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Hack: Identification of Winning Cadbury Medium Bars for Score a Freebie Bars Promotion

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This hack* is to do with identifying which of the 1-in-5 bars is a winning wrapper (or not) for the Cadbury "Score a Freebie Bars Promotion" that expires at the end of this month. Get in quick before all the promo bars are replaced with new stock!

Update: This deal/hack/promo has been just a tad popular (gee, thanks everyone!) and it may well be that all of the winning bars have already been taken at your local store. It has been reported in the comments that some of the larger stores/chains have either stopped redeeming bars or taken promo bars off the shelves entirely so you might have more luck at smaller chains or service stations.

This works for pretty much the whole range of medium bars, in approximate order of easiest-to-identify-to-hardest:
40g TimeOut
52g Cherry Ripe
50g Crunchie
46g Picnic
39g Twirl**
60g Boost**

ONLY the winning wrappers have a barcode printed on them on the inside of the wrapper. This barcode can be identified on the outside of the wrapper by looking for VERY slight indentations as in the attached scan (a thin red square has been drawn around where you should be looking). Reflect the bright store lights off the wrapper and if you are lucky the indentations will be visible in approximately the same place.

You have to buy your first bar (which are on special/clearance at the moment at most major supermarkets), but after that in theory you can redeem the winning wrapper for another winner carefully selected by yourself, ad infinitum.

As far as I can tell, posting this does not invalidate or contravene the terms and conditions of the promotion:
http://www.cadbury.com.au/Competition/Score-a-Freebie-Bars-P…

Enjoy!

*There was only a "Freebie" tick-box when submitting the deal, so I ticked that. If there was a "Life Hack" or "Other" tick-box I would have ticked it when creating the deal, my apologies to all the Captain Literals out there who have said this is not technically a bargain, they are probably right ;)

**Twirl and Boost are harder to identify unless you know exactly what to look for and have a really good eye.

Related Stores

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closed Comments

  • +10

    Lol love it, nice first post!

    • Certainly increased the odds of winning the competition.

    • +8

      For the BOOST lover:

      OP said the BOOST was the hardest but I think I've figured out how to identify them! Around the word 'Boost' there is a silver jagged shape with blue dots. Look above the 'B' for a thin line running running across the tip of the first jag and ending when it reaches the side of the second jag. I bought one, and won!

      Now that my soul feels dirty I'll be curled up in the shower in a fetal position. But I'm taking my free chocolate in there too ;)

      • +2

        Actually I have to eat crow on this one: I was wrong. I exchanged the winning wrapper for another that had the same line and it wasn't a winner. The first must have been pure fluke.

        Humbly and sincerely sorry for anybody who followed this advice.

    • +2

      People who think this is "cheating cadbury" don't realise cadbury has already printed a certain number to be given out for free.. A lot of people will still buy the loser bars regardless with the 1-in-5 thingo on it. I don't see how this is causing Cadbury to be at loss (and hence with all the horse-ridin' Mr and Mrs Ethics)

      • +10

        I hear you cwongtech, and you're probably right that it doesn't hurt cadbury or the retailer. But I do feel for mr&mrs NotOzBargainer who's chances of winning a freebie on their favourite chocolate bar take a massive dive once we're all finished beating the system.

        They're the real losers here.

        And bilbies. Every damn thing seems to affect the bilbies…

        • +1

          These competitions never hurt the retailer, they claim everything back on the promoter. Every bar that gets claimed in store would be refunded off their invoice.

          But you certainly hit the mark on it, those poor bilbies.

    • +13

      This is SICK! Raided my local supermarket. Spent 99c on my first Cadbury bar. Ate it & went back to get the second free Cadbury bar with the winning wrapper from the first bar. Did that a dozen times and now I am SICK! They should have a warning sticker on the chocolates!

      • +1

        Call the ACCC and tell them you got sick from chocolate. :P

  • +4

    LOL! Nice one, mate.

    Maybe this is why when MARS runs such a promotion, ALL of their wrappers have a barcode inside (with the losing ones being scrambled and presumably not able to be scanned).

  • +2

    Wow, awesome. Will try it out tommorow.

