This was posted 13 years 6 months 20 days ago, and might be an out-dated deal.

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

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Hack: Identification of Winning Cadbury Medium Bars for Score a Freebie Bars Promotion
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Lfleetoiler on 07/10/2010 - 23:07 files.ozbargain.com.au (27048 clicks)
Last edited 12/10/2010 - 15:12

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.

Groceries Barcode Boost Cadbury Chocolate Confectionery Crunchie Picnic Timeout Twirl

Related Stores

Cadbury
Cadbury

closed Comments

        • fleetoiler on 13/10/2010 - 19:07
          +1

          Can you see the indentations in the scan/link attached to this thread? They are within the thin red box I added with my l33t mspaint skillz heh (zoom in with your browser if it helps, hold down control and scroll in with mousewheel I think should zoom in)

          Angle the wrapper so your eyes aren't distracted by any colour of the wrapper itself, so you can only see the shine/reflection of your light source. The imperfect reflections in the light are what you are looking for, don't stretch or crinkle the wrapper too much or it will be harder to see… Good luck!!!

          • cwongtech on 14/10/2010 - 08:55
            +1

            @fleetoiler: LOL at the l33t mspaint skillz.
            Seriously though, your image only gives a fair indication of where to look at.
            If you have a general idea where to look for, and you see a winning one, it's just one of those things where you "get it" or you "don't", but your post really points at where to look for =]

            • chloden on 14/10/2010 - 11:00
              +1

              @cwongtech: I think freetoiler has done a great job. No doubt like you say you either "get it" or you "don't". I am one of the "don't s" lol.

  • Giraffe on 13/10/2010 - 23:39
    +1

    Me and my mates had one winning wrapper so went to a Woolworths and grabbed about 15 Time-outs. Then we went and told the checkout chick that they were all winners and started opening them up. After opening a few she believed us and just rescanned the original wrapper 15 times - and let us keep the 15 other winning wrappers :) oh but they scanned through has $0.01 so we had to pay 15 cents lol.

    ps. This deal is so close to the 460 mark!

    • AntMan76 on 13/10/2010 - 23:53

      The Coles I went to were scanning at 1c credit! After 2 they stopped and just took the other wrappers and gave me the free time outs. Better than giving me 5c back too lol

      To be fair I think it should take into account the negs too, so needs to hit 466?

  • voter1 on 14/10/2010 - 00:01
    +5

    Yawn, why am I not surprised at the lengths to which people will go to get "free" stuff. And then the obnoxiousness to grab 15+ bars at a supermarket checkout and exclaim "THEY ARE ALL WINNERS!" and only want to pay for one…

    Hope whereever you guys work have people try and come there and scam you.

    PS. for the record, my stance is that if you're buying a bar, your warranted a free one ok no probs. - but to try and take 15+ for free? Why not just grab a whole box, go up to the counter and plead to the checkout chic - "PLEASE I'm a crazy mofo for chocolate - CAN YOU HIT ME UP FOR A FREE FIX" You're going to get the same stare with 15+ free chocolates lol.

    • Ishadeon on 14/10/2010 - 00:29
      -5

      you know the only one losing is people who aren't aware that they can get free bars…n as far as they are concerned they had a 1 in 6 chance and they didn't get it.

      quit being such a sour puss…most people dont care if u are getting all tht choc. the supermarkets don't lose
      cadbury is having higher sales and they dont lose.

      who are u to complain if someone got 15 chocs. They are worth nothing anyways
      u can grab like kilos of timeout from tasmania cadbury choc for around $5-15.

      • voter1 on 14/10/2010 - 00:52
        +4

        how is anybody supposed to get free bars when countless people above go and an get 15+ free ones and clean out the store?

        Did you even read what you wrote - on one hand you say they are worth nothing then you say that people should be allowed to get as many as they like.

        Read the posts above, I am not against anybody getting a free bar, hell even a few - but I have no idea what would possess a person to get 15+. Not to mention chucking a spaz at the checkout chic when she has no idea what the hell is going on.

        Its the equivalent of the bargains that get posted on here for free samples (1 only) then someone claim - "Oh I got 20 with 20 different address/emails" — I find it funny that someone can feel morally good about this?

        • Giraffe on 14/10/2010 - 11:47
          +1

          I don't remember mentioning "chucking a spaz at the checkout chic".

