Vitaminwater is a Coca-Cola owned company that provides enhanced water. The company has launched a contest where it has challenged the entrants to steer away from their smartphones and tablets for a whole year. The mere idea of attempting something like this in this era is very upsetting. However, the company is willing to make it worth the effort by putting up a prize of $100,000.
The Vitaminwater’s #nophoneforayear challenge requires the entrants to spend a complete year (365 days) without using a smartphone. This includes the person’s own phone and tablet as well as agreeing to not using anyone else’s gadgets as well. The person that is selected will have to contractually commit to not using a smartphone for the duration of the contract. If at the end of this time, the company ascertains that the said person has adhered to the guidelines; the person will receive $100,000. Before the entrants could enter the contest, they had to convince the company that they are the right person for the job.
In order to register yourself for this interesting contest, you had to post a picture to Instagram or Twitter where you were supposed to tell VitaminWater why you needed a break from the smartphone. This photo was to be accompanied with hashtags #nophoneforayear and #contest. The submitted entries are to be judged on brand relevance, creativity, quality, and humor. The last day for submission of the pictures was 8th January. Yes, you are late to the contest. The selected participant will be announced on 22nd January.
The selected person will be provided with a ‘1996 era mobile phone’ along with a monthly plan for voice communication only. So, the only thing that you will be giving up is mindlessly scrolling through various newsfeeds and texting. Vitaminwater has confirmed that the contest is not some sort of a cruel prank and the bran manager Natalia Suarez confirmed that this is simply an exciting way of challenging people to put their phones aside and do something creative and constructive. She said, ‘We don’t think there’s anything more boring than mindlessly scrolling through your phone, and this is an opportunity to take that stance against routine and give someone $100,000 to do something uniquely awesome with their time.’
There are no details as of yet on how the company will be making sure that the selected person abided by the contract at the end of the contractual period. The only detail that we have so far is that the said person will have to undertake a lie detector test before receiving the $100,000 prize.
Amazing. I doubt that very few qualify for such a large reward for not using a cell phone or tablet for one year. Most people are stuck on their electronic gadgets like super glue sticks to your fingers. it’s hard for me to find anyone close to me that will give up their cell phone or tablet for Just one Day much less 365 days in a row. I think it is a very Noble task to ask anyone today in today’s world but also feel like we need to practice more getting away from electronics and back to nature. Most people I see are walking around with their heads down glued to a phone and have no idea what’s going on around them. Great task for everyone to be challenged on a daily basis. Shoutout for Vitaminwater.
Lets do this!