Whether you’re signing up for a new social media platform or agreeing to a new subscription service you’re always asked to tick that little box that states you agree with the terms and conditions which just so happen to be so long that most people agree to them without fully reading them, but as thousands of people recently found out – not reading them can land you in a tricky situation.
In a bid to raise awareness on how nonchalantly people are willing to tick that “agree” box free WiFi provider Purple pulled a prank on some 22,000 customers that unknowingly signed them up to more than 1,000 hours of community service.
Buried somewhere in the terms and conditions was the following statement that thousands agreed to do:
“The user may be required, at Purple’s discretion, to carry out 1,000 hours of community service. This may include the following: Cleansing local parks of animal waste. Providing hugs to stray cats and dogs. Manually relieving sewer blockages. Cleaning portable lavatories at local festivals and events. Painting snail shells to brighten up their existence. Scraping chewing gum off the streets.”
Purple ran the experiment for two weeks, during which times only one person managed to spot the terms and point them out – for which they won a prize!. The other 22,000 people however happily signed up to cleaning toilets and painting snail shells to brighten their existence. Now ask yourself this – is all of the above really worth 30 minutes of free WiFi whilst you drink your coffee? probably not. But the snail painting does sound like a worthy cause.
via UltraLinx
