May 10, 1999, 35-year-old David Phillips was saw a Healthy
Choice promotion offering 500 frequent flyer miles for every 10 mailed-in product
barcodes. Double miles if the barcodes were mailed by May 31. David did the
math. Pudding cups were the cheapest qualifying product. $2.50 of pudding was
worth 1,000 miles – a value of $20. David drove all over Sacramento, clearing stores
of their pudding cups. If cashier got suspicious, he told them he was preparing
for Y2K. He stacked 12,150 cups all over his house. Then he realized there was
no way to peel all the barcodes alone before the deadline. David called the
Salvation Army and made a deal. He donated all the pudding. The Salvation Army
peeled the barcodes, and David mailed them in time. Two months later, a package
arrived; certificates for 1,253,000 frequent flyer miles worth $150,000. Over
the next five years, David flew his entire family to 43 countries.
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