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Hack: Identification of Winning Cadbury Medium Bars for Score a Freebie Bars Promotion

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Hack: Identification of Winning Cadbury Medium Bars for Score a Freebie Bars Promotion
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Lfleetoiler on 07/10/2010 - 23:07 files.ozbargain.com.au (27151 clicks)
Last edited 12/10/2010 - 15:12

This hack* is to do with identifying which of the 1-in-5 bars is a winning wrapper (or not) for the Cadbury "Score a Freebie Bars Promotion" that expires at the end of this month. Get in quick before all the promo bars are replaced with new stock!

Update: This deal/hack/promo has been just a tad popular (gee, thanks everyone!) and it may well be that all of the winning bars have already been taken at your local store. It has been reported in the comments that some of the larger stores/chains have either stopped redeeming bars or taken promo bars off the shelves entirely so you might have more luck at smaller chains or service stations.

This works for pretty much the whole range of medium bars, in approximate order of easiest-to-identify-to-hardest:
40g TimeOut
52g Cherry Ripe
50g Crunchie
46g Picnic
39g Twirl**
60g Boost**

ONLY the winning wrappers have a barcode printed on them on the inside of the wrapper. This barcode can be identified on the outside of the wrapper by looking for VERY slight indentations as in the attached scan (a thin red square has been drawn around where you should be looking). Reflect the bright store lights off the wrapper and if you are lucky the indentations will be visible in approximately the same place.

You have to buy your first bar (which are on special/clearance at the moment at most major supermarkets), but after that in theory you can redeem the winning wrapper for another winner carefully selected by yourself, ad infinitum.

As far as I can tell, posting this does not invalidate or contravene the terms and conditions of the promotion:
http://www.cadbury.com.au/Competition/Score-a-Freebie-Bars-P…

Enjoy!

*There was only a "Freebie" tick-box when submitting the deal, so I ticked that. If there was a "Life Hack" or "Other" tick-box I would have ticked it when creating the deal, my apologies to all the Captain Literals out there who have said this is not technically a bargain, they are probably right ;)

**Twirl and Boost are harder to identify unless you know exactly what to look for and have a really good eye.

Groceries Barcode Boost Cadbury Chocolate Confectionery Crunchie Picnic Timeout Twirl

Related Stores

Cadbury
Cadbury

closed Comments

    • wisc on 08/10/2010 - 09:14
      +1

      would have loved to neg you but your right, this is not a bargain rather an exploit, nuff said…
      + from me.

      glad it was posted though.

    • cwongtech on 08/10/2010 - 09:49
      +11

      Far out, all these cheapasses on their high horses about ethics.
      Get over it Ladies and Gents, enjoy the fun!
      "A more serious analogy would be a newsagent getting all the winning scratchies to himself." - That's the worst analogy I've heard, it doesn't even correspond with this deal! If you had to claim for a customer, then you would have to send it back to NSW lottery?
      If you tried at another newsagent to "redeem" it, since you reimbursed the customer, and its been validated, it wouldn't work.
      You're thinking of the fat guy at the cashier keeping these wrappers after someone's redeemed them, to be redeemed again.
      That guy is a genius. If you spot a pattern, and are able to get into the position to utilize your pattern, it is money well deserved.
      It's just like learning how to work the share market. If you can do it well, it's not really "Exploiting", is it?

      • wisc on 08/10/2010 - 10:38

        i don't agree with the analogy, but you cant seriously say this is a bargain? its cheating to get a freebie.

        • cwongtech on 08/10/2010 - 10:49
          +1

          It's "working the system"
          I don't see how its negatively impacting Cadbury, people will still buy the other Cadbury chocolates.

