Crack the Pepsi iTunes Promo Code

An anonymous reader writes "Someone posted a technique to find a winner in the iTunes Pepsi promo giveaway." Next step: a Pepsi/iTMS winning number generator!

On Apple's behalf...

[NewWaveNet (584716)]

Oops, there went that debt free memo [slashdot.org]! ;)

Re:On Apple's behalf...

[Anonymous Coward]

AFAIK Pepsi buys the tunes from Apple for the standard $0.99... so it's Pepsi's problem, not Apples.

Re:On Apple's behalf...

[ryanw (131814)]

Well, you still have to "open" the bottle to win. Pepsi/Apple is still ahead on this one.

Re:On Apple's behalf...

[NewWaveNet (584716)]

Well, you still have to "open" the bottle to win. Pepsi/Apple is still ahead on this one.

They're not ahead because they whole point of this promotion is to get people to sometimes become an expense when they generate revenue for the company in hopes of that customer repeating thier decision in lack of a possible iTunes reward. When people simply abuse the game by only selecting bottles with an iTunes code, the purpose has been defeated. Also, if this were to get large mainstream press, the public will loose the, "hey...maybe I can win," attitude which, once again, defeats the purpose.

Oh, come on!

[American AC in Paris (230456)]

The big secret: "tip the bottle and see if you can see 'again' under the cap." Sheer genius.

No, really--this would never have occurred to me.

I mean, really--the tipping of the bottle I could probably get to, but then to look through the clear plastic--inspired, my friend, inspired. And differentiating between 'again' and a random string of numbers? This guy has to be into hardcore pattern recognition. NSA, are you seeing this?

Yeah.

There exist elegant solutions to truly vexing problems that, once discovered, are striking in their simplicity. There also exist people who try to pass off the painfully obvious as an elegant solution to a truly vexing problem.

A free iTunes code to the person who can guess which category this falls into...

Re:Oh, come on!

[ForestGrump (644805)]

Yea, yet another reason to get a job working for the school cafetria...
so you can sit in the back tipping bottles while getting paid for it.

-grump

Re:Oh come on! The WHOLE pop machine?

[netringer (319831)]

Oowwwww!! I have such a pain!

I tired this in our break room but I had to tip the entire Pepsi machine over to see which bottle I should buy! I hope the boss didn't see me.

Is that why they have that picture of the guy being crushed by the pop machine?
Is it to keep you from checking for iTunes winner bottles?

Re:Oh, come on!

[John Harrison (223649)]

Good thing they don't have Crystal Pepsi anymore or this would be even easier!

As far as the idea of a generator, I hope that Apple was smart enough to use strong crypto in their generator, such that you would have to know the key to come up with a winning entry.

I don't see how subverting this promotion is good for anyone in the long term. Do you want more promotions like this in the future? Do you want the store to last? I guess the temptation of a free 99 cent song is too much for some.

Re:Oh, come on!

[AvitarX (172628)]

Wow,

I was thinking it is a good thing they don't have Crystal Pepsi because it is so awfully disgusting.

to each their own I guess.

Warning: Joke

[elvum (9344)]

I think someone should start a business selling CDs full of random numbers.

Re:Warning: Joke

[SirTwitchALot (576315)]

I know it's a joke, but I'll bite anyway:

They already do [t-online.de]

Re:Warning: Joke

[elvum (9344)]

At last we can finally put to rest the national stereotype of the Germans as humourless.

Re:Warning: Joke

[Anonymous Coward]

I think someone should start a business selling CDs full of random numbers.

I've got your company's tagline:
"1 in 2^(# of bits on a CD) chance of getting the software you wanted!"

Re:Oh, come on!

[t1nman33 (248342)]

Pepsi and Apple Computer would like to remind you that attempting to circumvent our patented "CapTron" technology is a violation of the DMCA, and will be prosecuted as such.

Exciting times we live in...

[general_re (8883)]

I mean, really--the tipping of the bottle I could probably get to, but then to look through the clear plastic--inspired, my friend, inspired.

The Four-Color Map theorem.
Kepler's Sphere-Packing problem.
Fermat's Last Theorem.
And now this.

Brilliant.

Six Ticks on the Cap = Winner!

[Cordath (581672)]

I remember a long time ago, when I was in junior high, Coca-Cola had an under-the-cap contest going. The twist was that every bottle had tick-code on the cap. If there were 6 vertical lines, you were guaranteed to at least win a free soda. Needless to say, the employees at the gas-station down the road from my school (right in front of the bus stop) got very sick of junior-high kids going through every last bottle in the cooler looking for a six-tick bottle that had been miraculously missed by the 200 other kids that had already been through the place.

Re:Priorities

[Anonymous Coward]

No, people who lack the capacity to detect sarcasm ad absurdium is a truly vexing problem. What part of that post made you think the guy was actually singing the praises of an individual he considers an intellectual giant?

a crack? hmm.

