KitchenAid Searches For Longest Running Dishwasher

KitchenAid is paying homage to one of its best-known products, the dishwasher, by running a sweepstakes to find the country’s longest running KitchenAid model. And, it’s dangling an incentive for the first 5,000 participants: a $100 mail-in rebate on the purchase of a new KitchenAid major appliance.

The grand-prize winner of the Longest Running KitchenAid Dishwasher Sweepstakes will receive a $15,000 kitchen appliance makeover from KitchenAid, including, if they wish, a dishwasher from the new 2005 model line.

The sweepstakes runs through Aug. 31 at retailers nationwide or online at KitchenAid.com. It is also being promoted at the Kitchen/Bathroom Industry Show & Conference this week in Las Vegas. In order to qualify, entrants must own a KitchenAid dishwasher, and it must be functioning. A completed entry form must include the dishwasher’s serial number.

In addition to the grand-prize winner, 10 first-prize winners selected randomly from all entrants will receive two KitchenAid dishwashers, one for themselves and one to share with a friend or family member.

The dishwasher first burst onto the kitchen scene as far back as 1850, when Joel Houghton patented a wooden machine with a hand-turned wheel that splashed water on dishes. The product became further developed when Josephine Cochrane unveiled a hand-operated mechanical dishwasher. The appliance was such a hit, she founded a company to manufacture the product, which later became the U.S. giant KitchenAid. Dishwashing became more marketable in the 1920s, when the first freestanding dishwasher with permanent plumbing was introduced. But it wasn’t until 1969 that the recognisable, built-in version was launched.

For more stories on games, contests & sweeps