A 44-year-old father of three from Massachusetts won $1 million in Pepsi’s Play for a Billion TV show, which aired Sunday night on ABC. He is the second player to miss the $1 billion grand prize in the two times the promotion has run.
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| Kenney (second from right) with co-host Tom Bergeron, son Matt, 15, and Damon Wayans of ABC’s My Wife and Kids |
The show culminates months of promotions including a sweepstakes to build excitement and participation in the event. Jon Kenney entered the sweepstakes at his local Shaw’s supermarket for the chance to compete for the $1 billion prize.
The promotion, in partnership with ABC-TV, had guaranteed that one finalist would take home $1 million on national TV, with the chance to walk away with an additional $1 billion. The promotion began in July. Entry codes appeared on specially marked bottles and cans of Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Caffeine Free Diet Pepsi and Sierra Mist. Participants entered the codes at BillionSweeps.com. There were 14 million entries leading up to the television show.
Kenney and his family plan to vacation in Bermuda and to purchase 100 airline tickets from Boston to Orlando to give to the Make a Wish Foundation.
Last fall, in Pepsi’s first Play for a Billion sweepstakes, a West Virginia teacher missed the $1 billion prize, but took home $1 million. Kendall the chimp stole the show as he drew the six winning numbers during a two-hour special that aired live on The WB Network to ensure there were no thoughts that the game was rigged. No word on whether the primate will make a return appearance this year.
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