    • StalkingIbis on 08/10/2010 - 10:04

      someones in essay mood. its not gonna hurt this poster though. 180-1 lol

    • SomeGuyOnOzB on 08/10/2010 - 11:40
      +2

      A - manufacturer made mistake already; you can't change that

      B - someone knew about how to detect the mistake

      C - that means there are/were people already able to benefit from this

      D - the OP has flagged this mistake for you to learn from AND I'd expect the manufacturer will find it here too

      E - see if the manufacturer issues notices to the shops to say that all winning chocolates will probably be gone due to their mistake, so no one buys in the hope of winning something that probably isn't there

      With your analogy - would you be surprised if you found out the distribution of winning scratchies was actually controlled?

    • fellator on 08/10/2010 - 16:08
      -2

      Do i make the epic thread page http://www.ozbargain.com.au/wiki/epic_threads for most positive/negative votes on a comment balance? xD

      And, sorry mods for that sleepy rant.

      • SomeGuyOnOzB on 08/10/2010 - 19:38

        no worries, saw the last line about how you needed sleep and it clicked why you weren't quite making sense

      • SomeGuyOnOzB on 08/10/2010 - 21:59

        I forgot, no, you had a long, long, long way to get the most negatives.

    • scrone on 08/10/2010 - 17:05
      -1

      We're all here to save a buck. Keep your pedantic observations to yourself next time… this guy is a legend for sharing it all with us.

      • fellator on 08/10/2010 - 18:57

        If everyone acted like that, the world will fall into anarchy as everyone would "Keep [their] pedantic observations to [them]self" when someone does something ethically or morally wrong. Then the line will be blurred then crossed and someone does something outright illegal with no fear of repercussions because everyone is "Keep[ing] [their] pedantic observations to [them]self". Overall, it would lessen us as a human race if we lost the ability for free thought and just all became sheep. Look at slavery, gay rights and the feminist movement for perfect examples where people did not "Keep [their] pedantic observations to [them]self".

        • SomeGuyOnOzB on 08/10/2010 - 19:44

          Sticking to the chocolate … and regardless of what people write they can or have done with the info …

          alternatively, the OP could have kept quiet …

          The OP is possibly not the only person who knows of this problem …

          … and more people would be blindly buying the bars in the hopes that they have a 1 in 5 chance (when they don't really have that chance after all.

          With the info here, more people have a chance to be informed that the competition really won't be rewarding 1 in 5 purchases.

          If there is an issue, it's that, despite this being published and reasonably prominent, the company has not issued warnings that they made an error and that people don't have much of a chance of winning anymore.

          • fellator on 08/10/2010 - 19:54

            @SomeGuyOnOzB: What's done is done, I understand. What the OP (and thru affiliation, OZb) is doing is promoting a known loophole to a small niche of the internet. Chances are, before the OP posted this, the majority of the stores and supermarkets would have been relatively untouched. One person doing bad and then making everyone else do the same bad doesn't make it good ya' know :S. It actually makes the problem worse. With this post, it substantially decreased the chance to win any bars down to near nil for those hapless unenlightened as evident with people buying stacks of 50+ and clearing out SUPERMARKETS. The great power of OzB indeed /sarcasm

            (insert quote 'with great power comes great responsibility')

  • bargrin on 08/10/2010 - 01:30
    +37

    I am going to store with mates who dont know about this and bet them $100 I can pick the winning bar I am going to clean up!

  • ironworthy on 08/10/2010 - 01:47
    -5

    LOL, this is what you call scumbag tactics. Its a friggin candy bar, ain't that expensive. and most of the time, coles and woolies have them half price

    • infernal_max on 08/10/2010 - 02:15
      +21

      its a chocolate bar actually

    • CryssieJade on 09/10/2010 - 19:19

      Yeah, and I spend up big when they're on sale. I've given them enough of my money, now I'm gonna cash in!

  • GerrardLFC on 08/10/2010 - 01:54
    +4

    LOL Good one!

    The guy that voted negative for this deal must work for Cadbury or is a reseller lol

  • StewBalls on 08/10/2010 - 02:03
    +5

    It's funny, I don't care either way; but it did occur to me to wonder how many of the folks here getting ready to exploit this rort are the same ones who were so self-righteous about the Gelaskins/Rogers deal fiasco? :p

    I'm to lazy to do the account reconciliation; anybody care to fess up? ;)

    • [Deactivated] on 08/10/2010 - 02:05
      +3

      yeah i posted the gelaskins offer, so going to do this tomorrow.
      im very proud of myself!

