An Australian company is taking advantage of royal fans, launching a false competition to win the chance for a “meet and greet” with William, Kate and baby George.
Groupon Australia sent out a press release this morning inviting people to visit its website to enter a ballot to win a “unique and strictly limited” opportunity to meet and have a photo with the Duke and Duchess and their eight-month-old son during their upcoming Australian and New Zealand tour.
“I don’t like to use clichés, but this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for fans to spend some rare, quality time with the royal family, often reserved for state officials and celebrities,” Groupon Australia CEO Alistair Venn is quoted as saying.
“To anyone planning to peer from behind the barricades, hoping for a mere glimpse of the Royal Family, I encourage you to enter our exclusive ballot.”
It sounds too good to be true, and that’s because it is. The Weekly put in calls to Groupon Australia and One Green Bean, the Australian PR company it had hired to manage this “offer”. Eventually, they admitted the deal was in fact their idea of an “April Fools’ Day” joke and not a genuine opportunity.
It’s a stunt that is likely to leave royal fans worldwide feeling ripped off when they realise the advertised “once in a lifetime” opportunity is just another shameless attempt to cash in on the royal family.
