In 1999, an American engineer noticed an innocent promotion on food products. A few quick calculations led him to purchase more than 12,000 pudding cups, enlist volunteers for the task of cutting barcodes, and accumulate 1.25 million miles for flights. The company was astonished but had to honor the promise.
The Promotion Almost Everyone Overlooked
In May 1999, David Phillips, an engineer from the University of California, Davis, went on a routine shopping trip. On one of the Healthy Choice products, he noticed a promotion: customers who sent ten barcodes from its products to the company would receive 500 miles for airline frequent flyer programs. However, in the fine print was a detail that made the promotion much more interesting. Those who sent the barcodes by the end of May would receive double the amount – 1,000 miles for every ten products. Most customers probably saw this as a nice bonus for their next purchase. Phillips, on the other hand, began calculating.
The Treasure Awaited on the Pudding Shelf
Phillips began checking the cost of each product participating in the promotion. The ready meals were relatively expensive, and even the soup cans did not provide the value he sought. Then he found discounted Healthy Choice chocolate pudding cups for just 25 cents each. Each cup had a separate barcode, so purchasing ten cups, at a total cost of $2.50, was worth 1,000 miles. In other words, Phillips could buy each mile for just one-quarter of a cent – an extremely low price compared to the value that could be extracted by booking flights. At this point, he realized this was not just another supermarket coupon, but an extraordinary opportunity.
He Went from Store to Store, Emptying the Shelves
For several weeks, Phillips went between Grocery Outlet branches in the Sacramento area and purchased the pudding stock he found. When the cups ran out in stores, he asked one of the managers to order dozens of additional boxes for him. The cashiers didn’t quite understand why one person needed such a quantity of pudding. According to one report, Phillips explained he was preparing for the Y2K bug, a humorous answer that only reinforced the nickname he later received: “The Pudding Guy.” In total, he purchased about 12,150 cups and other products, at a cost of $3,140. According to his calculations, the amount of miles he would receive could be worth flights far exceeding the investment.
The Problem: More Than 12,000 Barcodes and Very Little Time
After the large purchase, a complex task remained: to remove thousands of barcodes from the packages and send them before the bonus period ended. Phillips and his family began the work but soon realized they wouldn’t be able to finish it alone. As the end of May approached, the possibility of receiving double the miles was in jeopardy. The solution he found was efficient for both sides. He donated a large portion of the pudding cups to the “Salvation Army” and other aid organizations. Volunteers removed the barcodes for him, and the food itself was distributed to those in need. The donation also granted him a tax benefit estimated at about $800, further reducing the real cost of the operation.
The Company Had to Grant Him 1.25 Million Miles
When the enormous quantity of barcodes was sent to the food company, Phillips was unsure if the company would indeed honor the promotion. He kept records of the purchases and the shipment, in case he needed to prove he adhered to the rules. Ultimately, the company accepted his claim, and he was awarded 1,253,000 miles for flights. Some of the miles were transferred to his accounts with United, Delta, and Northwest, but more than a million were deposited in the AAdvantage program of American Airlines. The amount granted him at that time a lifetime Gold status with the company. The University of California reported then that the number of miles was enough for about 50 round-trip flights within the United States, 31 trips to Europe, or 21 trips to Australia. Phillips himself estimated that the potential flight value reached up to $150,000.
What Did Airlines Learn from The Pudding Guy?
Phillips did not hack the system or violate the promotion’s terms. He simply read the fine print, identified the cheapest product, and did the math that none of the promotion’s creators likely completed. The story made him a well-known figure among frequent flyer program enthusiasts and even garnered coverage in major media outlets in the United States and worldwide. More than 25 years later, “The Pudding Guy” is still considered one of the most famous examples of the legal and clever exploitation of a marketing promotion. Many companies now ensure to set clearer purchase and redemption limits, but in Phillips’s case, the company wrote the rules, and he simply played by them better than anyone else. Join flight hunting groups and receive deals and updates by clicking here The information is sourced from across the web and open sources and may include changes or inaccuracies. Flight Hunter The main details were verified against the original reports from University of California, Davis and TIME Magazine.
