+sanssheriff Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 The GEICO Gecko has teamed up with Groundspeak to give away 20 Magellan eXplorist GC GPS units and release 6,000 trackable Geckos into the wild. It's free and easy to participate in any (or all!) of the following ways: 1. Enter the Sweepstakes for a chance to win one of 20 Magellan eXplorist GC GPS units, valued at $150! This is one of the top-selling GPS devices among geocachers. 2. Help the trackable Geckos meet their goals by moving them from cache to cache. 6,000 Geckos will be released to spread the word about the Sweepstakes. Note: You don't need to actually find one to enter the Sweepstakes! 3. Request a Free trackable Gecko and we'll mail you a brand new, un-activated one (while supplies last) as long as you agree to place it in a geocache and help it get started on a geocaching journey. Check the promotional website for official rules. 4. Solicitation and Commercial Content Geocaches do not solicit for any purpose. Commercial geocaches are disallowed. Ooops my bad, that was number 4 from Groundspeak's listing guidelines. But wait, Groundspeak has joined with GEICO in a huge advertisement campaign. And the best part is that we can help them do it, and you don't even need to be a paying premium member. I'm a little confused here, is it okay to solicit or not. Link to comment
+Coldgears Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 Meh, i'd rather have an advertisement and receive a free trackable then no advertisement and no trackable. Plus this is nothing new, Ape Caches, Jeep Travel Bugs, Unite for Diabete's trackables (I'm pretty sure they had multipule runs, I remember finding a 2007 version). Let's not forget the Jeep Wrangler video game. You also have to remember, geocaching pays for it's insane bandwidth fee's in part by advertisements, have you ever noticed the two banners with advertisements on them? Did you have ad-block plus? Either way, advertisements have been on those banners for years, why choose now to complain? I notice a common thread with Groundspeak's over-the-top ad's (Ones that go further then banners) and it's that they actually offer something to the geocaching community rather then just purely for ad dollars, whether that be a new cache type, or free trackables. Link to comment
+Gitchee-Gummee Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 (edited) There are other threads... and they, too, seem a little off! The commercialism/solicitation aspect to which you refer applies to geocaches. Not Travel Bugs. GEICO has no geocaches. This is no different than the Jeep Travel Bugs or the Diabetes Travel Bugs that were launched a while ago, they also had an agenda, did they not? The fact that GEICO may want you to participate in some sort of competition is immaterial. Copied directly (not misquoted) from the guidelines: Solicitation and Commercial Content Geocaches do not solicit for any purpose. Commercial geocaches are disallowed. Where does it mention Travel Bugs? EDIT: speeling. Edited May 20, 2011 by Gitchee-Gummee Link to comment
+Sioneva Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 I predict this thread will be moved to the Travel Bug forum tomorrow, and be merged with this one. Just in time for the world to come to an end. Link to comment
+sanssheriff Posted May 20, 2011 Author Share Posted May 20, 2011 I think there is a difference. Jeep seemed like more of a 4X'n to a cache type of thing and sorry but I haven't seen the diabetes caches so I can't go there. Having said that, this GEICO thing is sheer advertisement of a certain company and should in my opinion, not be accepted! Link to comment
+Gitchee-Gummee Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 I think there is a difference. Jeep seemed like more of a 4X'n to a cache type of thing and sorry but I haven't seen the diabetes caches so I can't go there. Having said that, this GEICO thing is sheer advertisement of a certain company and should in my opinion, not be accepted! Ehhhhh..... You are still talkin' caches. GEICO is sending out Travel Bugs, NOT caches. Link to comment
+Sioneva Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 I think there is a difference. Jeep seemed like more of a 4X'n to a cache type of thing and sorry but I haven't seen the diabetes caches so I can't go there. Having said that, this GEICO thing is sheer advertisement of a certain company and should in my opinion, not be accepted! That's because there were no diabetes caches. No Jeep caches. No Geico caches. There are TRAVEL BUGS, which don't fall under the commercialization rules that apply to caches. You're perfectly free to send for or not to send for a travel bug, or to move a Geico travel bug if you see one. Just as you're perfectly free not to have or not have a politically themed travel bug, or move or not move the same... I've already sent for my Geico thingie. I was too late for the Jeeps, but maybe I can win a GPS. Link to comment
Keystone Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 I am closing this duplicate thread. Earlier today, I moved a similar discussion over to the Travel Bug forum. That is the proper place to talk about the Geico promotion. Travel Bugs are not geocaches and are not subject to the cache listing guideline about commercial content. Even if this were a cache promotion rather than a travel bug promotion, exceptions can be and are made by Groundspeak. Link to comment
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