Jeremy Stern reveals his secret life of hiding prizes in stores for lucky shoppers
London: Have you ever thought about those wild prize promotions in stores? Like, is there really a white crème egg with a £10,000 prize inside? Well, Jeremy Stern can tell you that yes, they do exist! He’s been sneaking around supermarkets, hiding those golden ticket packs and winning codes for shoppers to find. Imagine winning a holiday or some cash just by picking up a box of cereal!
At 64, Jeremy is the CEO of PromoVeritas, a company that makes sure these prize promotions are fair and legit. They give away millions every year. Just recently, they handed out £100,000 to a lucky winner from a gaming company’s draw. Jeremy calls them “promotional bodyguards,” and they help keep the public’s trust in these promotions. He even wears a pin-hole camera to film himself dropping off winning packs for the Cadbury Crème Egg hunt.
He takes his job seriously, often working weekends at client factories to set up those winning packs. Once the special codes are printed, they delete the artwork to keep it all secure. The Advertising Standard Authority keeps an eye on these promotions, and Jeremy’s team ensures everything is done fairly. They call it Controlled Prize Placement, which is just a fancy way of saying they hide winning packs in stores without anyone knowing.
For one campaign, Jeremy traveled to every single one of 600 postcodes in the UK to make sure there were local winners. He even went to the Shetland Islands and the Isle of Wight! For another client, he had to distribute winning packs in Norway, which meant hopping on a ferry deep into the Arctic Circle. He spent a week on the boat, stopping in cute little towns to drop off prizes and then relaxing in a hot sauna. Sounds like a dream job, right?
Fairness is key for Jeremy and his team. They plan their routes based on where the brand sells the most. If Scotland makes up 25% of sales, they’ll place 10 out of 40 prize packs there. They go undercover, making sure the right products are on the shelves before slipping in the winning packs. They even take photos to log their work, which helps verify winners later.
Hiding prizes can be easy with small items, but they’ve done it with bigger stuff too, like cases of dog food and 18-packs of Pepsi. If they get caught, they carry letters from the brands explaining their mission. They also work internationally, having operated in over 80 countries last year. For a Cornetto promotion, they created 800 fake cones that looked real but held keys to scooters. Jeremy even went to Naples, dressed like an astronaut, to swap out real ice creams for his winning cones.
He loves his job and runs hundreds of projects each year. There’s a thrill in walking down a supermarket aisle and seeing all the promotions they’ve helped create. It’s all about making a difference for those lucky winners!