      • StewBalls on 08/10/2010 - 02:17

        You don't count dude, as you say you posted that…you'd be the last one pooh-poohing it! ;)

        To clarify; I'm wondering of those who negged or negatively commented on yours, how many pos'd or will do this?

        As I said, I'm not against a good rort; I just thought we'd conduct a little social experiment here! :D

        • Ishadeon on 08/10/2010 - 08:39
          +1

          no the whole time i read this i was like…yay for free choc but i hate the people who made us lose the gelaskins. That's something I did want.

          I wonder if the dobbers from gelaskins thread uses this promo.

    • infernal_max on 08/10/2010 - 02:19
      +2

      there is a big difference though in being able to spot the winner and trying to exploit a website and hoping the business honours the order

      • StewBalls on 08/10/2010 - 02:22
        +2

        How's that horse of yours going max; Fine Cotton wasn't it called? :p

      • Ishadeon on 08/10/2010 - 08:41
        +1

        no…either u are being "honest" and not ripping off people/companies or you are not. Quit justifying it and saying there are differences

    • [Deactivated] on 08/10/2010 - 02:23
      +1

      I love how you keep throwing out unsubstantiated innuendo (you did it in the Gelaskins thread, too) that self-righteous types like me are hypocritical, when I'm actually pretty consistent in my application of my personal ethics in everyday life! shakes fist :)

      No, I won't be taking advantage of this hack and I agree with fellator (LOL) that this post shouldn't be considered a "bargain"; if it has to be on OzBargain at all, I think it's more appropriately put in the forums. I also think this is more of grey area ethically than the Gelaskins promotion; the Gelaskins post specifically advised people to lie about their residency and expressly contravene the promotion's terms and conditions. In this case, this hack isn't expressly against the terms and conditions so things aren't as clear cut; nonetheless, I see it as a somewhat unfair (to other consumers in particular) way of gaming the promotion.

      • infernal_max on 08/10/2010 - 02:25
        +2

        how did you come to that conclusion, that this is worse than the gelaskins thread?

        • [Deactivated] on 08/10/2010 - 02:27
          +1

          I didn't come to that conclusion at all — read my comment again! I think the Gelaskins promotion was worse than this, and this is more of a grey area ethically. :)

          • infernal_max on 08/10/2010 - 02:32
            -2

            @[Deactivated]: if you wrote your comments in proper english, mistakes wouldnt me made

            • StewBalls on 08/10/2010 - 02:34
              +6

              @infernal_max: Jeez max, if you're gonna flame someone for their English you might wanna proofread your own posts first! :p

            • [Deactivated] on 08/10/2010 - 02:34
              +4

              @infernal_max: "Wouldnt me made" is proper English? :P

              I'm dyslexic, so I'm not particularly comfortable with writing. I apologise if what I wrote was difficult to understand.

              • infernal_max on 08/10/2010 - 02:39

                @[Deactivated]: lol, im just trying to discuss it, but you got me on that one!

              • StewBalls on 08/10/2010 - 02:40

                @[Deactivated]: It wasn't, what you wrote was fine! I've actually seriously suggested max not post in the wee small hours as he tends not to interpret stuff so well when he's sleep deprived!

                I'm not being facetious about that either, max will probably remember it! ;)

              • infernal_max on 08/10/2010 - 02:44

                @[Deactivated]: im sorry for making you uncomfortable if thats the case, but truthfully, i was just interested in understanding your opinion and i replied back with a bit of tongue in cheek because i perceived the same in return

                • [Deactivated] on 08/10/2010 - 02:51

                  @infernal_max: Nah, I'm not uncomfortable; I'm never uncomfortable on the internet. :P

      • fellator on 08/10/2010 - 04:51
        -3

        im glad you're mature (or immature) enough to catch the humor =)

      • ops2000 on 08/10/2010 - 06:34
        +2

        Why shouldn't this be considered a bargain? Should there be a website called www.ozfreebies.com.au now? It is still a bargain albeit a 100% of the purchase price type of bargain.