[tedtimmons (97599)]

This is a crack? I mean, if you count the cap'n crunch [webcrunchers.com] as a crack, sure. But I don't consider tilting a bottle of soda a crack. It seems more like social engineering.

Re:a crack? hmm.

[kfg (145172)]

It seems more like social engineering.

If your only friend is a bottle of Pepsi.

KFG

Re:a crack? hmm.

[Cloud 9 (42467)]

If your only friend is a bottle of Pepsi

You say that like it's a bad thing.

Not a crack. It is a cheat.

[John Harrison (223649)]

This doesn't even qualify as social engineering. Social engineering would involve asking someone for their winning bottle cap. Here is my crack:

Stand outside 7-Eleven and ask people for their bottle caps.

For example, I was in Brazil in 1994 and Coke ran a promo for the World Cup. Each bottle cap had three teams on it in order. If you ended up with the top three teams in the correct order you won a bunch of money. Bartenders became very adept at cracking open your bottle open and pocketing the cap.

Anyhow, this is certainly a simple cheat rather than a clever hack.

Slashdotted Already!

[gambit3 (463693)]

Darn!

Now I'll have to play fairly and by the rules!

That just ain't fair!

Article Text

[OECD (639690)]

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Unable to select database

Secret Agent Crack

[qw(name) (718245)]

As long as the "crack" can be placed in a secret decoder ring I'll be happy.

Re:Secret Agent Crack

[MikeXpop (614167)]

free iTunes code:

8UYM0R30V4L71N3

(don't mod this offtopic if you don't get the joke. read the code slowly)

And the winner is...

[Channard (693317)]

The American Dental Association, for the sudden increase in work coming their way. A Mr Orin Scrivello, D.D.S. will be presented with the award - a special enamel yellow I-Pod - at the next 'Fillings Across America' convention.

Awesome!

[furiousgeorge (30912)]

Cool - a guaranteed way to pick a winner!

Now i'm off to buy many $1.20 bottles of sugar water so I get get a free $0.99 song!!!! I can't lose!

oh wait............

Never underestimate the stupidity of people in large numbers.

Re:Awesome!

[AdamBLang (674002)]

If you're a regular Pepsi drinker, you're buying your normal beverage of choice at your normal price and getting a song to boot.

If you're a regular iTunes Music Store user, you're spending 21 on a Pepsi.

If you're an iTMS user and a Pepsi drinker, this whole thing is saving you 99 off your regular Pepsi/iTMS purchases.

If you're a cola drinker but not a Pepsi drinker, buying a Coke is really costing you $1.20 + 99 (99 for lost opportunity cost).

You really can't lose!

Never underestimate the stupidity of people in small numbers.

All I wanted was an iTune

[Anonymous Coward]

...Just one iTune, and Pepsi wouldn't give it to me!

wtf?

[Shakrai (717556)]

That's pretty amusing but did the editors actually read this story before posting it? "Next step: a Pepsi/iTMS winning number generator!" WTF? Stuff that matters indeed.

Of course before I criticize them too much don't think I'm not going to try this the next time I go to the store. I don't drink soda (evil substance) but I can resell it to friends that don't use iTMS for the purchase price and pocket the songs ;)

1) Buy evil sugar water that's bad for you with winning code.
2) Resell said sugar water to friends who don't use iTMS.
3) Download songs legally while simultaneously screwing Pepsi and RIAA.
4) ???
5) Profit!

(I'm not trolling for karma. Feel free to mod this funny to avoid giving me any overrated if you disagree).

Re:wtf?

[discogravy (455376)]

That's pretty amusing but did the editors actually

read this story before posting it?

you're new, right?

Here are the images

[jonknee (522188)]

Hey guys, someone submitted when we were already at the top of our load. So while the host works things out, here [mobiletracker.net] are the images used in the story.

Mirror

[Alcimedes (398213)]

Since it's already slashdotted i'll paraphrase.

Tip the damn bottle.

If it constains the word "song" you won.

Buy that bottle.

The end.

Re:Mirror

[elflet (570757)]

Easier still: "try again" caps have 3 lines of printing, centered. Winning caps have 4 lines and fill pretty much the whole space. You don't even have to make out the words, just avoid the caps with a fair bit of whitespace at the edges.

KeyGen Released!!

[pantycrickets (694774)]

ORiON PROUDLY PRESENTS
iTunes Sweepstakes (c) Apple
SUPPLIER ...: Team ORiON
CRACKER ....: Team ORiON
PACKAGER ...: Team ORiON
RELEASED ...: 02.18.04
TYPE .......: Keygen
DISKS ......: XX/01
/sarcasm

A bit of info

[read-only (35561)]

The server linked to was slashdotted, so I found this via Google. Not all that impressive...

