Hats off to Rolling Stone for finding a way to combine the immediacy and informality of a pop-culture blog post with the cold, unwelcoming wall of text of a lengthy legal disclaimer.
A post on Thursday announced a contest for an “Iron Man”-themed cellphone with an innovative ratio of natural, casual language to snoozy boilerplate. Of the item’s 960 words, 871 are devoted to the kind of tight, irreverent voice that characterizes the best blogs: “By entering, participants agree to release and hold harmless RollingStone.com, its parents, subsidiaries and affiliated entities, and each of their directors, officers, employees, attorneys, agents, and representatives from any damage, injury, expense, cost, death, loss, claim, action, demand, or other liability that may arise in connection with the Sweepstakes, or resulting from their acceptance and/or use of any prize, their travel to or from any prize related activity, their participation in this promotion, or from any misuse or malfunction of any prize awarded, including, without limitation, personal injury, death, and/or property damage.”
Now that’s good blog.
Full text below, with OMG parts highlighted:
To celebrate the release of Iron Man in theaters tomorrow, we’re giving away one LG gold-plated, limited edition Iron Man phone (check out the photo above). If you live in the continental U.S. and are over 18, send an e-mail to contests@rollingstone.com with your full name, age, address and phone number to enter. All entries must be received by 11:59p.m. next Thursday, May 8th, and only one entry is allowed per person. Read the full rules after the jump, and check back tomorrow for Peter Travers’ summer movie preview.
Official Rules for RollingStone.com’s Iron Man LG Limited Edition Phone Giveaway
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.
Open to legal residents of the Continental United States. Entrants must be 18 and older as of 05/01/08.
How to Enter:
1. To enter the “RollingStone.com Iron Man LG Limited Edition Phone Giveaway,” email your full name, age, address and phone number to contests@rollingstone.com. Limit one entry per person. Sweepstakes begins at 4:30 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time) on 05/01/08. All online entries must be received by 11:59 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time) on 05/08/08.
2. No mechanically reproduced or computer generated entries permitted. Not responsible for lost, late or misdirected entries, or entries containing incorrect or incomplete information. Not responsible for any problems or technical malfunctions of any telephone network or lines, computer, on-line, or Internet systems or services, servers, computer equipment, software, failure of any email or entry or confirmation or winners notice on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet, problems with the RollingStone.com website, or any combination thereof, including any injury or damage to entrant’s or any other person’s computer resulting from downloading any materials in connection with the Sweepstakes. Entries become the property of Rolling Stone.com and will not be acknowledged or returned.
3. Winner(s):
One (1) Grand Prize winner will be selected at random by RollingStone.com staff. Grand Winner will be notified by e-mail or telephone.
4. Prize(s):
Grand Prize winner will receive one (1) LG gold-plated, limited edition Iron Man phone. Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”) of Grand Prize: $1300. Actual retail value of the Grand Prize may vary. Certain restrictions may apply. RollingStone.com reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value.
General:
5. Employees of RollingStone.com, its affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising or promotional agencies, immediate family members and/or those living in same household are not eligible.
6. No substitution or transfer of prize permitted except as provided herein. Prizes are non-redeemable for cash. In the event of unavailability, Us Weekly may substitute a prize of greater or equal value.
7. All federal/state/local taxes are the sole responsibility of prize winner.
8. Potential prize winners must execute an Affidavit of Eligibility/Release of Liability/Prize Acceptance Form within 10 days of notification. Noncompliance/return of prize notification as undeliverable will result in disqualification and selection of an alternate winner.
9. By entering, participants agree to release and hold harmless RollingStone.com, its parents, subsidiaries and affiliated entities, and each of their directors, officers, employees, attorneys, agents, and representatives from any damage, injury, expense, cost, death, loss, claim, action, demand, or other liability that may arise in connection with the Sweepstakes, or resulting from their acceptance and/or use of any prize, their travel to or from any prize related activity, their participation in this promotion, or from any misuse or malfunction of any prize awarded, including, without limitation, personal injury, death, and/or property damage.
10. Acceptance of any Prize constitutes consent to use winner’s name and likeness for editorial, advertising and publicity purposes in all media, whether currently existent or hereafter derived, without additional compensation, except where prohibited by law.
11. RollingStone.com reserves the right to disqualify any person tampering with the entry process, the operation of the Usmagazine.com website, or who is otherwise in violation of the Official Rules. RollingStone.com further reserves the right to cancel, terminate or modify the Sweepstakes in the event the Sweepstakes is not capable of completion as planned, including infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, or technical failures of any kind. In the event of a dispute as to entries submitted by multiple users having the same email account, the authorized subscriber of the email account used to enter the Sweepstakes at the actual time of entry will be deemed to be the entrant and must comply with these Official Rules. Authorized account subscriber is deemed to be the natural person who is assigned an email address by an Internet access provider, on-line service provider or other organization which is responsible for assigning email addresses or the domain associated with the submitted email address. CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT BY ANY PARTICIPANT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE THE ROLLINGSTONE.COM WEBSITE OR TAMPER WITH OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE SWEEPSTAKES IS A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS. SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, ROLLINGSTONE.COM RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK REMEDIES AND DAMAGES FROM ANY SUCH ENTRANT(S) TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.
12. By participating, entrants agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of RollingStone.com, which shall be final and binding with regard to all matters relating to the Sweepstakes.
13. Any dispute arising from this Sweepstakes will be determined according to the laws of the State of New York, without reference to its conflict of laws principles, and the entrants consent to the personal jurisdiction of the State and Federal Court located in New York County and agree that such courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction over all such disputes.
Winner’s List:
For name of prize winner, after 05/09/08, send a separate, stamped, self-addressed, No.10 envelope to: “RollingStone.com Iron Man LG Limited Edition Phone Giveaway,” Attention RollingStone.com 1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10104.
OMG!