    So what's the best methodology for this?

    1 Pick winning bar, 2 Buy and leave store, 3 open wrapper, 4 EAT/STORE, 5 back into store, 6 pick winning bar, 7 redeem,8 leave store Repeat 4-8

    Can you just redeem at the checkout for Woolworths/Coles or do you have to go to the service desk?

    • You can just redeem at the checkout.

      • Don't suppose this works at self-checkout without any interaction with staff?

        • You mean with the machines? How could it? haha.

        • Nope, I tried that already. But the lady was nice and just did it through a spare register for me so I skipped the line anyway :)

        • +4

          You can do it through self checkout, but it comes up with one of those things on screen that says the staff member has to verify it. They take the wrapper off you.
          It was very hard to explain to the lady why I'd tried to get 3 free bars from one wrapper. :)

          • +1

            @heatseeker424:

            It was very hard to explain to the lady why I’d tried to get 3 free bars from one wrapper. :)

            Did she let you have 3?

            • @anthony: Unfortunately no. But we did win a free one, and went back in for another lucky dip!

    • +4

      Yep, exactly as you describe just make sure to bring some kind of container to store the bars in and a friend to tag-team with. Generally you have to line up but sometimes you can skip the line if there's someone free at the service desk.

      I recommend "starting" on Timeout bars if you find it hard to pick 'em, by far the easiest/thinnest wrapper. I think Boost are the hardest due to their thicker wrapper or something. Personally I have been raiding Picnics myself ;)

      • +1

        Mate, can you go to another store?
        I.E. get a winning bar, raid Coles, then go 7/11 with the winning wrapper and rait them with the winning wrapper?

      • I m lost. Are we looking for the red lines on the outside of a wrapper?

        • +1

          Nope, the red just shows the position of the barcode thats printed inside the wrapper. You are looking for indentations/raised bits on the outside, in that location, that show its been printed on from the inside. All good?

          • @Mossy: ah ok… i failed already for this… :(

            will try again. I wasn't sure what to look for and then there was choc in my hand
            so i just bought it

            So are the barcode lines supposed to be horizontal according to the photo

            • +2

              @Ishadeon: The trick is to not look for any visible markings, but to look at the way the light reflects of the bit where the bar-code should be. you can see horizontal lines pretty clearly from the way the light falls. After stuffing up on our first bar we accurately predicted winners 45+ times in a row without ever making a mistake :)

              I'd say that Time out is the easiest, followed by crunchie and cherry ripe followed by boost (it isn't very hard, I got over a dozen) then picnic and then twirl being the hardest.

              Good Luck :)

  • +2

    Does this mean I can keep selecting winning wrappers until they are all gone? i.e. I end up spending $1 for 1 bar which turns into 10.

    • +16

      Yes. Until you die of insulin shock/sugar overdose. I recommend bringing a paper bag/esky and some friends to make the process easier so you don't have to eat the bars immediately heh :D

    • +6

      This sounds like a challenge - how many medium chocolate bars can you win & eat before throwing up??

  • +1

    You're a legend

  • +4

    Oh and yeah check out node 32317 for these bars on special at 99c each at woolies stores (at least most stores across Brisbane QLD) to get started cheaper.

    • +3

      Yes but the amount saved per free bar will be greater if you get them from the most expensive place possible…..!

      • +2

        Buy the first at Woolies then go to 7-11 for maximum savings :)

  • +8

    Ok you got me convinced you are David coperfield….. now help me pick a winning scratchy ticket!

  • +1 this is awesome!

  • safe to say this is the best deal ever

    • +4

      bare minimum best first post ever

  • +2

    i dont see the indentation

    • Look where the words TIME and 40G NET are

  • Tested and it works well, best part is that i had a free bar wrapper given to me just yesterday, so didn't cost me a dollar. Got 4, will continue tomorrow

  • i still dont get it. So we have to buy a bar, to score a free choc bar?

    as for the identification, where is the 'slight indentation'?

    • Look at the picture attatched.

  • This is sooo awesome! hahah thanks man! I'm going to go raid woolies and coles tomorrow! XD

  • +2

    Everyone that is looking for the indentation in the photo: check the top of the second bump of the letter M in Time.

