sales presentation in order to receive their prize or determine which prize they will receive; b. Promotions that fail to fully comply with the requirements of the FBPA and require consumers to purchase an item, pay any money, or participate in a sales presentation in order to win a prize, violate the FBPA and may be treated as illegal lotteries.21 Persons found to be conducting illegal lotteries are subject to potential criminal prosecution for commercial gambling, which is a felony under Georgia law.22 2. Fair Business Practices Act Provisions a. Written Notice Requirements: Written notice must be given to all participants prior to their traveling to the place of business, and/or prior to any seminar or sales presentation of any kind. Written notice may be given by hand, mail, newspaper or periodical. Any notice or offer to participate made through any other medium (e.g., in person/verbal, telephone, fax, Internet, or email) must contain all the same required disclosures, and a written notice containing the required disclosures must still be given to participants prior to any seminars or sales presentations. These written notice requirements apply to all promotion offers made by a Georgia business or sent to a Georgia resident. The written notice must contain the following required disclosures: i. The name and address sponsor, which is the business whose goods or services are being advertised; ii. The name and address of the promoter, such as the marketing company, advertising agency, or sweepstakes organization; iii. If the written notice is sent by mail, the envelope must identify on its face that the contents are a “commercial solicitation,” and if there is an element of chance in winning a prize, the odds of winning each prize must also be properly disclosed on the face of the envelope; iv. Any limitation on eligibility for a prize must be disclosed in the notice; v. The geographic area covered by the notice must be clearly stated. If any of the prizes may be awarded to persons outside the geographic area of the notice, or to persons or to participants in promotions for other sponsors, those facts must also be stated, with a corresponding explanation that every prize may not be given away by that particular sponsor/business; vi. If the prize will not be awarded in the event the winning number is not presented during the promotion, that fact must be disclosed in the notice; vii. Each notice must state the “verifiable retail value” of each prize offered, in Arabic numerals. The “verifiable retail value” means: (a) the price at which the promoter or sponsor can prove that each prize has been regularly sold for at retail by other merchants; or (b) no more than three times what the promoter or sponsor actually paid for the prize; viii. If there is an element of chance, each notice must state the odds of a participant’s receiving each prize as “odds.” Odds must be stated as the total number of that particular prize and of the total number of notices issued (e.g, “Odds of winning: 1 in 10,000” or “Odds - 999,997 out of 100,000”). The total number of notices must include all notices in which the prize may be given, including those given by other sponsors, if applicable; 1 ) Note: If the odds cannot be accurately stated based on the number of notices, they may be stated in another manner, but only if this does not deceive or mislead participants; ix. The verifiable retail value and odds for each prize must be stated in conjunction and in immediate proximity with each listing of the prize in each place where it appears on the written notice. The verifiable retail value and odds must be listed in the same size type and boldness as the prize. Disclosures must not require the participant to refer from one place in the notice to another in order to determine odds and verifiable retail value of the particular prize; 21 GA. CODE ANN. §§ 10-1-393(b)(16), 16-12-36 (2007). 22 GA. CODE ANN. § 16-12-22 (2007). WWW.GADA.COM | 95
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