Vitaminwater Will Pay You $100,000 To Ditch Your Smartphone For One Year

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Are you reading this on a smartphone? 85 percent of you are. How much would you need to throw that pocket-sized computer

In an effort to alleviate society’s addiction to smartphones, Vitaminwater is willing to pay $100,000 to anyone who can go an entire year without using a smartphone. Anyone who can make it six months will earn $10,000.

The company has created the “scroll-free life” challenge to anyone willing to ditch social media, Tinder, and instant access to all the information in the world directly at your fingertips.

Here are the official rules, via the press release:

• Post on either Twitter or Instagram your pitch for what you’d do if Vitaminwater freed you from the shackles of your iPhone or Android. The brand adds: “Go wild, be out there, and wow us. Make sure to include hashtags #nophoneforayear and #contest.”
• In about a month, the company will choose the winners, who will be asked to give up their smartphones.
• If they are able to successfully complete the challenge, Vitaminwater will award them the prize money.

The rules don’t go into too much detail about how Vitaminwater will prove you stayed abstinent from smartphones, but the rules claim that a lie detector will be used.

After all entries are submitted (by January 8), employees at Vitaminwater will choose the winners (or just the people they’ll allow to participate) and give them a “1996-era cellular telephone that may be used for communication during the contract time period, including a monthly phone plan accompanying the phone,” according to the official rules. Contestants are allowed to use their computers and voice-controlled smart devices like Amazon Echo.

Vitaminwater will

• Creativity and Originality of Submission (30%): presents idea in a fun and unique way
• Cultural or Brand Relevance of Submission (30%): fits the brand tonality and persona
• Humor of Submission (30%): relates to breaking the monotony for original and outside-the-lines reasons
• Quality of Submission (10%): inclusion of proper grammar and spelling, and high-quality photos and/or videos (if photos/videos are included)

Something tells me this contest is going to end with a lawsuit.