A local car dealership, Doug’s Lynnwood Mazda, mailed 100,000 contest flyers to local residents.
The flier consists of playing “The King of Cars” with grand prizes ranging from a $25,000 cash prize to a $25 gift card. One needed to match three cars in a row of the same color in order to win a prize.
Everett resident Iesha Paschal-Nzelu played the game and thought she won a $5,000 grand prize. When she arrived to receive her prize she was astonished by other local residents waiting to claim their prizes.
Paschal-Nzelu only received a $25 dollar gift card from shoppingdough.com.
The contest flier wasn’t designed to be misleading, but to generate traffic into the dealership, according to the dealership General Manager Andy Bryant.
After speaking with the general manger and Paschal-Nzelu, we spoke with a representative from the Washington Attorney General’s Office.
The lack of disclosure could make this advertising deceptive and the chance to win isn’t clear on the flier, according to Washington Attorney General Office representative Shannon Smith.
“My final message to the dealership is pay up, or shut up,” said Paschal-Nzelu.
