Do Canadians have math problems?

[mike_s]

So I get a sweepstakes thing from a magazine I subscribe to and it has this as one of the stipulations.

source: from Sports Illustrated giveaway rules

Any Canadian winner will also be required to correctly answer, unaided, a time-limited mathematical skill-testing question in order to receive a prize.​

I was like... .... huh? so I googled it and found it to be in the rules of man sweepstates entries.

Pontiac Vibe Giveaway rules
Air Canada giveaway rules
Microsoft giveaway rules
plus many more......


surely this has to be some weird Canadian law? (not saying it's a bad law, just surprised to see this.)

I wonder what would happen in the US if they had the same rules? I bet they would have people failing that math test every giveaway.

 

[Diver Dennis]

Yes, it's the law there, something to do with not getting anything for "free". Even small contests like at McDonalds, if you win a burger you have to answer a math question.

 

[mike_s]

Yes, it's the law there, something to do with not getting anything for "free". Even small contests like at McDonalds, if you win a burger you have to answer a math question.

yeah... but who's checking the McDonalds employee? If most of them were math savy, they wouldn't be working at Mickey-D's.

Remember their cash register tells them the exact change to give, and often how many 1's, 5's, quarters, nickles, dimes, and pennies. They aren't required to do math, just to ask you if you want to "biggie size that for $.59 cents more?


reminds me of the convience store worker who couldn't give me the correct change (45 cents) because she was out of quarters. The cash register told her to give me 1 quarter and two dimes. She didn't know what to do and had to call her manager.

 

[Diver Dennis]

yeah... but who's checking the McDonalds employee? If most of them were math savy, they wouldn't be working at Mickey-D's.

Remember their cash register tells them the exact change to give, and often how many 1's, 5's, quarters, nickles, dimes, and pennies. They aren't required to do math, just to ask you if you want to "biggie size that for $.59 cents more?


reminds me of the convience store worker who couldn't give me the correct change (45 cents) because she was out of quarters. The cash register told her to give me 1 quarter and two dimes. She didn't know what to do and had to call her manager.

Good point Mike! I think it's more of a formality than anything.

 

[Charlie99]

It's related to laws regulating gambling and sweepstakes. If it is a test of skill rather than a game of chance, then the laws are different.

I'm pretty sure that the "unaided, time-limited mathematical skill-testing question" is designed to be as simple as possible and still meet the legal requirements.

 

[Diver Dennis]

Exactly Charlie, much better wording than me...

 

[wardric]

yeah, but sometimes they put ( ) and double digits additions :11:

 

[mike_s]

They need to phrase the questions like this....

How many Labatts beers are in a 6-pack?


EDIT: I should have said:

How many Labatts beers are in a 6-pack, eh?​

If they can't answer that, they shouldn't win.

(I think most Americans would miss it also because they would go "what's a Labatts?"

 

[scubadiver888]

So I get a sweepstakes thing from a magazine I subscribe to and it has this as one of the stipulations.

source: from Sports Illustrated giveaway rules

Any Canadian winner will also be required to correctly answer, unaided, a time-limited mathematical skill-testing question in order to receive a prize.​

I was like... .... huh? so I googled it and found it to be in the rules of man sweepstates entries.

Pontiac Vibe Giveaway rules
Air Canada giveaway rules
Microsoft giveaway rules
plus many more......


surely this has to be some weird Canadian law? (not saying it's a bad law, just surprised to see this.)

I wonder what would happen in the US if they had the same rules? I bet they would have people failing that math test every giveaway.

It is some ancient Canadian law. I think the idea is that we have to 'win' the prize. Otherwise it has different legal ramifications. The silly thing is that you can usually ask the kid behind the counter, "Is the answer 23?" If he says, "No" you just keep guessing until you get it right.

 

[tedtim]

Ah, now I know why the Tim Horton's Roll up the rim to win contest is so popular. Never been asked to answer a skill testing question to get my free cup of coffee or bagel. If they tried that, the line up in the drive through would go nuts.

We have to get our mathematics education somewhere.