          As to the rest of your comments, I respect your opinion but have to disagree.

          • voter1 on 14/10/2010 - 15:56

            @Giraffe: one of the OTHER people above taking 15+ bars was chucking a spaz…

            Im just curious as to why a seemingly normal person feels the need to do this.

      • andy19363 on 14/10/2010 - 10:00

        you know the only one losing is people who aren’t aware that they can get free bars

        no….ozbargain members also lose when the store has been cleaned out by the '15 bars plus' people.
        Also, looks like the deal has now been pulled by many places, meaning no-one can get even one freebie now

        • Ishadeon on 14/10/2010 - 13:28
          -2

          The deals aren't being pulled off….simply new stock is in stores, even before this deal was put up.

          People are allowed to take whatever they want. You snooze you lose. This isn't a free for all country, it consumerism at its best. Just cause some people are losing out doesn't mean the others should whinge about them and say that they should have left chocolates for others. Why?

          "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. " - Adam Smith

          To put it simply everyone has their own self interest in mind and if you studied economics further you will realise, it is through this self interest the most efficient outcomes in society are created. Who are you people to tell others not to be self interested. 15-50 chocolates. I say people should knock themselves out with as many as they can get their hands on.

          Go my sweet tooth friends go! get those chocolates! =P

          • voter1 on 14/10/2010 - 16:03
            +1

            @Ishadeon: would you mind letting me know your address - I want to rummage through your bins because it is in my "self interest" …..

            In fact why dont I push people over when Im walking on the street because they're in my way.
            Or why didnt you pickup some FREE sultana's/nuts in the self serve trays at the supermarket.

            Your talking about the micro-economics of free chocolate bars in a promotion - not a way to solve world hunger or create world peace.

            Im just genuinely interested in why someone would feel the need for such a large number - If you are homeless/poor fair enough.

            • leiiv on 14/10/2010 - 16:54
              +1

              @voter1: It is just simply called "greed"

            • moooooooo on 14/10/2010 - 20:03
              +2

              @voter1: voter1,

              You may need to select your comparisons better. I don't believe you can reasonably compare a method that increases the odds of winning (ie: requires some skill with no economic loss to the store) with picking up sultanas and nuts in the supermarket (ie: shoplifting).

            • Ishadeon on 14/10/2010 - 23:54
              +1

              @voter1: Talk about taking stuff out of context and being illogical.

              And I will give you my address only if you give me yours first, the whole point here is being self interested.

  • movieman on 14/10/2010 - 15:37
    +1

    Thanks to the OP.

    If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have even tried to do it, and all those extra calories for the price of one bar haha.

    BEST BARGAIN!!

  • LittleMiss on 14/10/2010 - 22:21

    Ok, well I saw this deal a while ago but only actively tried it out today at Coles…I couldn't see it!!! I'm looking in the red box in the pic, i see that little "indentation" bit (i think)…but I swear all the bars I've observed all "look" like they have the same indentation! hahaha. I guess I could do without all those carbs anyway. Thumbs down to the ppl who are abusing the hack and being extremely greedy though.

    • skinny on 14/10/2010 - 22:47
      +2

      I was also looking for the "indentation", Note that all bars have the same title alignment. You should really be looking for lightly visible lines in the red box area - this will be a reflection of the bar code lines printed underneath.

      PS: I saw a box with lot of these in the fuel station today, decided to share the love and left it for that lucky person!!!

  • blkcar on 15/10/2010 - 11:19
    +3

    Why is everyone going to the big supermarkets looking for free bars? The pickings are very slim generally, so hard to find any Crunchies. I suggest places like chemist warehouse, small newsagents etc. all these places sell chocolate bars & the turnover compared to the supermarket is low so theres full boxes of all the varieties everywhere.

    As for everyone complaining about those so called "abusing" this system, who knows what they are doing with their stash they could be sharing them with their friends, I certainly did. Not to mention I've told a few checkoout chicks how to do it, after all why can't everyone benefit. There is that many free bars still out there the promo will be over before they can all be used.

    Do you relaise the time cost involved obtaining free bars anyway? If you did the sums its not really worth it, but hey its a bit of fun.

