General Mills – Countdown To Chexmas Sweepstakes

Countdown to Chexmas
Official Rules
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND WILL NOT
INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING.
ALL DISPUTES WILL BE RESOLVED SOLELY BY BINDING ARBITRATION
AND ENTRANTS WAIVE THE ABILITY TO BRING CLAIMS IN A CLASS
ACTION FORMAT.
1. Eligibility: Countdown to Chexmas (the “Sweepstakes”) is open only to legal residents of the fifty (50)
United States and the District of Columbia who are at least eighteen (18) years old at the time of entry.
Employees, officers and directors of General Mills Sales, Inc. (“Sponsor”), Merkle Inc., (“Administrator”),
and each of their respective parent and affiliate companies, advertising and promotion agencies and
distributors and other prize suppliers (collectively, “Sweepstakes Entities”), as well as the immediate
family (i.e., spouse, parents, siblings children and grandchildren) and/or those living in the same
household members of each such employee, officer and director (whether legally related or not) are not
eligible to enter or win. The Sweepstakes is subject to all applicable federal, state, and local laws and
regulations and is void where prohibited. Participation constitutes entrant’s full and unconditional
agreement to these Official Rules. Sponsor’s and Administrator’s decisions are final and binding in all
matters related to the Sweepstakes. Winning a prize is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth
herein.
2. Sponsor: General Mills Sales, Inc., One General Mills Blvd., Minneapolis, MN 55426. Administrator:
Merkle Inc., 3000 Town Center, Suite 2100, Southfield, MI 48075.
3. Timing: The Sweepstakes begins on September 15, 2022 at 12:00 a.m. Central Time (“CT”) and ends
on December 31, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. CT (the “Promotion Period”). Administrator’s computer is the official
time-keeping device for the Sweepstakes.
4. How to Enter: During the Promotion Period, there are two (2) ways to enter the Sweepstakes, as
outlined below:
a. Scan Participating Chex Cereal Products: Purchase any qualifying, specially marked Chex
cereal product(s) and use your smartphone or other web-enabled device with a data plan to scan
the quick response (“QR”) code located on the product package with a QR reader application*.
Next, follow the links and instructions to complete and submit the registration form including a
valid email address. You automatically will receive one (1) entry into the Sweepstakes.
b. Online Method of Entry: To enter without making a purchase or scanning a QR code, simply
visit www.CountdowntoChexmas.com (“Website”) and follow the links and instructions to
complete and submit the registration form including a valid email address. You automatically will
receive one (1) entry into the Sweepstakes.
*If you choose to enter using a mobile device/scanning a QR code, standard message and data rates
apply in accordance with your personal mobile service plan. Check details of your plan prior to using a
mobile device to enter. A mobile device is not required to enter.
Limit: You may receive one (1) Sweepstakes entry per day during the Promotion Period regardless of
method of entry. Multiple entrants are not permitted to share the same email address. Any attempt by
any entrant to obtain more than the stated number of entries by using multiple/different email addresses,
identities, registrations and logins, or any other methods will void that entrant’s entries and that entrant
may be disqualified. Use of any automated system to participate is prohibited and will result in
disqualification. In the event of a dispute as to any registration, the authorized account holder of the
email address used to register will be deemed to be the entrant. The “authorized account holder” is the
natural person assigned an email address by an Internet access provider, online service provider or other
organization responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the submitted
address. Each potential winner may be required to show proof of being an authorized account holder.
5. Grand Prize Drawings: Administrator is an independent judging organization whose decisions as to
the administration and operation of the Sweepstakes and the selection of the potential winners are final
and binding in all matters related to the Sweepstakes. Administrator will randomly select the potential
Sweepstakes winners from all eligible entries received during the Promotion Period, on or around
January 2, 2023. The potential winners will be notified by email, mail or phone. If a potential winner of
any prize cannot be contacted, fails to provide any requested information within the required time period
(if applicable), or the prize is returned as undeliverable, the potential winner forfeits the prize. Receiving a
prize is contingent upon compliance with these Official Rules. In the event that a potential winner is
disqualified for any reason or forfeits the prize, Sponsor will award the applicable prize to an alternate
winner by random drawing from among all remaining eligible entries. Only three (3) alternate drawings
will be held, after which the prize will remain un-awarded. Prizes will be fulfilled approximately 8 to 10
weeks after the conclusion of the Sweepstakes.
