"Big Brother" and those kit-kat bars : eBay Guides

I'm sure at some point, someone who actually finds one of these mythical 100 tickets for entry to the "Big Brother" house may actually offer it for sale on eBay.  Truth be told, they'd be better selling it to one of the tabloid newspapers such as "The Sun" or "The News of the World", who have both hinted that they will pay big money for an unregistered winning BB ticket.

eBay don't seem to be taking this subject seriously and are allowing hundreds of BB kit-kat sales on these pages, presumabely so they can bump up their seller fees, rather than worry about the legality, or at least the ethics of making money like this.

The scammers invaribly have the following paragraph in their listing:-

THE WINNER WILL RECEIVE 1 KIT KAT BAR, WHICH ALTHOUGH NOT A GUARANTEED WIN - IT WILL GIVE YOU 100% MORE CHANCE THAN YOU NOT BUYING ONE! 

While this statement is true enough, one should bare in mind that even if you DO find a winning ticket in one of the kit-kat bars you purchase on eBay, this only guarantees you entry into a further lottery of all 100 tickets so just one person goes through into the house, if and only if Endomol and C4 find that any background check they run on you comes back satisfactorily.  Section 13 of the official terms and conditions (see http://www.channel4.com/bigbrother/about/goldenticket_terms.html for the full list) is quite clear on this point:-

13. All claimants will be subject to extensive background checks and must provide all requested documentation.  Big Brother shall be entitled, at any stage, to exclude claimants at Big Brother's sole discretion. Big Brother will not be obliged to give any explanation of why a claimant has been excluded.

Therefore actually having a winning ticket, is no guarantee that you will get on TV.  If you want to do that, I suggest you wire your lover to the mains in a jealousy motivated murder attempt and then claim to be the president of the "Doctor Who Fan Club".  This need not be true, just so long as it makes for a good headline.

Alternatively, just go down your local corner shop and buy your own kit-kat bar for 40p.  I've yet to see any special wrappers for these bars either, so who knows what is and isn't true.  A receent full-page advert in "The Sun" did state that they are to be found in 4 finger kit kats and Chunky kit-kats only (ie. not the two finger bars), and there is no special 'BB' advertising on them, and in fact the tickets can be found in any bar, including the World Cup football promotion packs.

To me, a hardened cynic, this seems like a huge scam.  No doubt the winning 'contestants' are already waiting in the wings, and I can tell you, since I have worked in a large supermarket chain in the past, that even if a new delivery of kit-kats arrived in store, all the existing older stock would be sold through first.  If you knew that only certain bars with a certain 'Best Before' date were in the promotion and left the factory during the correct timeframe then it might be worth purchasing one, but you're just as likely to be sent a kit-kat bar that never had a chance of having a winning ticket in the first place.  I really wouldn't waste your money.  It's a scam, and even if what these sellers are doing on eBay isn't actually illegal, it is certainly immoral and should be clamped down on.

* The Final Update to this Guide - 01 June 2006 *

There ARE one of two genuine sales of unregistered tickets starting to appear on eBay as the closing date for this competition grows ever closer.  Winning tickets  must be registered in time for Friday 2nd June and the main evening "Big Brother" eviction show on C4.  If you haven't got your ticket by then and phoned in to register, then you will be too late.  I somehow doubt that the flood of Kit Kat sales on eBay will stop by then, so please don't get suckered in.  If you "win" after the June 2nd deadline (and chances are people will, as I doubt all the 100 tickets have been found yet!) then I'm afraid you haven't won at all.  Sorry!  Better luck next time!