Cash Cow! Cow Give-Away Changed to Cash…

Game store in South Africa had shown it was game for anything with a special offer it promoted for pre-Christmas shoppers. The chance to win a cow!

The offer was only open for those shoppers in Mthatha, where there are two Game stores. A couple of shoppers in Durban complained it wasn’t being offered in their city, whilst others suggested that giving away a bursary or a Sony playstation would be better.

Many saw the funny side with Michel Daniel Courty writing on Game’s facebook page: “Hahahahahahaha really Game… Win a COW. That is absolutely hilarious!!!!!!!!” and Siphiwe Love Khumalo saying “I found this hilarious, why giveaway a cow instead [of] stuff you actually sell?”

Not everyone was laughing though. A facebook user by the name of George Veltchev complained that the “image of the Cow in this advertisement has been used without my knowledge” and that he was the copyright holder of the original photo.

And several shoppers must have complained because when SAPeople asked Game for a comment about the promotion, the administrator of the store’s facebook page sent this message:

“Earlier today the competition prize was changed to a cash prize which is meaningful to the community around our Umtata stores.”

The message said that “the cow [in the original competition] remains part of a well-kept herd of cattle on a registered farm in Umtata. Please accept our apologies for any consternation this has caused you. Game remains committed to building sustainable relationships with its customers with no ill-will being intended.”

In the meantime, in another Game initiative, people across KwaZulu-Natal opened up their hearts to the ill and disadvantaged children in the province by giving generously to Game and East Coast Radio’s Toy Story…resulting in over 60,000 toys being distributed to kids in state-sponsored creches, children’s homes and hospitals in KZN. The campaign wrapped up yesterday. For many of the children, it is the first new thing they have ever owned.