CVS has agreed to pay $152,000 in civil penalties after it violated a previous settlement agreement with New York State related to sweepstakes offers.
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said that CVS conducted a recent sweepstakes offering customers a chance to win a $1,000 CVS pharmacy gift card each week during the NASCAR racing season, but did not provide entry forms for shoppers who did not buy products involved in the sweeps. The participating brands were Nicorette, NicoDerm and Commit. Consumers had to buy the products using their CVS ExtraCare Card to be automatically entered in the sweepstakes.
A previous June 2004 settlement stemmed from allegations that a CVS sweepstakes offering the “trip of a lifetime” with a grand-prize trip to Hawaii also failed to provide an in-store method of entering the sweepstakes for consumers who did not make a purchase. CVS operates more than 400 stores in New York.
“State law requires that consumers, regardless of whether they make a purchase, should have equal access and opportunity to enter and win sweepstake offers,” Spitzer said in a statement.
In addition to the $152,000 penalty, CVS is required to make further changes to the way it conducts sweepstakes to prevent future violations including: institute an ongoing training program for personnel regarding the placement of signs and entry forms during a sweepstakes promotion period and to provide a copy of the settlement document to all promotion sponsors and ad staff.
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