Merit Product Testimonial Contest

Official Rules:

1. CONTEST DESCRIPTION AND ENTRY PERIOD:

The Merit Product Testimonial Contest (the “Contest”) starts October 9, 2022 at 12:00 a.m. Pacific Standard time (“PST”) and ends October 24, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. PST (“Contest Period”). During the Contest Period, participants must test Merit’s newest product (the “Product”) and share their testimonials with Merit, which must include a photo of the participant and a short video documenting the “before and after” results taken after both the first application of the Product and four weeks of use of the Product.  After registering for the Contest, each participant will receive the Product in the mail at no cost.  The Contest Period includes two (2) deadlines, and each participant must make a Submission (as defined below) by each deadline.  The first deadline is September 26, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. PST (the “First Deadline”).  Participants must submit their first Submission by the First Deadline.  The second deadline is October 24, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. PST (the “Second Deadline”).  Participants must submit their final Submission by the Second Deadline.  Each participant making valid Submissions by the First Deadline and the Second Deadline will receive $50.00 off their next purchase at Merit (subject to the terms and conditions hereon) (the “Coupon”).  At the end of the Contest Period, the Merit team, using qualified judges, will select one or more Submissions submitted during the Contest Period that best represents the theme of the Contest, which will be judged 50% on originality, 25% on creativity, and 25% on content. The winning Submissions may be published by Merit in any form, platform or medium throughout the world, including, without limitation, on Merit’s website or social platforms, marketing publications or emails, and on any paid social media advertising.  Winners will be selected subject to these Official Rules and any terms and conditions. Entry in the Contest does not constitute entry into any other promotion, contest, or sweepstakes. 

2. SPONSOR:

The sponsor for the Contest is Power Beauty Co. dba Merit (“Merit”) located at 750 N. San Vicente Blvd. 8th Floor East, West Hollywood, CA 90069. This Contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed, or administered by, or in association with any social media platforms.

3. ELIGIBILITY:

The Contest is open only to persons who on the date of entry are legal residents of the U.S.A. and who are at least twenty-one (21) years of age.  The Contest is void where prohibited, including, without, limitation, Colorado, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Dakota, Tennessee and Vermont. Employees of Merit and their parents, subsidiaries and affiliates, suppliers, advertising and promotion agencies, and their immediate families (spouse, parents, siblings, and children as well as each of their spouses, regardless of where they live), and persons living in the households of each of these individuals, whether related or not, are ineligible to win in this Contest.

4. HOW TO ENTER:

Participants will receive a Contest registration email from Merit.  Not all customers of Merit will receive a Contest email.  NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY AND NO ENTRY FEE, PAYMENT OR PROOF OF PURCHASE IS NECESSARY TO PARTICIPATE. You must be a registered email recipient of Merit in order to participate in the Contest. Participants who register for the Contest will receive a subsequent email with instructions for the Contest and how to receive the free Product in the mail for use with the Submission. During the Contest Period, participants must submit a photo of themselves, a testimonial describing their experience with the Product, which must also include a short video documenting the “before and after” results taken after both the first application of the Product and four weeks of use of the Product (each, a “Submission”).  Submissions shall be delivered to Merit using the instructions received in the Contest email.  Participants must timely make two (2), and only two (2), Submissions in order to be valid entry: one (1) Submission by the First Deadline and one (1) Submission by the Second Deadline. Participants who did not follow the email and sign-up instructions will lose eligibility for the Contest.  Valid entries will be judged based on the Submission which best represents the theme of the Contest (including video quality, image quality, and the ability to best capture the “before and after” effects of the Product), which will be judged 50% on originality, 25% on creativity, and 25% on content. The first Submission must be delivered by the First Deadline and the second Submission must be delivered by the Second Deadline. Any Submissions delivered prior to the Contest Period and submitted for the Contest will not be an eligible Submission. 

