2007 PetSmart Online Howl-O-Ween Photo Contest
Please read these Terms of Use and Rules ("Rules") carefully before participating in the 2007 Online Howl-O-Ween Photo Contest ("Contest"), sponsored by PetSmart, Inc. ("PetSmart").
Eligibility
No purchase necessary to enter or win. Participation in this Contest is strictly online and entries may be received only as outlined in these Rules. Entries will be accepted via a form submission.
Contest participants must be at least 18 years of age and legal residents of the United States at the time of entry. By participating in the Contest, you agree that: (1) you have read and understand the Rules; (2) you meet the Contest eligibility requirements as explained in the Rules; (3) you are bound by the Rules and to PetSmart's Conditions of Use, Legal Notices and Privacy Policy as published at www.PetSmart.com; (4) you unconditionally accept and agree to comply with and abide by the Rules and the decisions of PetSmart; and (5) the Rules shall be legally binding on you and your legal representatives, heirs, successors, and assigns.
Persons in the following categories are NOT eligible to participate in or win prizes in the Contest: Employees, directors, affiliate companies, subsidiaries, and family members of PetSmart, PetSmart Charities, Inc., and Banfield, The Pet Hospital®. Void where prohibited.
Prize Details
Subject to these Rules, the following prizes will be awarded ("Prize" or "Prizes") and all values are in U.S. dollars:
5 Grand Prize Winners will receive:
a $150 PetSmart gift card (average retail value: $150 each)
31 Finalists will receive:
a $25 PetSmart gift card (average retail value: $25 each)
50 randomly-selected voters will receive a $10 PetSmart gift card (average retail value: $10 each)
(See "Voting and How the Winners are Determined" below.)
How to Enter
Entries are limited to photos of the following types of live pets "in costume" to promote the theme of this Contest: cats, dogs, birds, reptiles, small animals (e.g. guinea pigs, hamsters, ferrets, chinchillas, and like small pets), fish, and horses. Farm animals and images that include animals other than those listed in this paragraph will not be accepted into the Contest.
To enter the Contest, submit your photos by filling out the submission form at http://contests.petsmartstatic.com/halloween between Monday, September 17, 2007 at 12:00:00 p.m. ET, and Monday, October 15, 2007 at 12:00:00 p.m. ET. You can enter as many of the qualified pets listed above as you like--you can even submit separate photos featuring more than one pet or multiple photos of the same pet. Just be sure to submit one photo per form. In each submission, you must fill out the fields provided for the following in order for your entry to be complete:
Your first and last name;
your full mailing address (city, state, and zip code);
your telephone number (including area code);
an email address where we may contact you;
the name of your pet(s) in the photo being submitted;
the age of your pet(s) in the photo being submitted;
the breed, if known, of your pet(s) in the photo being submitted;
a paragraph about your pet(s), the costume(s), and the qualities that make your pet(s) unique; and your pet(s) photo (in .jpeg or .gif format and no more than 1 MB per photo).
NOTE: If multiple pets appear in a photo, your submission must provide information about each pet in the photo. PetSmart can not accept photos with humans posing with a pet for this Contest.
Complete entries must be received by Monday, October 15, 2007 at 12:00:00 p.m. ET. If your photo is selected as one of the 31 Finalists (see "Voting and How the Winners are Determined" below), PetSmart will notify you by email by Friday, October 19, 2007; we will not notify those whose pet photos were not selected as the 31 Finalists.
PetSmart is not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, stolen, misdirected, or illegible entries (for more information, see "Liability and Force Majeure" below), and entries will only be accepted through the form at www.petsmart.com/howloween. Once submitted, your entry cannot be edited or deleted from the Contest. Only complete entries will be accepted.
NOTE: Entrants may be required to provide PetSmart with proof that he/she is the authorized account holder of the email address associated with the entry. If a dispute cannot be resolved to PetSmart's satisfaction, the entry will be deemed ineligible. Entries made by any other individual or any entity, and/or originating at any other web site or e-mail address, including commercial sweepstakes subscription notification and/or entering service sites, will be declared invalid and disqualified from this Contest. The use of any device to automate the entry process is prohibited.