No, I don't have algorithm to generate winning numbers. (I would have to assume that they are randomly generated anyways) But, after my 5th winning pepsi top in a row, I'm pretty confident in my ability to pick a winner by examining the bottle. Assuming that the intial bottles really are only 1 in 3 winners and are evenly distributed (which isn't a given) then 5 in a row is good, but not conclusive.

Anyways, on the bottles I've seen, you can actually see under the cap you down the kneck of the bottle. If the lighting is sufficient, you'll be able to make out at least a couple of letters. If you see a number then you have a winner. You'll look like a fool staring down bottles to find a surefire winner, but being a cheapskate isn't glamorous work.

I don't know any method to win with the 7-11 Big Gulp cups where the code is on the rim of the winning cup. I've gotten 2 of 3 winners using my patented "pick the first cup" algorithm. The only strategy I've heard of to increase your odds is the "double cup". Some people claim that the stores don't mind if you do it, but to me it's crossing over from legitimate "selection optimization" to "theft".

I've come up with the perfect iTunes DRM crack

[elflet (570757)]

...but unfortunately this bottle cap is too small to hold it. - Fermat

This is just a port...

[boinger (4618)]

...of the same crack that me and me l337 hacker bros worked out back in the BBS days to crack a very similar Mountain Dew promotion.

Good thing we released it GPL. Now those Apache commies [slashdot.org] can't use it, either!

Free Tibet!

Check around

[andyring (100627)]

I was working cleanup at a stadium over the weekend, as part of a church fundraiser (I'm an adult advisor for the youth group). Just by picking up empty bottles, I snagged 19 winning caps.

Quick & Dirty Mirror

[Str8Dog (240982)]

Here is a mirror of the relevant content.

http://www.str8dog.com/macmerc/

Coke has better implementation?

[fembots (753724)]

I am not sure if this only happens to Coke. Anyway, in one of a similar promotion (i.e. you win something if the cap says "Winner", otherwise "Again"), the message is in some sort of semi-transparent rubbery sheet, which is pushed into the cap, reversed.

So normally you cannot see anything thru this rubbery sheet, and the message is on the other side (i.e. facing the cap).

I wonder why Pepsi didn't use a better solution.

It's NOT a crack...you still have to buy it!

[Ron Bennett (14590)]

It's not truly a crack in my view, since one still has to buy the bottle to obtain the complete, usable code; I bet Pepsi really doesn't care since they're still moving product.

Ron

The Random Odds

[MBraynard (653724)]

Pepsi is giving away 100 million songs, so I was thinking that there was a good possibility of people trying to hack it by guessing the codes to get the free song.

I got a winning cap and did some math. Unless the codes are not random, this isn't going to happen.

There are 8 digits in the code, and they appear to use alphas and digits. Presuming they aren't using zero so it's not confused with the letter "O," this means there are 1.0E+35 possibilities. With 100 million winners, that means one in every 1.0E+27 is a winner. Spelt out, that is 1 in 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.

However, given that it is not random, I guess the odds are much better.

Re:Boredom

[Lysol (11150)]

The music's only awful if you make it that way. I've downloaded/bought some decent stuff off iTunes so far. Much better deal than going into some mega-cd store...

Re:Wow, mods are retarded.

[Anonymous Coward]

I suspect not, but I'm sure it could produce music of the same quality as most of the stuff produced today.

Re:Wow, mods are retarded.

[FooGoo (98336)]

Eventually...yes...but maybe not before the contest ends.

Re:And Apple just got back in the black

[daviddennis (10926)]

Most likely, no.

The majority of Pepsi drinkers probably don't care about the promotion.

Those who do will win. Those who don't care won't win and won't care that they didn't win.

The tunes go to the people who want them, and more or less everyone is happy.

I'd say this would hold true if anywhere under 10% of Pepsi drinkers wanted the iTunes songs. Once you get past that, you wind up having massive inventories of losing bottles nobody wants and things turn ugly fast.

But if that's the case, it's Pepsi that loses, not Apple. Apple has no liability for Pepsi's inventory problems or lack of same.

D

Re:Before Long

[happyfrogcow (708359)]

But then ebay will yank the auctions, because the numbers do not belong to you, they belong to Pepsi.

hear that, all your numbers are belong to Pepsi. don't try any funny stuff, like making up your own numbers, or "adding" or "dividing". They'll get you... get you, I say!

Re:itunes under wine?

[Anonymous Coward]

No, it's too hard to print the entire winning number on the bottom of a cork.

Re:Already over the 200 limit.

[prockcore (543967)]

I drink Pepsi like water, and friends give me their caps at school, so I'm already over the 200 cap limit. Really.

Maybe Pepsi should be giving away a free diabetes exam instead.