Winning isn’t instant with Kit Kat prize

I am among the lucky few who work from home these days. Well, four days a week anyway.

One day a week I drive into the office. 

Crystal Lindell

A recent Monday was one of those days. I seriously love my job and I love my editor-in-chief Bernie Pacyniak with all my heart, so driving in is no big deal. But it does mean I have to do crazy things like shower, get up earlier than 8:25 for my 8:30 a.m. start time, and of course, I have to sit upright at my desk all day, rather than comfortably resting on my couch while holding my laptop on my lap and leaning against the nice, cushy armrest.

All these factors meant that by about 2 p.m., I was all, “Gimme a break. Gimme a break. Break me off a piece of that Kit Kat bar!”

And seriously, it was amazing. Those little chocolate-covered wafers were exactly what the doctor ordered.

But then, I noticed that this particular Kit Kat bar also offered me the chance to have more than just a wonderful afternoon chocolate break. It was also one of the specially marked Android packages.

That meant I had a chance to win a Google Nexus 7 Tablet!

Now, you may be asking yourself, “Self, what the heck does Kit Kat have to do with Google tablets?”

Let me explain. In short, Google named their latest Android operating system after the famous candy, partly because the staff loves the four breakable wafers and partly because they needed a word that started with a K.

And so, the two brands were working together as part of the launch, and as such, for a limited time, specially marked Kit Kats also came with the opportunity to win a Goolge Nexus 7 Tablet.

I recently bought my first tablet and although it wasn’t a Google Nexus 7, I have to admit I did find a need for a screen in my life that wasn’t quite my laptop and wasn’t quite my smartphone. And, my mom also seemed to really like borrowing my new tablet.

So there I was fantasizing about winning the Google Nexus 7 Tablet and then presenting her with it for Christmas when I decided to extend my Kit Kat break and enter in the 110-digit code on the wrapper into the special website.

Ok. Fine, it’s only like 16 digits. But I seriously typed it wrong four times, so it certainly felt like typing in 110 digits.

The wrapper said I would find out INSTANTLY if I won, so I clicked “Enter” and waited for my prize.

Alas, Kit Kat wasn’t done with me yet. They still needed my full name, my birthday, permission to access my Facebook account, my address and some sort of password, although I have no idea why.

Except, as I was entering all my legal information, I forgot to tell Kit Kat if I was male or female, so it reloaded the page, alerting me to the fact that I missed the teeny tiny check box, and in the process also deleted my password.

So I re-entered “iloVeCaNdy83,” clicked “Female” and then...

Guess what?

I did not win a Google Nexus 7 tablet.

BUT, I did totally win the second place prize, which was a bag of Kit Kat minis!! Yay for winning something!!

Seeing as how I am a millennial and live in the age of instant gratification, I assumed Kit Kat would then give me some sort of coupon or voucher for my amazing second place prize.

Alas, that was not the case.

Instead, I was informed that a coupon for the candy would be shipped to my house. In six to eight weeks.

Seriously Kit Kat? You made me fill out all those forms so that you could mail me a COUPON in SIX TO EIGHT WEEKS?

If only there was some sort of magical machine that allowed you to send pictures and words through space and time instantly.

Hey, I bet the folks at Android could help you out with that.