Voting and How the Winners are Determined
Photo submissions will be accepted in the Contest, in accordance with these Rules, from Monday, September 17, 2007 at 12:00:00 p.m. ET, through Monday, October 15, 2007 at 12:00:00 p.m. ET. PetSmart staff will select "the best" 31 photo submissions ("31 Finalists") based on the quality of the image and the quality of conveying the theme of the Contest. The photo submissions from those 31 Finalists will then be placed on the PetSmart.com site for site visitors to begin viewing and voting on Monday, October 22, 2007 at 12:00:00 p.m. ET through Monday, October 29, 2007 at 12:00:00 p.m. ET (the "Voting Period"). The top five photos receiving the most individual votes during the Voting Period will become the five Grand Prize Winners. The five Grand Prize Winners are those pet photos that receive the most individual votes as of Monday, October 29, 2007 at 12:00:00 p.m. ET. The five Grand Prize Winners will be announced at www.PetSmart.com on Wednesday, October 31, 2007. If after two (2) weeks we cannot reach or do not hear from winners, the prizes will be given to the next runners up.
VOTERS: You may vote only once. Although multiple votes from the same email address may be electronically accepted by the Contest, only one vote per email address and person will be counted. Any attempt to circumvent this and other Contest rules is grounds for disqualification from receiving Contest prizes. See "Other Restrictions" below for more information.
The chances of winning one of the voter prizes will depend on the number of qualifying voters participating. The chances of winning one of the 31 Finalist prizes will depend on the quality of the submitted photo based on the judging criteria. The chances of winning one of the Grand Prizes will depend on the relative number of qualifying votes received for each of the 31 Finalists.
Use of Email Addresses
During the Voting Period, those who vote for contestants will have the opportunity to sign up to receive PetSmart's free weekly electronic-only newsletter, PawSpectives®. The newsletter features email-exclusive offers and pet-related articles from PetSmart. If you do not wish to receive our PawSpectives newsletter, you will have the opportunity to "opt-out" of receiving it when you vote.
PetSmart may share your personal information with carefully-selected third-party service providers on a confidential basis in order to promote this service to you. For full details on how PetSmart handles your personal information, please see PetSmart's Privacy Policy at www.PetSmart.com.
Use of Submitted Photos and Information
By entering into this Contest, you warrant that you are the sole owner and copyright holder of the photo(s) and information you submit; that these items do not infringe any intellectual property rights of any individual or entity, including the photographer who took the photo(s) you have submitted; and that these items do not contain any material that otherwise violates any criminal prohibition.
You grant to PetSmart, its employees, agents, personnel, assigns, licensees, successors in interest, and legal representatives, an irrevocable and perpetual and royalty free right to use your photo(s), information and name (first name and/or last name or any fictional name you provided with your entry) or likeness, in all forms and in all media and in all manners, without any restriction or notice as to changes or alterations for any advertising, promotion, publicity, or any other lawful purposes.
Your photo(s) and information may be altered for the purposes of proper publication at the PetSmart.com website in connection with this Contest. You waive any claims you may have based on any usage of your photo(s) and information and release PetSmart from any and all liability related to distribution, publication, and dissemination of these items, including publication on the Internet. You waive all moral or integrity rights with respect to the photo(s) you have entered into this Contest.
You acknowledge that PetSmart is relying upon, and would not use your photo(s) and information in the absence of, these terms. PetSmart is not liable or responsible for any content provided by users of this Contest and PetSmart's websites. PetSmart will not sell the rights in your photo(s) or information to any third party.
Other Restrictions
Prizes will be awarded only to winners who have fully complied with these Rules. Voters are encouraged to vote in compliance with these Rules to ensure fair voting and resulting winners. Prizes are non-assignable, nontransferable and void if sold or auctioned. No cash alternative or substitution of a prize winning will be allowed, except PetSmart reserves the right in its sole discretion to substitute a prize of comparable value if the prize is unavailable or inappropriate for any reason. Prizes may not be used with any other offer, coupon, or discount. Prize recipients shall be solely responsible for all sales tax, delivery, processing and handling fees, as may be applicable to the prize, and all other costs incurred in using the prize.
