So, Snickers candy bar is having a "Win a Free Bar" contest. You know the drill: open the wrapper and see if you've won. One of my colleagues has been playing and I would say that 17 out of 20 bars have been winners! Really cool. It's clear that Snickers is trying to improve its market share in China.

Well he buys the bars in the same little convenience store every morning. He goes in today and hands the cashier his winning wrapper. He was going to reach for another bar on the counter when she reaches behind the counter and pulls out the "special sack" of Snickers bars. She glumly reaches in and hands him another bar. I tell him: "Something tells me that's not a winning bar!" And surprise, surprise it wasn't.

What's up with this? Why would you try to rig the game? It's not fair.

It's like the Chinese people who always complain about how much money foreigners make. Do they forget that we pump it BACK into their local economy in a big way? He's not going to the shop anymore and we each probably spent at least 30RMB a day there. I'm not saying that she gave him the losing bar because he was foreign (obviously they are doing the same thing to Chinese people) but it doesn't make sense. You just lost two customers over a promotion that should have INCREASED business.

Snickers ought to do something!