    • fleetoiler on 15/10/2010 - 15:33
      +4

      I totally agree with this - the main reason I posted this in the first place was that the promotion was coming to an end and supermarkets were already starting to replace low stocks of promo bars with new non-promo boxes. The light at the end of the tunnel full of calories was approaching and I just couldn't keep it to myself!!!

      One reoccurring theme in the comments is "omg u r awl chocolate hogz i h8 j00". I think blkcar, skinny and a few others have the right idea here, if you choose to try this out and feel like sharing or have already had your fun, then pay it forward.

      I suggest the following ideas:

      1. Give free bars or wrappers to your friends, the gift that keeps on giving! Even better, buy a few winning bars and give them as presents to people (and show them the trick as well obviously - some friends of mine did this, kudos to them).
      2. Tell the person next to you who is patiently waiting for you to finish that you are a Jedi and with a wave of the hand, "This is the bar you are looking for" and place a unwrapped winner in their hand.
      3. Play Robin Hood and rummage through all the boxes, find all the winners and leave them on top and at the front of the box (my personal favorite). At least then someone will get to redeem them before Oct 31

      Only just yesterday I wandered into a store with 2+ full boxes of promo bars that has absolutely no chance of selling even half of them by the end of the promotion. If they are not redeemed in time then Cadbury wins their gamble, not the consumer.

      • moooooooo on 20/10/2010 - 18:53
        +1

        I chose the Robin Hood option yesterday - I noticed there was a bad TimeOut stock rotation on the bottom shelf of my supermarket so rummaged through them, found 11 winners, and then placed them all so they were on top at the front, ready for the next person to be a winner.

  • junior_thrift on 15/10/2010 - 13:56

    Picked up two winning Time Outs in my local Woolies last night. Bad stock rotation - the box of promo bars was pushed to the back, with the fresh stock (without the promo wrapper) sitting in front. Hadn't really tried the hack up until then, but was so proud when I "got it"!

  • doormatt1 on 16/10/2010 - 18:29
    +2

    My local IGA still has these in promotion and I was able to identify a free one on the cherry ripe. Once you know what to look for it's easy. As mentioned before on the cherry ripe you can almost seen the lines of the barcode covering the 'CH' and some of the 'R'.

  • ly0009 on 20/10/2010 - 15:49
    +1

    Hi everyone, if anyone is a huge BOOST fan, I know for a fact (well, at the time of writing this anyway) that there are 6 winning ones (5 in the confectionary isle + 1 near the counter) in the Coles at Southgate shopping centre. If you can't see the indentation clearly on the "B", try looking on the blue area either directly above or below it. Don't look for it too long as your eyes will likely misguide you. I've found BOOST to be relatively straight forward (thanks to their tighther packaging, so it doesn't scrunch up like Timeout etc), so if you've picked a winner, the barcode actually stands out quite prominently. Good luck and happy hunting! :)

  • SomeGuyOnOzB on 20/10/2010 - 18:17

    I wonder if this why there are boxes of time outs for sale at Sweet As :P

  • massari on 28/10/2010 - 23:27
    -1

    ahh love it

    I work at woolies as a nightfiller :D so i know where the new boxes are ;)

  • Zawoooo on 30/10/2010 - 00:01

    Well i went a little crazy, ended up with about 10KG of chocolate, and 20 wrappers…., i'll have my last hoorah tomorrow when i go back to woolies and get 20 normal chocolate bars before the promo ends.

    Its a little late now but, All the free bars would be in one column, so if there was a fresh box all you had to do was find one at the top then every single one under that would be a freebie!!

  • Jools on 30/10/2010 - 21:51

    Hi Just wanted to thank you for this great post. How often do grown ups get to go on a chocolate treasure hunt! I had loads of fun :) Thanks again!

  • AntMan76 on 31/10/2010 - 16:05

    So this hits the highest vote record at 474.

    Congrats fleetoiler. Your first post too.

  • chloden on 01/04/2017 - 07:22
    +1

    My kids would spent hours on this, and we ate many twirls!

    • WaywardOne on 01/04/2017 - 07:46
      +1

      This is a great thread to revisit!

  • Iwantthatbargain on 01/04/2017 - 11:29

    Can we still neg or +ve vote the deal ?

  • djmm on 01/04/2017 - 11:36

    OP u just ruined many little kiddies day.

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