6. Prizes: ONE HUNDRED (100) GRAND PRIZES: A prize pack consisting of the following: one (1)
Hallmark Channel hot chocolate bomb; one (1) set of Hallmark Channel holiday teas; one (1) Hallmark
Channel Countdown to Christmas Monopoly; one (1) Hallmark Channel On Christmas Avenue Book; one
(1) Hallmark Channel A Nashville Christmas Carol DVD; one (1) “This is My Hallmark Channel Watching”
coffee mug; one (1) 2022 Hallmark Channel keepsake ornament; one (1) knit beanie; one (1) Hallmark
Channel Christmas jar candle trio; one (1) Chex Mix swag (all details determined by Sponsor in its sole
discretion). Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”): $218.00.
For All Prizes: Prizes are non-transferable and no substitution will be made except as provided herein at
the Sponsor’s sole discretion. Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize for one of equal or greater
value if the designated prize should become unavailable for any reason. Winners are responsible for all
taxes and fees associated with prize receipt and/or use. Odds of winning a prize depend on the number
of eligible entries received during the Promotion Period. Limit: one (1) prize per person. Total ARV of all
prizes: $21,800.00.
7. Release: By participating in the Sweepstakes, entrants agree to release, indemnify, defend and hold
harmless the Sweepstakes Entities, and their respective subsidiaries, affiliates, suppliers, distributors,
advertising/promotion agencies, and prize suppliers, and each of their respective parent companies and
each such company’s officers, directors, employees and agents (collectively, the “Released Parties”),
from and against any claim or cause of action, including, but not limited to, personal injury, death, or
damage to or loss of property, arising out of, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from participation in
or attempting to participate in the Sweepstakes or receipt or use or misuse of any prize, in, traveling to,
and/or preparing for any Sweepstakes- or Prize-related activity.
8. Publicity: Except where prohibited, participation in the Sweepstakes constitutes each winner’s consent
to Sponsor’s and its agents’ use of winner’s name, likeness, photograph, voice, opinions and/or
hometown and state for promotional purposes in any media, worldwide, without further payment or
consideration.
9. General Conditions: Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, suspend and/or modify the Sweepstakes, if
any fraud, technical failures, human error, or any other factor impairs the integrity or proper functioning of
the Sweepstakes, or any event or cause beyond Sponsor’s control (e.g. events such as natural
calamities, national emergencies, wide spread illnesses, declarations of war, acts of God, acts of
terrorism) interferes with any aspect of the Sweepstakes, including but not limited to fulfillment of the
prize(s), as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion. In such event, Sponsor, in its sole discretion,
may elect to hold a random drawing from among all eligible entries received up to the date of
discontinuance and may modify the prizes offered herein. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole
discretion, to disqualify any individual it finds to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of
the Sweepstakes or to be acting in violation of the Official Rules of this or any other promotion or in an
unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner. Any attempt by any person to deliberately undermine the
legitimate operation of the Sweepstakes may be a violation of criminal and civil law, and, should such an
attempt be made, Sponsor reserves the right to seek damages from any such person to the fullest extent
permitted by law. Sponsor’s failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a
waiver of that provision.
10. Limitations of Liability: The Released Parties are not responsible for: (1) any incorrect or inaccurate
information, whether caused by entrants, printing errors or by any of the equipment or programming
associated with or utilized in the Sweepstakes; (2) technical failures of any kind, including, but not limited
to malfunctions, interruptions, or disconnections in phone lines or network hardware or software; (3)
unauthorized human intervention in any part of the entry process or the Sweepstakes; (4) technical or
human error which may occur in the administration of the Sweepstakes or the processing of entries; (5)
late, lost, undeliverable, damaged or stolen mail; or (6) any injury or damage to persons or property which
may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from entrant’s participation in the Sweepstakes or
receipt or use or misuse of any prize. If for any reason an entrant’s entry is confirmed to have been
erroneously deleted, lost, or otherwise destroyed or corrupted, entrant’s sole remedy is another entry in
the Sweepstakes, if it is possible. No more than the stated number of prizes will be awarded. In the event
that production, technical, seeding, programming or any other reasons cause more than the stated
number of prizes as set forth in these Official Rules to be available and/or claimed, Sponsor reserves the
right to award only the stated number of prizes by a random drawing among all legitimate, un-awarded,
eligible prize claims.
11. Disputes: You agree that any claim or dispute at law or equity that has arisen or may arise relating in
any way to or arising out of the Sweepstakes or the Official Rules, will be resolved in accordance with the
provisions set forth in this Dispute Resolution section. Please read this section carefully. It affects your
rights and will have a substantial impact on how claims you and we have against each other are resolved.