Liability and Force Majeure
Each person who enters the Contest does so at his/her own risk. By participating in the Contest, each entrant (1) hereby releases and agrees to hold PetSmart harmless from and against any and all costs, injuries, losses or damages of any kind, including, without limitation, death and bodily injury, due in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, to participation in the Contest or any Contest-related activity, or the receipt, use or misuse of any Prize; and (2) acknowledges that PetSmart has not made any warranty, representation, condition, or guarantee, express or implied, in fact or in law, with respect to any Prize, and HEREBY SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ALL SUCH WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. PetSmart assumes, and shall have, no responsibility for any damage to an entrant's computer system that is directly or indirectly caused by accessing or downloading content from any website or otherwise submitting electronic mail to PetSmart and participating in the Contest, or for any computer system, phone line, hardware, software or program malfunctions, or other errors, failures, dropped or delayed computer transmissions or network connections that are human or technical in nature. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, PetSmart is not responsible for incomplete, illegible, misdirected, late, lost, damaged, stolen, or postage-due entries or redemption documents; or for lost, interrupted, inaccessible or unavailable networks, servers, satellites, Internet Service Providers, websites or other connections; or for miscommunications, failed, jumbled, scrambled, delayed, or misdirected computer, telephone or cable transmissions; or for any technical malfunctions, failures, or difficulties, printing errors, clerical, typographical or other error in the offering or announcement of any prize or in any prize notification documents, or other errors of any kind or nature; or for the incorrect or inaccurate capture of information, or the failure to capture any information. PetSmart reserves the right, without prior notice and at any time, to terminate the Contest, in whole or in part, or modify or suspend the Contest in any way, if it determines, in its sole discretion, that the Contest is technically impaired or corrupted or that fraud or technical problems, failures or malfunctions have corrupted, destroyed or severely undermined the administration, security, fairness, integrity and/or feasibility of the Contest. In the event PetSmart is prevented from awarding prizes or continuing with the Contest as contemplated herein by any event beyond their control, including but not limited to infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, fire, flood, natural or man made epidemic of health of other means, earthquake, explosion, labor dispute or strike, act of God or public enemy, satellite or equipment failure, riot or civil disturbance, terrorist threat or activity, war (declared or undeclared) or any federal state or local government law, order, or regulation, public health crisis (e.g. SARS), order of any court or jurisdiction, or other cause not reasonably within PetSmart's control (each a "Force Majeure" event or occurrence), PetSmart shall have the right to cancel, terminate, modify, suspend or extend the Contest. If the Contest is terminated, in whole or in part, before the designated end date, PetSmart may select winners (or the remaining winners, as the case may be) in a random drawing from all eligible, non-suspect entries received as of the date of the event giving rise to the termination. Only the type and quantity of prizes described in these Rules will be awarded. Any prizes that are not duly claimed in accordance with these Rules will not be awarded. Any attempt by an entrant or any other individual to deliberately damage the Contest or undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest, or to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other person, is in violation of criminal and civil laws and should such an attempt be made, PetSmart reserves the right to disqualify the applicable individual and seek damages and other remedies from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of these rules shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision. In the event that any provision is determined to be invalid or otherwise unenforceable or illegal, these Rules shall otherwise remain in effect and shall be construed in accordance with their terms as if the invalid or illegal provision were not contained herein. Headings and captions are used in these Rules solely for ease of reference, and shall not be deemed to affect in any manner the meaning or intent of these Rules or any provision hereof. These Rules cannot be modified or amended in any way except in writing by a duly authorized representative of PetSmart.
Governing Law and Venue/Jurisdiction
All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Rules or the rights and obligations of participants or PetSmart in connection with the Contest shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Arizona in the United States without regard to conflict or choice of law provisions or international treaties or conventions. Participants specifically agree to the venue and jurisdiction being exclusively in the federal and state courts situated in Maricopa County in the State of Arizona, United States.
Access to Contest Rules
These official Contest Rules will be posted online only at www.PetSmart.com.
Questions?
If you have any questions about the Contest, please email us at photocontest@PetSmart.com, and we'll make every effort to respond within 24 hours.