        What's fair and unfair in the world nowadays?

        I'm actually surprised that someone made a fuss about winning a chocolate bar being "unfair".

        • bargainseek on 08/10/2010 - 16:01
          +1

          Well it's not technically a freebie as you have to pay for the first bar.

    • chansthename on 08/10/2010 - 15:57
      +3

      I'm going through and identifying to see if anyone comes up.

      So far

      http://www.ozbargain.com.au/user/33863 (polkadots610)

      http://www.ozbargain.com.au/user/16190 (gilbarc)

      http://www.ozbargain.com.au/user/15757 (djones145)

      http://www.ozbargain.com.au/user/22082 (ironsword)

      Have all negged Gelaskins and positived this one.

  • Cripto on 08/10/2010 - 02:19

    very nice fleetoiler, great work mate

  • nicolascage on 08/10/2010 - 02:22

    nice work. thanks for the info

  • wwonka on 08/10/2010 - 02:37
    +8

    Dare I say that this promo is probably underwritten by Jenny Craig Weight Loss Centres…..great post.

    • SomeGuyOnOzB on 08/10/2010 - 14:06

      From some of the replies, a few good gym and other offers are in order.

      Or maybe some of the people could sell off (or give away) their excess chocolates to protect their own health :P

      • StewBalls on 08/10/2010 - 16:04
        +2

        I'm all chocolated out after that bloody 29c Aldi deal! I think I only ate about half a dozen in total but they were so damn sugary I'm kinda off chocolate ATM! :o

        I can't see myself having any more til Xmas! ;)

  • King Tightarse on 08/10/2010 - 02:48
    +5

    At least no idiot said that stupid tired old Nomnomnom thing.
    Man is that over…

    • infernal_max on 08/10/2010 - 02:49

      so why did you do it?

      • SomeGuyOnOzB on 08/10/2010 - 14:06

        'cos he wanted someone to :P

    • Ishadeon on 08/10/2010 - 08:43
      +1

      om nom nom nom nom …

      for all the times i haven't done this

  • the player on 08/10/2010 - 03:16

    u r a champion

  • Sage on 08/10/2010 - 03:23

    woah, this is great! kudos!

  • mizazn on 08/10/2010 - 04:47
    +3

    I foresee many more "hacks" on OzBargain. Well done Sir

  • stirlo on 08/10/2010 - 04:52
    +9

    Great Bargain, Me and a Mate just finished raiding around 20 7-11's in the Melbourne CBD. Unfortunately most stores seemed to have a policy of only letting me exchange 2 bars so in the end we only got around 40 bars… Tim Out's are definitely the easiest while Twirls seemed to be the hardest.

    If you try this trick at 7-11's in Melb keep in mind that we emptied a few of the stores of all their winning bars so if you think none are winners chances are you're right :) Apparently 7-11's get new stock on Wednesdays so maybe try again then. Thanks to the OP for this awesome bargain :D

    Our Loot :D
    http://imgur.com/b22OK.jpg

    • totom on 08/10/2010 - 07:46
      +7

      lol, you're something man. I guess there are quite many different ways people react to this deal, and it reflects their personality as well.

      1/ People who think this is cheating
      2/ People who think this is fun but don't bother
      3/ People who try to get 1 or 2 free
      4/ Like you, get as much as you can

      I'm not saying anyone is bad, but if it's me, the most i will take is probably 2, just to have some fun and let others get it as well.
      Anyway, I don't think I will bother with this claiming process.