You agree that whenever you have a disagreement with Administrator or Sponsor arising out of,
connected to, or in any way related to the Sweepstakes or the Official Rules, you will send a written
notice to the Administrator (“Demand”). You agree that the requirements of this Dispute Resolution
section will apply even to disagreements that may have arisen before you accepted these Official Rules.
You must send the Demand to the following address (the “Notice Address”): Legal Department,
HelloWorld, Inc., 3000 Town Center, Suite 2100, Southfield, MI 48075. You agree that you will not take
any legal action, including filing a lawsuit or demanding arbitration, until 30 days after your Demand is
received. If the disagreement stated in the Demand is not resolved to your satisfaction within 30 days
after it is received, and you intend on taking legal action, you agree that you will file a demand for
arbitration with the American Arbitration Association (the “Arbitrator”). This arbitration provision limits the
ability of you, Administrator, and Sponsor to litigate claims in court and you, Administrator, and Sponsor
each agree to waive your respective rights to a jury trial or a state or federal judge. You agree that you
will not file any lawsuit against Administrator or Sponsor in any state or federal court. You agree that if
you do sue in state or federal court, and Administrator or Sponsor brings a successful motion to compel
arbitration, you must pay all fees and costs incurred by Administrator and Sponsor in court, including
reasonable attorney’s fees. For any such filing of a demand for arbitration, you must effect proper service
under the rules of the Arbitrator and notice to the Notice Address may not be sufficient. If, for any reason,
the American Arbitration Association is unable to conduct the arbitration, you may file your case with any
national arbitration company. The Arbitrator shall apply the AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules effective
September 1, 2014 (as may be amended) and as modified by the agreement to arbitrate in this Dispute
Resolution section. You agree that the Arbitrator will have sole and exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute
you have with Administrator or Sponsor. The Federal Arbitration Act allows for the enforcement of
arbitration agreements and governs the interpretation and enforcement of the agreement to arbitrate.
You agree that you will not file a class action or collective action against Administrator or Sponsor, and
that you will not participate in a class action or collective action against them. You agree that you will not
join your claims to those of any other person. Notwithstanding any other provision in the Official Rules, if
this class action waiver is invalidated, then the agreement to arbitrate is null and void, as though it were
never entered into, and any arbitration dispute at that time will be dismissed without prejudice and may be
refiled in a court. Under no circumstances do you, Administrator, or Sponsor agree to class or collective
procedures in arbitration or the joinder of claims in arbitration. Administrator and Sponsor agree that we
will submit all disputes with you to arbitration before the Arbitrator.
All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these
Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of the entrant, Administrator, and Sponsor in connection with
the Sweepstakes, or any claim or dispute that has arisen or may arise between you, Administrator and
Sponsor, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of Michigan
without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules. The place of arbitration shall be Oakland
County, Michigan. This arbitration provision shall survive conclusion, modification or termination of the
Sweepstakes and suspension, revocation, closure, modification, or amendments to the Official Rules, and
any aspect of the relationship of the parties relating to or arising from participation in the Sweepstakes.
12. Entrant’s Personal Information: Information collected from entrants is subject to Sponsor’s Privacy
Policy http://www.generalmills.com/en/Company/privacy-policies/privacy-policy-US.
13. Winner List: For a winner list, please click here. The winner list will be posted after winner
confirmation is complete.
14. Miscellaneous: The names of individuals, groups, companies, products and services mentioned
herein, and any corresponding likenesses, logos and images thereof reproduced herein, have been used
for identification purposes only and may be the copyrighted properties and trademarks of their respective
owners. The mention of any individual, group or company, or the inclusion of a product or service as a
prize, does not imply any association with or endorsement by such individual, group or company or the
manufacturer or distributor of such product or service and, except as otherwise indicated, no association
or endorsement is intended or should be inferred. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of
these Official Rules will not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision. In the event that any
provision of the Official Rules is determined to be invalid or otherwise unenforceable or illegal, the other
provisions will remain in effect and will be construed in accordance with their terms as if the invalid or
illegal provision were not contained herein. Sponsor’s failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules
will not constitute a waiver of that provision. For entrants, to the extent there is a conflict between these
Official Rules and any terms of use or other agreement posted on the website, these Official Rules
control.
© 2022 Merkle Inc. All rights reserved.