    You can see horizontal lines. That's the barcode.

    • Thanks. Totally trying this very soon.

    • What's with the negative votes, this post is about defrauding the confectionery company…pretty sure fraud and shoplifting fall into the same category…and it's a funny comment, lighten up!

      • the comment is just made to get a reaction, and it got it, sheesh!

      • There is no fraud in this offer at all!

  • +1

    VERY Nice work!

  • Nice crafty post. If anything this will surely get people addicted to Cadbury bars, so everyone wins :)
    Good work fleetoiler

  • +1

    so using this for the rest of the month to rip of the work convenience store.
    they have ripped me off enough im going to fight back.

    ahaha thanks mate, this is great!

    • +1

      You're not ripping them off, they get reimbursed.

      • -4

        Apparently they get a certain "extra" amount of bars when they get delivered. My local milkbar said they dont do it, tight owners!

        mod - removed racial identification to avoid racial stereotyping

        • the cadbury promotion they provide a reply paid envelope to send back the wrappers in to be reimbursed with free stock later on.

        • Lol yeah the expenses are covered by cadbury

  • +4

    Nice post but it will all go to my thighs.

    • +4

      hot ;)

    • +1

      Take a run. That is what I will do. :)

  • finally!!! ive had such rotten luck with these in the past. who remembers the lays starwars scratchies. either scratch for chips or for cash. i always got lucky on them. the chocs im like 1 out of 20!!! time to even up the odds! thanks for posting!!!

    ps. how do i vote the deal as positive?

    • You see on the top of the page

      "Hack: Identification of Winning Cadbury Medium Bars for Score a Freebie Bars Promotion"

      [ ? ] - posters gravatar
      [ + ] - CLICK THIS
      [ - ] - Don't click this (neg vote) if you clicked it by accident, go to the right, and you will see View|Votes
      Click on Votes, find your vote and press the (-) sign to revoke your vote

    • omg lays starwars cards, brings back memories~ use to raid the school canteen for those

    • +1

      @ Calam05

      ps. how do i vote the deal as positive?

      You mean you make 121 comments on this site (over 10 months), yet never voted?

  • +1

    I love you OP <3 <3

  • +8

    Just wow, with people like us, then they're just gonna be the loser bars left at the stores haha

    • +1

      I can guarantee there are at least 4 7-11's in melb where this is true :P

  • lol, ozbargain effect coming into play

  • Now if only there were a way for those instant scratchies.

    • +3

      According to Homer Simpson, you just hold it up to the light

  • I cant see the highlighted red in the pic

    • +2

      Look carefully, you only deserve this deal if you put some effort into it =P

  • Why is there a * next to the 60g Boost? Is that just a typo? Nice post btw :)

  • just to double check again.. do we have to buy the choc first to win?? or do we just choose the winning wrapper, bring it to the counter and get it for free??

    • +1

      Buy the 1st bar, making sure it has a barcode then the rest are free

      • +1

        the gift that keeps giving <3

      • so once u get the winning wrapper, how many can we claim for the free chocs?

        • Buy the first, the wrapper will allow you to get a free one.
          Use the wrapper of the free one to get a 2nd free one.
          Use that wrapper to get a 3rd free one.
          Use that wrapper to get a 4th ….
          and so on.

          Essentially, you have to open the wrapper in order to get the next one.

  • +2

    leet hacking, fleetoiler :)

  • +3

    I LOVE THIS WEBSITE!

  • Lol. win. nice post

  • I feel like a kid again going for some chocolate treasure hunt. Awesome!

  • +2

    Awesome post, I have a $5 bet with my GF that somebody will neg vote this deal!

    • +2

      Congrats on winning $5

  • +11

    Okay, I'm gunna get flamed for saying this.

    Neg- This is not a "bargain" but rather exploiting the manufacturers mistake. A similar analogy… darn, http://gscentral.net/larsen.htm and he got away with it. Unethical, yes. Illegal? Questionable… Certainly in the Australian equity courts it would be very arguable.