      • stirlo on 08/10/2010 - 15:31
        +1

        Hahaha Definitely 1 & 4, We're uni students so 2 doesn't matter, and technically 3 is a subset of 4. :)

        The cheating thing is kinda true but there's a lot of more morally questionable acts in this world than taking winning chocolate bars, all we do is distort the playing field, no one actually loses money…

        • totom on 08/10/2010 - 15:49

          I think you're right anyway. ^^ Lots of fun with this. But yeah, I don't think this is cheating. Even if it is, then the manufacturer themselves have been ripping us off for so much more anyway.

    • [Deactivated] on 08/10/2010 - 08:24

      GOLD! hahaha

    • ZaFrOoNaLdO on 08/10/2010 - 09:50

      can u explain? u bought 1, and u open it, then u claim for free?

      • cwongtech on 08/10/2010 - 09:53

        Yeah, after you follow O.P.'s instructions.

      • Cripto on 08/10/2010 - 13:39

        ronaldo bro just email me and i'll sort you out in private, you seem really lost

    • MattyD on 08/10/2010 - 12:08
      +2

      Love the slurpee in the edge of the shot. Cause 482 chocolate bars ain't gonna spike my blood sugar enough today ;)

      • stirlo on 08/10/2010 - 15:33

        Yep we only ate around half a dozen bars before we were sick so a green apple slrupie and McDonalds $1.95 burger were the perfect cures for our stomachs ;)

    • manbearpig on 08/10/2010 - 12:35

      ROFL WTF! That must have taken forever.

      What so you bought one at a time, opened it infront of the guy at the counter, put it in a bag, then just redeemed it for another and repeat?

      • stirlo on 08/10/2010 - 15:40

        Yeah kinda, We'd make a bit of a game of it… first one of us would ask if they would redeem wrappers at this store (some didn't) while the other one found about 4-5 winners, then we'd go up to the counter and redeem our wrapper for a winner, open it there and act sarcastically surprised when it won, then we'd ask to redeem the second one.

        By the third or fourth bar we tell the clerk the trick to getting the winners and offer him a free bar which often meant he kept allowing us to redeem bars until the store was empty, if you think about it no one looses except the future customers who expect to win 1 in five times. The clerk gets a free chocolate and we get a bunch of freebies :)

  • WaywardOne on 08/10/2010 - 05:20
    +4

    Awwww so now everyone is going to take all the freebie bars, only losing bars will remain?
    Darn :( Wish there was some way to mark "virgin" shops :)

  • zhenjie on 08/10/2010 - 07:12

    best first post. ever.

  • jg3374 on 08/10/2010 - 08:05

    ha, I love this post thanks fleetoiler, a + from me!

  • chriz on 08/10/2010 - 09:01
    +7

    What's funnier, the incompetence of Cadbury OR fat people off OzBargain grabbing chocolate bars, unwrapping and claiming them in store, then grabbing more and more and unwrapping them being left with a bag full of open chocolate bars to eat later (good deal though).

    • Jabba the Hutt on 08/10/2010 - 09:24
      +13

      My dad's nut factory will be suspending production today, and the workers will instead be tasked with unwrapping and claiming the free chocolate bars.

      • slow on 08/10/2010 - 10:54
        +3

        Is your name Veruca Salt?

        • Bargain Seeker on 08/10/2010 - 12:49
          -1

          I had to google it, I was thinking Salt the movie with Jolie. But it's Charlie and the Choc factory

          • slow on 08/10/2010 - 13:07

            @Bargain Seeker: Yes, she got her rich father to buy up all the chocolate bars and then get all his employees to sit there opening them until they found her a golden ticket

          • infernal_max on 09/10/2010 - 17:37
            +1

            @Bargain Seeker: willy wonka and the chocolate factory

    • abc on 08/10/2010 - 09:29

      pity you can't send away the wrapper for free bars - or if they offered other prizes.

      Then that would be awesome.

