 1940s-2000s, but kept the oldest ones. I guess this is a little off topic.
#14
Not a supply exactly but I won Life time free entry pass for a mini golf club in Myrtle Beach by making a near impossible shot(for me) in their final special round. Still consider it the biggest achievement of my life:))
#15
I won a lifetime supply of Kraft mac 'n' cheese. But, being in college, it only lasted two quarters
But while nearly everyone dreams of winning a big prize, it’s important to watch out for con artists who try to lure people into giving out money or personal information with their fake promises. “That is why I recommend using a sweepstakes aggregate as they aggregate all the legitimate giveaways for you to enter, plus if you spot major advertising, it’s legitimate,” she said and stressed the importance of always reading the rules.
#16
My friend won a year's supply of dairy products.
They arrived all at once. On a very big truck.
Where do you put a year's supply of dairy products?
#17
My friend recently won free alcohol for a week at our local pub. It was literally unlimited drinks each night for seven nights. I had to drive him to the hospital on the second night.
#18
I am one of the Visa winners who gets Superbowl tickets every year.
It might seem overwhelming to see how many different contests are out there, and that’s why Wilman writes books, newsletters, blogs, and creates countless videos to teach people and help them become “super sweepers” themselves. She shared five of her top tips to get started: “Create a new email address only for entering, use a sweepstakes aggregate to quickly and easily find legitimate giveaways, use tools to help you enter faster, use all five entry methods to increase your odds of winning, [and] always read the rules.”
#19
I won a life time supply of shampoo, they come in mini bottles each month and are great gifts for people who you don’t like that much but you don’t want to offend.
#20
When I was a kid, we opened a box of Frosted Flakes and it had a card in it that said "You won free cereal!" So we wrote in, and a few days later got shipped a crate of 50 boxes of Frosted Flakes.
That was fun. We're a family of 7, so we went through it quickly. Gave some to friends. Remember having a box in my locker.
Julia Winfield 2 years ago
Oh this would have been a dream come true for me as a kid! That was my all time favorite cereal.
#21
When I was a kid I won a "life time" supply of Lipton Ice Tea. Between me and my friends we went through it in less than two years. A life time supply is a projected number based off the average users drinking habits.
Oh and I never want to drink a Lipton ice tea ever ever again.
#22
Radio contest asked, which 3 pop/rock singers have the biggest lips. It was call-in, I called and the phone picked up. My answer: " Mick Jagger, Steve Tyler, Carly Simon" (this was around 1989). I won! Pint of Baskin Robbins every Sunday! - until I moved. That was the highlight of my life until that point.
#23
I won a lifetime supply of Mnt Dew at MLG Dallas 2006. It was like only a month's worth though. They had a truck pull up to my moms house, I opened the garage and they brought in like 5 dolleys worth.
Thats why I needed 4 root canals in 2007
#24
I had a teacher who got a lifetime supply of Tide. He bought a box at the grocery store, and it was half empty for some reason, so he wrote a really polite letter to Tide to let them know. A truck showed up at his house with a lifetime supply of Tide. They used to give it away as gifts to dinner guests and friends because they didn't know what to do with all of it. One day, he got a call from his mom saying she was using the final box. Apparently, it lasted for a good number of years, though. It would have lasted for longer if they didn't give most of it away
Mama Panda 2 years ago
Hmmm....so a really polite letter huh? It's tempting but I can't be dishonest.
#25
I once won a year’s supply of Golden Grahams. It was shipped to my house in a giant, unmarked, neon yellow box. My dad thought it was a bomb.
#26
My dad worked in marketing for transportation catering in the '90s, and Snapple gave us a truck full of every single one of their product types. They stopped by every six months or so to get our feedback and ask if we wanted more. At one point, we had a Snapple-only double fridge in our laundry room to chill three of each flavor while the rest were in boxes taking up a good part of our garage. My cousin tried to maintain a bottle top collection, but lost count after 5,000. I have no idea if my dad still gets Snapple like that, but his house still has a Snapple-only fridge. It was awesome, bordering magical. I would replace my veins with '90s Snapple if I could. No regrets
#27
My mom got a year supply of Dr. Pepper. But, it came at a price. Back in the 90s she got a Dr. Pepper from a row of vending machines right as the delivery guy was loading up the last one. There was a hunk of something when she took the first drink, but she thought it was just ice from it being freshly loaded. She bit down on it. It was a f*cking cockroach. Since the distributor saw it all go down, she got free Dr. Pepper for a year. It's been almost two decades and she still will not drink a beverage out of the original container. She has to pour it into a glass first.
#28
A friend of mine won a "lifetime supply" of Smarties from a distributor. The delivery was a 120lb case of Smarties.
He's a professional film editor, so he spends a LOT of time at his computer. He also is often too lazy to cook proper meals (as we all are sometimes). He put the 120 lb case of Smarties next to his desk, and then proceeded to consume all of it in a matter of weeks.
#29
When I was a kid I won a contest at a local ice cream shop where you guess the number of jelly beans in a jar and won a lifetime supply of free milkshakes. Unfortunately the place went out of business a few months later.
#30
I won a 20-month supply of Dippin' Dots from a Facebook promotion. They would ship a gallon bag in a dry ice container every month. It would only last for about three days before melting, and I was in college, so I just threw monthly Dippin' Dots parties. It made for a great pickup line.