    Albeit i'm negging this, I will go check it out tomorrow.

    p.s. http://www.cracked.com/article_18753_the-6-most-creative-abu… no.4 and watch the vids on youtube

    A more serious analogy would be a newsagent getting all the winning scratchies to himself. Basically the point im trying to drive is that you lot are unfairly tilting the playing field for the other consumers out there. Imagine walking into a lottery store to buy a scratchie except the majority of the winning tickets have been pilfered by someone else with this sleight upper-hand.

    • +13

      It's fair comment IMHO; but yeah, you'll get pummelled for looking at things objectively! :p

      I'll throw you a "+" for raising the issue though! ;)

        • +5

          Awesome rationale dude! :p

          • +1

            @StewBalls: Very nice article thanks fellator.
            If only the poster fleetoiler had kept this to himself and claimed a million free bars, he would've made the list himself!

    • +3

      an analogy isnt a valid reason to neg!

      Incase you didnt notice, this post is in the freebie section and plenty of freebies and bargains work on a redemption process. This is just another way to claim redemption.

      • +2

        They have made a competition that on some level tries to suck people in to gambling with their products.

        They want kids and whoever else is dumb enough to think that they can win free bars into buying them. In the long run, without cheating this is just 20% off, yet feeds off "back-door" re-wording and calls itself a free bar.

        So when someone back-doors their back-door process I fail to see the big problem.

        Altough in the end of the day the people this hurts the most are going to be the people sucked in to gambling with the bars. Cadbury would not give a damn that "we" stole all their free bars, they sucked us in and sucked in others too.

    • +2

      Seems like you're a fellow Reddit user!

      IMO this is certainly legal. Unethical yes, but whatever.

      • -2

        Ummm…he has the look.

        ಠ_ಠ

        Anyway, time for some bacon…

      • I agree this is unethical, but more unethical than encouraging kids to Gamble on winning a free bar? I don't think so!

    • +5

      Yes the deal is unethical but so is the manufacturing process used to make these bars by Cadbury.

      • can you elaborate a little? just interested

      • +6

        Indeed, Cadbury are well known for exploiting hopelessly impoverished Tasmanians in their factory. When will the imperialism end!

      • Cadbury is fair trade now.

        • In Australia only their Dairy Milk bars are and even then, there's no guarentee that it's 100% certified fair trade cocoa.

          "This fair trade-certified cocoa enters Cadbury's global supply chain, meaning all the company's chocolate products can contain a mixture of fair trade and conventionally sourced ingredients."
          -http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/restaurants-and-bars/cadbury-introduces-fair-trade-chocolate-bar-20100510-uoua.html

          I'm not one of those people that bang on about how the people in third world countries are being treated badly, but I just wish that by putting a simple logo on one chocolate bar, their whole range is considered fairtrade.

          Heaps of people think the same thing about smaller known Green and Blacks Organic Chocolate which is sold at such a premium price, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the master chocolatiers at lindt made the stuff. All their chocolate is certified by 'Ethical Trade' on what seems to be the grounds of soil condition and not the treatment of the growers! Only one of their blocks is certified fairtrade and they have just recently been bought by Cadbury!

          • @heatseeker424: Cadbury bought Green & Blacks a few years ago now. The founder of G&B included quite a few caveats on the sale, including sitting on the board for that brand so that he could maintain its integrity. I understand that G&B had a strong interest in the actual growers, but, this kind of thing is difficult to verify.

            Now that Cadbury has been bought out by the tobacco industry giant Phillip-Morris (they own Kraft, which just bought Cadbury) they may not maintain integrity we'll have to see.

    • I agree.

      • -1

        i agree isnt a valid reason

    • +2

      This may shed some light…

      The Promoter reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify all entries from any person, and prohibit that person’s further participation in this promotion, who tampers with, or benefits from any tampering with, the entry process or the operation of the promotion

      I believe this could apply to checking the bars for winners as it would "tamper with the entry process" but Cadbury would actually have to approach you to disqualify or prohibit you, which would be very unlikely.

      • +6

        i think they are referring to cutting a tiny hole or "tampering" with the product and then leaving it on the shelf.
        PS. picking it up and looking at it cannot be deemed tampering

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