Thanks for your story of July 24, my 65th birthday, commemorating my quest to raise $650,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation by promising to get 65 roses tattooed all over my currently tattoo-less body. As you noted, I am especially motivated because my 21-year-old daughter, Rose, lives with CF. I write with a brief clarification. In a couple of places, readers might get the impression that I plan to have all of those roses permanently inked onto my skin if I fall short. Actually, the opposite is true. I’ll get those tattoos if I raise all of that money, as explained on my online fundraising page (give.cff.org/celebration/tattoos4don).
As a lawyer, I want to avoid any misunderstandings, especially in light of Leonard v. Pepsico, decided by a court in New York 24 years ago. Pepsi ran an ad promoting “Pepsi Points,” which one could earn by drinking their product. The ad showed a kid arriving at his high school in a military jet, which (according to the ad), he’d acquired by redeeming 7 million Pepsi Points. But when the plaintiff, John Leonard, tried to get his own jet the same way, Pepsi told him to get lost. The court agreed there was no contract. Unlike Pepsico, I consider my promise to be contractually binding, so I want its terms to be clear. If I raise the $650,000, I’ll get the tattoos. If not, I will have had fun trying and my donors will still have helped a wonderful cause.
Donald Kreis
Concord