#31
When I was a kid, my Tastykake had a human fingernail in it. I was eating one of those delicious pink snowballs when I bit into something hard instead of the creamy, icing-y goodness that snowballs are known for. [So,] I won a year's supply of Tastykakes. Every week, a new box would be at my house. As a 10-year-old kid, life was pretty good.
#32
In 1974, my dad was a detective in the vice squad. One night, they busted a few guys driving a truck that had many kilograms of cocaine hidden amongst a shipment of razors. After the trial, all the guys in his unit got to take home as many [razors] as they wanted. I was born eight years later, and neither my dad nor I have ever bought razors since. If someone sees me shaving, they might ask where I got that 1970s razor.
Mermaid Elle-Jaye 2 years ago
If only it was the nose candy, an 8ball every weekend for life 😂 I’m joking that wouldn’t be good
#33
I never got the full story on how they got them, but my grandparents somehow ended up with two dozen or so pallets of Tic Tacs of various flavors. To put this in perspective, consider how big those plastic containers that Tic Tacs come in are. Now consider how many you could fit in a fully stacked pallet, and multiply it several times over. It was pretty awesome...until we ran out of orange ones.
#34
My mom and dad bought a water softener about 22 years ago. With it came a lifetime supply of bar soap. The company gave it to them all at once. It was a pallet of bar soap, thousands of bars of soap. They still have a bunch of it.
#35
I won a years supply of Doritos during their contest to name the new flavor a few years ago. I submitted "You're Adopted" and won a random drawing, but they didn't use the name. Wusses.
I was given 104 coupons for Doritos, since they figured people eat 2 of the big bags of Doritos a week. I kept about 20 coupons and gave the rest away to homeless people. By the end of the year I still had coupons left and bought a bunch of bags to donate to a school party.
#36
Turtle Wax...a whopping 7 jars. I own no car.
Richard Graham 2 years ago
I also won a lifetime supply of Turtle Wax - and I don't have a turtle!
#37
I won a lifetime supply of pop-tarts when I was about younger. They sent a big box with around 30 of the normal shelf boxes in it every three months for about three years and then started dwindling off to eventually not sending any. I could never get into contact with someone to do anything about it either so I just let it go. Hell, I feasted like a king on pop-tarts for years as a kid... No bs about it either, I didn't even realize I had won until I received the first huge box. I even hid the boxes from my parents and sister for a while because I didn't want to share but that didn't last long. You can only do so much as a kid to hide dozens of boxes when you don't take out the trash and they eventually started finding full boxes of pop-tarts everywhere and had come to the conclusion that I was stealing them for fun.
Lisa Valen 2 years ago
Why do Pop-Tarts no longer make Pop-Tarts without frosting/icing? I liked the plain ones, warmed in the toaster and spread with butter.
#38
My wife ended up with crates of maxi pads and a lifetime supply of Tums. She worked with a market research firm that would give household products to select consumers to gather information on their experiences with the products. Items like soap, toothpaste, and deodorant were commonly placed. The firm received way too many sanitary napkins in one study, and too many Tums in another. The surplus products are not needed at the end of the study and they typically have no labels, so they cannot be sold commercially, and the supplier never wants them back."
"So the staff can take the items home. My wife, being the thrifty darling she is, grabbed every single crate of pads available since no one else wanted them. They filled our basement, and it took her many years to get through them all. We still have Tums.
#39
I won a year's supply of Chick-fil-A at a grand opening. They gave us 52 free Chick-fil-A sandwich vouchers, which could luckily be used for nuggets as well. Considering how many of those nuggets I would've eaten if it had been unlimited, they got off very easily. I worked next door to a Chick-fil-A that summer, and I ate nuggets for lunch. Every. Single. Day.
Tonya Wallace 2 years ago
I'd love to win free Chick-fil-A. I won't give them a penny of my money, but I'll eat the hell out for it for free.
#40
I won a "lifetime supply" of Sour Punch Straws on a kid's radio show. It was a pretty big box, but it didn't even make it to my adulthood, much less my whole life.
What do you think ?
iblowsheep 2 years ago
I won a lifetime supply of bad choices and worse decisions. I didn't even know I had entered anything.
Willa L 2 years ago
I have never won a lifetime supply or anything buuut I did win an Oculus Quest 2 from a free raffle which at the time was worth 400 dollars and (being a teenager) I was pretty stoked about that
Jerry The Joker 2 years ago
This is not a lifetime supply but I once had a friend that did marketing for red lobster and they had leftover inventory. We received like 50 pounds of king crab legs, six Keylime pies and six double chocolate cakes. That was the best time. The 90s.
iblowsheep 2 years ago
I won a lifetime supply of bad choices and worse decisions. I didn't even know I had entered anything.
Willa L 2 years ago
I have never won a lifetime supply or anything buuut I did win an Oculus Quest 2 from a free raffle which at the time was worth 400 dollars and (being a teenager) I was pretty stoked about that
Jerry The Joker 2 years ago
This is not a lifetime supply but I once had a friend that did marketing for red lobster and they had leftover inventory. We received like 50 pounds of king crab legs, six Keylime pies and six double chocolate cakes. That was the best time. The 90s.
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