      Reminds me loosely of Macca's Monopoly in the past :)
      http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/stories/s257577.htm

    • SomeGuyOnOzB on 08/10/2010 - 12:03
      +3

      what fat? :P

      Most of us know a bunch of people got the free chocolate bars already, so it's a disincentive to buying the chocolate bars right now :P

  • John Dough on 08/10/2010 - 09:31
    -2

    This happened a few years ago with Mars Bars, you could see the "winner" through the wrapper.
    Seems they havent learned from that stuff up, so I say go for it open season on Picnics ha ha

    But should be in forums not a "bargain" by any means. Just a stuff up.

    • SomeGuyOnOzB on 08/10/2010 - 14:11

      Mmm it's a buy 2+ chocolate bars for the price of 1.

      So there's definitely an identified benefit of 1+ chocolate bars for the same price.

      There are limitations but they are explained (eg won't work where there aren't any winning chocolates).

  • ryang on 08/10/2010 - 09:51
    +2

    Nice post, but I'm not really sure it's something that should be listed front and centre on the main page of OzB.

    Is it really the kind of persona the site wants to be putting forward?

    Maybe it should be moved to the forums? I'm not sure..

    Edit: Also, re: TOC's;

    14 If for any reason any aspect of this promotion is not capable of running as planned, including by reason of tampering, unauthorised intervention, fraud, technical failures or any cause beyond the control of the Promoter which corrupts or affects the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of this promotion, the Promoter may in its sole discretion cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the promotion, or invalidate any affected entries, subject to the approval of the authorities that have issued permits for the conduct of this Promotion.

    Soon as Cadbury hear about this, you may be in for some trouble getting ANY free bars.. Considering this is a 'technical failure' that affects the 'fairness' of the promotion.

    • zhenjie on 08/10/2010 - 10:06
      +5

      the whole point of ozbargains is to find bargains. let it stay. the crowd has spoken.

      • ryang on 08/10/2010 - 10:29
        +7

        Well then do I have a bargain for you!

        You know those 'charity' boxes that offer lollies/fruit/whatever and expect you to be a 'good person' and leave money - YOU DON'T HAVE TO LEAVE ANY MONEY!

        Oh wait… Nobody does those any more because you can't trust most peoples moral compass nowadays.

        • zhenjie on 08/10/2010 - 11:57
          +2

          Your preaching to the wrong crowd ryang. Might be better standing on your cardboard box and preach outside a train station. As I said before, the crowd has spoken.

          Your posting is confusing me. You seem to be against this less then ethical post yet your first sentence was "nice post,"….

          • ryang on 08/10/2010 - 12:09
            +2

            @zhenjie: I applaud people how are willing to share innovative findings, hence, 'Nice post'.

            But there is a time and place for these things, and I don't believe a front page OzBargain 'bargain' is the place.

            Just to be clear, I won't be participating, I just believe that the original poster is an observant individual and thank him for sharing.

            • sash213 on 08/10/2010 - 12:55

              @ryang: i like ryang's take on it but still voted + as the OP didnt have to share but did. He could of had all the free chocolates in the worlddd … um Australia or at least where he travels for work and stuff.

              Damn you Ryang for that comparison to the charity lollies but thinking some more, its still not apples with apples, its chocolates and lollies.. fruit.. whatever.

              What I mean is I dont know which poor sucker I snatched the winning choco bar from and so I dont have to see them in my dreams…. just kidding, I dont really eat chocolates so much but might just go test out my skills as this can still be a challenge

    • cwongtech on 08/10/2010 - 10:10
      +7

      by reason of tampering, unauthorised intervention, fraud, technical failures or any cause beyond the control of the Promoter
      It wasn't beyond the control of the Promoter to make them so that you can't see through the packet.
      Their own fault for not printing a thicker layer to save costs.
      Now its our turn to save costs!

  • MiLe on 08/10/2010 - 09:59

    Not sure this works… AFAIK the 'losing bars' still have a barcode with some diagonal lines through it so it doesn't scan. But I haven't tried this, so i'm not jumping to any conclusions.

    • cwongtech on 08/10/2010 - 10:25
      +5

      Our Loot :D
      http://imgur.com/b22OK.jpg       - Freakyterrorist
      There's your proof.

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