All submitted images, language, testimonials, videos, images and any other content must be either your own work or submitted with the consent of the photographer/creator/owner and consent of your parent or legal guardian if you are a minor. Your language, testimonials, videos, images and any other content (collectively, the “Content”) must not be obscene or otherwise inappropriate. It is your responsibility to ensure that your submitted Content does not infringe or violate the intellectual property rights or other rights of any third party or any laws.  Your Content must not contain brand names, copyrighted material or trademarks, other than those owned by you or Merit.  By entering any Submission into the Contest you hereby irrevocably grant to Merit, its subsidiaries and licensees, successors and assigns, the non-exclusive, perpetual, royalty-free, no-cost license and right to use and otherwise exploit your name, likeness, biographical information, testimonials, Content and each submitted image and video, and all images, text and materials depicted therein, in whole or in part, in any manner or medium now or hereafter known or devised (including, without limitation, streaming media, film, print, interactive devices, mobile media, Internet and on-line systems, digital billboards), throughout the universe and in any and all languages, including, without limitation, the right to display, reproduce, record, perform, exhibit, distribute, copy, edit, change, modify, add to, subtract from, re-title and adapt the same, to combine it with other material, whether relevant or not to this Contest. You hereby forever waive and relinquish all so-called “moral rights” now or hereafter recognized in connection with entries submitted as part of the Contest. Neither Merit nor its agents shall be responsible for returning or preservation of the Content submitted or for compensating or crediting you in any way.  All entries that are published by Merit may be available to be viewed by anyone with access to the Internet.

5. WINNERS AND ODDS: 

There may be up to 50 winners for the Contest:

• Each winner is eligible to have their Submission published in whole or in part on any form, platform or medium throughout the world as determined by Merit, including, without limitation, on Merit’s website or social platforms, marketing publications or emails, and on any paid social media advertising.

The odds of winning depend upon the number of eligible Submissions. Merit may modify prize conditions at any time in its sole discretion. Prizes are nontransferable. No cash alternative or prize substitutions are allowed, except in Merit sole discretion. Prizes may not be sold, bartered, or exchanged by the winners. Merit shall, in its sole discretion, determine any details of any prize not specified herein.

The Coupon is not combinable with any other offers, codes, and not applicable to sets.  Merit will issue the Coupon to participants via email after they have timely provided two (2) Submissions and complied with all other terms and conditions herein to constitute a valid entry into the Contest.  The Coupon expires on November 20, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. PST.

Merit shall not be liable in the event of force majeure or fortuitous events outside its control. Merit shall not be liable and no action may be brought against it in the event of incidents demonstrating the characteristics of force majeure such as strike, COVID-19, pandemic, endemic, supply chain shortages, delivery delays, bad weather etc. which make it partly or totally impossible for participants to take part in the Contest, including the failure to timely receive the Product.

Merit shall in no circumstances be liable for any accidents or incidents that may occur while a participant is participating in the Contest, nor for the loss or theft of the Coupon once a participant has taken possession of it. In particular, Merit shall be fully, unconditionally and entirely discharged of liability.  

6. SELECTION OF WINNERS & JUDGING CRITERIA: 

At the end of the Contest Period, Merit, using qualified judges, will select up to 50 winners based on the Submissions that best represent the theme of the Contest (including video quality, image quality, and the ability to best capture the “before and after” effects of the Product), which will be judged 50% on originality, 25% on creativity, and 25% on content. Winners will be notified via email within 7 days of the conclusion of the Contest Period. Failure of the winner to comply with any term or condition herein may result in disqualification and an alternate winner may be chosen for the next best Submission. The Merit team has complete discretion over interpretation of the Official Rules and these terms and conditions, the administration of the Contest, and the selection of the winners (subject to the judging criteria). The decisions of the Merit team will be binding and final.

7. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY:

By entering or participating in the Contest, you agree for you/yourself, those for whom you are a parent or legal guardian, your agents, representatives, executors, and administrators to (A) release, indemnify, defend and hold harmless Merit and its respective officers, directors, and employees (collectively, “Released Parties”) from any liability, illness, injury, death, loss, litigation, claim, cause of action, allegation, or damage that may occur, directly or indirectly, whether caused by negligence or not, from the participation in the Contest and/or his/her acceptance, possession, use, or misuse of any prizes or any portion thereof; (B) that Released Parties have neither made nor are in any manner responsible or liable for any warranty, representation or guarantee, express or implied, in fact or in law, with respect to any prize, including, without limitation, to such prize’s quality or fitness for a particular purpose; and (C) to be bound by these Official Rules and the terms and conditions and to waive any right to claim any ambiguity or error therein or in the Contest itself, and to be bound by all decisions of Merit, which are binding and final. Failure to comply with these conditions will result in disqualification from the Contest at Merit’s sole discretion.

