I'm a sucker for a good promotion

So it's a rainy Sunday night here in Auckland. My husband and I are settling into our desks for a night of me writing and him setting up his new laptop he bought. I was shopping around on countdown.co.nz, our local supermarket's online delivery site when I stumbled on this promotion:

I've been wanting an iPad for forever. Having one would be beneficial for both Chris and I: it would act as a development device for his video games and I could find examples for an interactive storybook I've been wanting to make for a while and I could get the hang of iBooks.

Actually, all I really want is a new toy.

The promotion is this: for every 6 Chupa Chups you buy, you get an entry into the draw to win 1 of 4 iPads. Chupa Chups are iconic suckers on this side of the world and I've never had one. If you want to look at their FB page, it's here: http://www.facebook.com/chuckthinks


The competition ends tonight at midnight. I mean, seriously, how awesome is this promotion? How many people buy 6 suckers at once? And there's 4 iPads? My chances of winning just *have* to be high, don't they?

I also have a $15 voucher for Countdown. I check on the voucher and on the site, and there's nothing that says promotional products purchased with this voucher voids its entry. I ask Chris if it's all right if I use the entire $15 voucher to buy suckers - Countdown gives you $15 when you spend so much money there, so it's not like I'm actually paying out of pocket. It's not a very smart use of money, I admit, but it's for an IPAD.

Chris says yes, I can order $15 worth of Chupa Chups.

I get all excited and jump up and down. I load up my suckers and prepare to check out for a delivery for tomorrow. After a quick check of the terms and conditions though, I realize that the items have to be delivered in order to count towards a promotion. It ends tonight - my suckers wouldn't count towards entries into the draw.

My hopes fall.

So what happens next? Here's a hint:

That's 36 Chupa Chups or $15 worth of suckers. 6 entries, 6 chances to win me a brand new iPad. 

Because this is how awesome my husband is:

He asked if I wanted to go to Countdown and pick them up tonight so I do get my entries into the draw for a chance to win. Let me remind you that it's pouring down rain tonight. And we don't have a car. And the nearest Countdown is a 30 minute walk from my flat.

I say yes, please.

So we walk to Countdown, in the dark and in the rain solely to pick up 36 suckers. I get a basket and count out 36 of the little guys and we go to the checkout. The checkout lady spends the next ten minutes scanning in each of the suckers, one by one, because I got different flavors and different types - one barcode won't work for the entire batch.

The checkout queue gets longer and longer behind us, while all of the customers are glaring at Chris and I. 

Of course, he and I can't stop laughing. No one else in line thinks it's funny.

Finally, the checkout lady bags our suckers and asks for $15. I brandish my voucher. Oh the dirty look she gave me.

Chris and I left Countdown and I still can't stop laughing whilst sucking on my first Chupa Chup (it's pretty darned good, by the way. Watermelon flavored, and anyone who knows me knows that I love watermelons).

So I'm back at my flat now, soaked to the bone with 36 - now 35 - suckers and 6 entries into the iPad draw. It's drawn in three days - here's to hoping that the ridiculousness of the situation lends to my luck.

Until then, does anyone want a sucker?