THE ETHEL'S HAPPINESS CONTEST: OFFICIAL RULES
NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING.
1. BRIEF OVERVIEW: The ETHEL'S HAPPINESS CONTEST (“Promotion”) takes place between Wednesday, April 24, 2024, at 12:01 a.m. ET and Monday, May 6, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. ET (“Promotion Period”). The Promotion consists of a Grand Prize Contest. More specific details are stated below. 2. ELIGIBILITY: The Promotion is open to all legal residents of the fifty (50) United States/District of Columbia, who are at least fifty (50) years old as of the date of entry and who are confirmed Ethel Newsletter Subscribers, except officers, directors, and employees (and members of their household and immediate families, i.e., parents, children, spouse, siblings) of AARP (also referred to as “Administrator”), its subsidiaries, affiliates, advertising/promotion agencies, and/or their affiliates, assigns or representatives (hereinafter referred to collectively as “Administrator & Others”), and all other persons or entities associated with the development, administration, promotion, execution of, supply to or printing of this Promotion.
3. HOW TO PARTICIPATE/SELECTION OF WINNER/PRIZE/ODDS OF WINNING: A) Prize Contest: There will be a total of three (3) Prizes awarded to Selected Winners. To enter the Prize Contest, write and submit an essay of no more than 300 words about how you found happiness through either purpose, people or play. Email your essay to aarpethel@aarp.org between April 24, 2024, and May 06, 2024 and make sure to put "Happiness" in the subject line. You can also upload a royalty-free photo of you or something that illustrates your essay that AARP has permission to republish. In order to be eligible to win, an entrant must be a confirmed Ethel newsletter subscriber. By submitting an email address, entrants will be signing up to receive the weekly Ethel newsletter. Entrants are responsible for determining the appropriate beginning and ending times in their respective time zones. Upon submission of the essay, each entrant will be entered into the Prize Contest. Only one (1) entry per individual.
• Selection of Prize Winners (“Selected Winners”): On approximately May 22, 2024 at approximately 12 p.m. ET, three winners will be selected by a panel of Judges, appointed by AARP. Winners will be selected from all entries received throughout the Promotion Period. Judges will evaluate entrants based on a 100 point scale: (1) storytelling style (up to 33 points), (2) originality (up to 33 points), (3) fresh point of view (up to 33 points). In the event of a tie, tied entries will be re-judged based on the same criteria listed above and a Winner will be determined by Administrator in its sole discretion. Entrants agree to the Official Rules and to the decisions of the Judges, which shall be final and binding in all respects. Award of a prize to any winner will be subject to verification of that winner’s eligibility and compliance with these Official Rules.
• Notification: Winners will be notified via email on or about May 24, 2024, using the email provided with the entry of the essay. Each Winner must email aarpethel@aarp.org within 7 days of notification to claim each prize. The return of any prize notification message or document as undeliverable will result in the disqualification of the applicable winner, the forfeiture of his or her interest in the prize and the selection of a substitute winner with the next highest score.
• Prizes: Each Selected Winner will receive prizes as follows. The First Prize winner will receive a Visa Gift Card in the amount of $500. The Second Prize winner will receive a Visa Gift Card in the amount of $400. The Third Prize winner will receive a Visa Gift Card in the amount of $300. Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”) of each Prize is as stated. If the actual retail value of the Prize differs from its stated ARV, the Selected Winner will not receive the difference in value. Limit: Only one (1) prize per individual. Winner will receive the Prize within 21 days of being confirmed as the winner. Odds of Winning: The odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received, and the Judge’s evaluation of said entries. Participant need not be an AARP member in order to enter and/or win the Prize Contest. Being an AARP member will not increase your chance or odds of winning.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS APPLICABLE TO PRIZE RECIPIENTs (“PRIZE RECIPIENT”): Prize Limit: An individual, including a member of his/her household, regardless of email address used, may only win one (1) Grand Prize throughout the Promotion Period. The Winner of the Grand Prize will receive the Grand Prize immediately after having been confirmed as a Winner. Prizes are not transferable or substitutable except by Administrator with one of equal or greater value. Administrator is not responsible for any Prize Recipient’s inability to utilize her/his prize. All federal, state and local taxes are solely the responsibility of the Prize Recipient. Additionally, at the sole discretion of the Administrator, disqualification, forfeiture and the selection of an alternate Winner of a Grand Prize may result from any of the following: (a) a potential Winner’s failure, upon request, to provide Administrator with satisfactory proof of age, identity, residency, and/or eligibility; (b) a potential Winner’s failure to accept or utilize the Grand Prize as provided herein; or (c) any other non-compliance, as determined by Administrator in its sole discretion, with the Official Rules.
6. LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY: Administrator & Others are not responsible for interrupted or unavailable network server or other connections; for miscommunications; failed telephone, computer or electronic transmissions; for jumbled, scrambled or misdirected entries or transmissions; for phone, electrical, network, technology or computer hardware or software or program malfunctions, failures or difficulties; or any other errors, omissions, interruptions, or deletions of any kind, whether human, mechanical or electronic; or for non-receipt of any entry regardless of the cause of it not being properly received by Administrator. Administrator & Others are not responsible for illegible, unintelligible, late, lost or stolen entries; for incorrect or inaccurate entry information, whether caused by Internet users or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Promotion; or for any technical, printing or human errors which may occur in the receipt, non-receipt or processing of any entries, Tickets or Ticket stubs in the Promotion. In no event will Administrator award more Grand Prizes than are stated in these Official Rules. Persons found tampering with or abusing any aspect of the Promotion, as solely determined by Administrator, will be disqualified and may be subject to prosecution. Any person attempting to enter using multiple email addresses, multiple identities or any other device or artifice to enter multiple times or to interfere with the proper play of the Promotion will be disqualified from participation in the Promotion. If, in the judgment of Administrator, the Promotion is compromised by viruses, bugs, non-authorized human intervention or other causes beyond the control of Administrator, which or may corrupt the administration, security, fairness or proper play of the Promotion, Administrator reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to modify, discontinue, suspend or terminate the Promotion and proceed to select potential Winner in a manner it deems fair and reasonable.
ADMINISTRATOR & OTHERS MAKE NO WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NONINFRINGEMENT AS REGARDS ANY PRIZE OR ANY COMPONENT OF ANY PRIZE. SOME JURISDICTIONS MAY NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS OF EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES. CHECK YOUR LOCAL LAWS TO LEARN IF ANY OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
7. PRIVACY POLICY: Any personally identifiable information collected during an entrant's participation in the Promotion will be collected by Administrator and used by Administrator in accordance with Administrator's Privacy Policy as such is stated at http://www.aarp.org/aboutaarp/privacy-policy/
8. PUBLICITY AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS: By accepting a prize, each Prize Recipient agrees to allow Administrator and/or Administrator's designees the perpetual right to use his/her name, biographical information, photos, uploaded/emailed entry materials, videos and/or likeness, and statements for promotion, trade, commercial, advertising and publicity purposes, at any time or times, in all media now known or hereafter discovered, worldwide, including but not limited to on the World Wide Web and Internet, without notice, review or approval and without additional compensation except where prohibited by law. Entrants grant the Administrator all rights of ownership, reproduction, and use of entries for any purpose whatsoever without compensation or further permission, including but not limited to an irrevocable and perpetual, royalty-free, worldwide right, in all media (now known or later developed) to assign, use, publish, edit, adapt, modify, alter, reproduce, distribute, display, copyright, create derivative works or otherwise exploit entries, for commercial or non-commercial use, and without compensation to the Entrant. By entering the Contest, each Entrant waives any and all rights he or she may have to his or her Entry. To the extent Entrant has any rights in the Entry; Entrants assigns all such rights to the Administrator by entering the Contest.
9. GOVERNING LAW: Issues concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules shall be governed by the laws of Washington, DC.
10. RELEASE: By participating, each entrant releases and agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Administrator & Others from and against any and all costs, claims, damages, or any other injury, whether due to negligence or otherwise, to person(s) or property (including, without limitation, death or violation of any personal rights, such as violation of right of publicity/privacy, libel, or slander), due in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, to participation in the Promotion, or arising out of the receipt, use or misuse, or enjoyment of any Prize.
11. GENERAL: By entering the Promotion, entrants agree to abide and to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of Administrator, which shall be final in all matters pertaining to this Promotion. Void outside of the fifty (50) United States/District of Columbia and wherever prohibited or restricted by law. All federal, state and local laws and regulations apply. Entries become property of Administrator and will not be returned.
12. WINNER’S LIST: To obtain the names of the Prize Winners, send a properly stamped, self-addressed envelope, by June 22, 2024, to The Ethel's Happiness Contest, The Ethel, AARP, 601 E. Street NW, 8th floor, Washington, DC 20049.
Page Administrator: AARP, 601 E. Street NW, Washington, DC 20049 © 2023 AARP AARP is a trademark of AARP Non-Profit Corporation, D.C. These Official Rules may not be reproduced or reprinted in part or in their entirety without the express prior written permission of AARP.
April 4, 2024