Additionally, Merit is not responsible for, and you hereby release Merit from any claims arising from: (A) technical failures of any kind, including but not limited to the malfunctioning of any computer, cable, network, hardware or software; (B) the unavailability or inaccessibility of any transmissions or telephone or Internet service; (C) unauthorized human intervention in any part of the entry process of the Contest; (D) electronic or human error which may occur in the administration of the Contest or the processing of entries; and (E) any injury or damage to persons or property, including but not limited to your computer, hardware or software, which may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from your participation in the Contest.

Merit makes no warranties, and hereby disclaims any and all warranties, express or implied, concerning the Contest or the Product, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and/or non-infringement. THE PRODUCT AND ALL PRIZES ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTY OF ANY KIND.

ANY FEDERAL, STATE, OR OTHER TAX LIABILITIES ARISING FROM THIS CONTEST ARE THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE WINNER.  MERIT IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR AND WILL NOT PAY ANY SUCH TAXES.  IF REQUIRED BY LAW, WINNERS WILL RECEIVE AN IRS FORM 1099 AT THE END OF THE CALENDAR YEAR, AND A COPY OF SUCH FORM WILL BE FILED WITH THE IRS.

8. TERMINATION. Merit is not responsible for any lost, late, misdirected, stolen, illegible or incomplete entries. If, for any reason, the Contest is not capable of running as planned (e.g. infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes beyond the control of Merit which corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of the Contest), Merit reserves the right at its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Contest and/or select a winner from all eligible entries received prior to the cancellation. Merit reserves the right to correct any typo-graphical, printing, computer programming or operating errors at any time.

9. CONFIDENTIALITY. “Confidential Information” means information not generally known to the public, whether of a technical, business or other nature that relates to Merit or its products (including the Product) or that, although not related to the any particular products, is nevertheless disclosed or made available to a participant during the Contest, and that should reasonably have been understood by the participant, because of (i) legends or other markings, (ii) the circumstances of disclosure or (iii) the nature of the information itself, to be proprietary and confidential to the Merit.  Confidential Information may be disclosed in written or other tangible form (including information in computer software or held in electronic storage media) or by oral, visual or other means.  Participant shall not disclose the Merit’s Confidential Information to anyone without Merit’s prior written consent.  Participant shall not use, or permit others to use, Confidential Information for any purpose other than that as specifically set forth herein regarding the Contest.  Participant shall protect such Confidential Information from disclosure to others, using the same degree of care used to protect its own confidential or proprietary information of like importance, but in any case using no less than a reasonable degree of care. Participant shall not reverse-engineer, decompile, or disassemble any hardware or software provided or disclosed to it and shall not remove, overprint or deface any notice of copyright, trademark, logo, legend or other notice of ownership from any originals or copies of Confidential Information it obtains from Merit.

10. DISPUTES:

Except where prohibited, you agree that: (A) any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of or connected with the Contest shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, and exclusively by final and binding arbitration under the rules of the American Arbitration Association and held at the AAA regional office in Los Angeles, California; (B) the Federal Arbitration Act will govern the interpretation, enforcement and all proceedings at such arbitration; (C) judgment upon such arbitration award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction; and (D) unless otherwise prohibited, under no circumstances will you be permitted to obtain awards for, and you hereby waive all rights to claim, indirect, punitive, incidental and consequential damages and any other damages, other than for actual out-of-pocket expenses, and any and all rights to have damages multiplied or otherwise increased. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of the Official Rules and these Terms and Conditions, or the rights and obligations of you and Merit in connection with the Contest shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of California, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules (whether of State of California or any other jurisdiction), which would cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than the State of California.

11. WINNER’S LIST: For a copy of these Official Rules or the winners’ names, please email: hi@meritbeauty.com with the subject line: Merit Product Testimonial Contest. Please be specific whether you are requesting a copy of these Official Rules.