The Uncle Ben's® Ultimate Holiday Rice Recipe Contest Official Rules

NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN.

The Uncle Ben's® Ultimate Holiday Rice Recipe Contest (“Contest”) starts on September 2, 2008 at 12:01 AM Eastern Time (“ET”) and ends on October 31, 2008 at 11:59 PM ET (“Contest Period”).

(1) ELIGIBILITY: Contest is open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia, who are at least eighteen (18) years of age.  Employees of Mars Food US, LLC, the manufacturer of Uncle Ben's® Brand (“Sponsor”), Current Lifestyle Marketing and their respective parents, subsidiaries, affiliates and promotion and advertising agencies, and members of the immediate families (spouse, and parent, sibling and child and their respective spouses, regardless of where they reside) and persons living in the same household of such employees, whether or not related, are not eligible to enter or win. Void where prohibited by law.  Contest is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws.

(2) HOW TO ENTER: During the Contest Period, there are two (2) ways to enter: 1) Online Entries: visit www.unclebensgivesback.com (the “Website”) and submit your favorite holiday recipe that references Uncle Ben's® Brand Rice (“Recipe”).  All online entries must be received by 11:59 PM ET on Friday, October 31, 2008.; or 2) Mail-in Entries: hand print your name, address, day and evening phone numbers, email address (if any), date of birth and Recipe on a 8½" x 11" piece of paper and mail it in an envelope with proper postage affixed to: Uncle Ben's® Brand Ultimate Holiday Rice Recipe Contest, c/o Current Lifestyle Marketing, 111 E. Wacker Dr., Suite 2605, Chicago, IL 60601.  All mail-in entries must be postmarked by Friday, October 31, 2008 and received by Friday, November 7, 2008.  Limit: one (1) entry per person and per household, regardless of method of entry. Entries generated by script, macro or other automated means are void.  No illegible, incomplete, forged or altered entries will be accepted.  All entries become the sole property of the Sponsor and will not be returned. 

Each Recipe must be entrant’s own original work, be in keeping with the Sponsor’s image and may not be offensive or inappropriate, as determined by the Sponsor in its sole discretion, nor can it defame or invade publicity rights or privacy of any person, living or deceased, or otherwise infringe upon any person’s personal or property rights or any other third party rights.  Each Recipe should be 250 words or less and contain ten (10) or fewer ingredients. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any Recipe that it determines, in its sole discretion, to be in violation of or not in compliance with these Official Rules.

(3) JUDGING: All eligible entries received by Sponsor will be judged by a panel of independent, qualified judges based on the following criteria: overall creativity (40%); appetite appeal (40%); and overall simplicity and ease of preparation of Recipe (20%). The entry receiving the highest score, as determined by the judges, will be deemed the winner. In the event of a tie, an additional, “tie-breaking” judge will determine the winner based on the criteria listed herein. Sponsor reserves the right to not award the prize if, in its sole discretion, it does not receive a sufficient number of eligible and qualified entries. 

Judges’ decisions are final and binding on all matters relating to this Contest.  Potential winner will be notified by telephone, mail and/or email and may be required to complete an Affidavit of Eligibility, Liability and Publicity Release (unless prohibited by law), which must be returned within fourteen (14) days of date of the prize notification.  Return of prize or prize notification as undeliverable, failure to sign and return requested documentation within fourteen (14) days of issuance, Sponsor’s inability to contact potential winner within a reasonable time period, or noncompliance with these Official Rules by the potential winner will result in disqualification and, at Sponsor’s discretion, the prize may be awarded to the runner-up.  If potential winner is at least 18 years but still considered a minor in his/her jurisdiction of residence, prize will be awarded in the name of the parent or legal guardian, and such parent or legal guardian will be required to fulfill all requirements imposed on winner set forth herein.  Minor winner must be accompanied by parent or legal guardian on prize trip.

(4) PRIZE: One (1) Grand Prize: A three (3) day/two (2) night trip for winner to New York, New York to meet with Celebrity Event Designer Preston Bailey to be taken at a date no later than March 31, 2009 (the “Trip”); gift basket filled with Uncle Ben’s Brand products (products/size to be determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion); and the opportunity to have winner’s Recipe featured on the Website.  Trip includes:  roundtrip, first-class air transportation for winner between major U.S. gateway airport nearest winner’s residence to New York City and major U.S. gateway airport near New York, NY (as determined by Sponsor); ground transportation between airport and hotel in New York, NY ; three days’ and two nights’ deluxe hotel accommodations (one (1) single occupancy room; selected by Sponsor) and meals allowance (type/amount determined by Sponsor).  If winner resides within a 100-mile radius of New York, NY, first-class ground transportation will be provided in lieu of air transportation and no compensation or substitution will be provided in lieu thereof. Actual value of trip may vary based on point of departure.  Any difference between stated value and actual value of prize will not be awarded.  Trip must be taken on dates specified by Sponsor or prize will be forfeited and Sponsor will have no further obligation to such winner.  Travel must be made through Sponsor’s agent, on a carrier of Sponsor’s choice. Certain travel restrictions may apply.  All federal, state and local taxes and all other costs associated with prize acceptance and use not specified herein as being provided, including additional ground transportation, luggage fees, meals, souvenirs and gratuities, are the sole responsibility of the winner.  If, for any reason, Sponsor is unable to provide for the winner to meet Preston Bailey, no compensation or substitution will be provided;  remainder of prize package will be awarded; and Sponsor will have no further obligation to winner.  Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”) of Grand Prize: $5,000.  All prize details are at the sole discretion of the Sponsor.  Prize is awarded “as is” with no warranty or guarantee, either express or implied.  No substitution, transfer or cash equivalent of prize is permitted, except by Sponsor, which reserves the right to substitute prize (or a portion thereof) of comparable or greater value, at its sole discretion. 

(5) GENERAL: By participating, each entrant agrees: (a) to abide by these Official Rules and decisions of Sponsor and judges, which shall be final and binding in all respects relating to this Contest; (b) to release, discharge and hold harmless Sponsor, Current Lifestyle Marketing and their respective parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, and advertising and promotion agencies, and the respective officers, directors, shareholders, employees, agents and representatives of the forgoing (collectively, “Released Parties”) from any and all injuries, liability, losses and damages of any kind to persons, including death, or property resulting, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from entrant’s participation in the Contest or any Contest-related activity or the acceptance, possession, use or misuse of any awarded prize (including any travel/activity related thereto), and (c) to the use of his/her name, voice, performance, photograph/video, image and/or likeness for programming, advertising, publicity and promotional purposes in any and all media, now or hereafter known, worldwide and on the Internet, and in perpetuity by Sponsor and its designees, without compensation (unless prohibited by law) or additional consents from  entrant or any third party and without prior notice, approval or inspection, and to execute specific consent to such use if asked to do so.  By participating, entrants also agree not to release any publicity or other material on their own or through someone else regarding their participation in the Contest without the prior written consent of the Sponsor, which consent Sponsor may withhold in its sole discretion. 

(6) OWNERSHIP/USE OF ENTRIES:  By submitting an entry, each entrant hereby grants Sponsor a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, fully-paid up and royalty free license (with the right to sublicense) to exploit, edit, modify, and use and distribute the entry including the Recipe and all other elements of such entry and all rights embodied therein, in any and all media now known or hereafter devised without compensation, permission or notification to entrant or any third party.   

(7) MISCELLANEOUS: Released Parties are not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, damaged, inaccurate, illegible, stolen, delayed, misdirected, undelivered, postage-due or garbled Entries or mail; or for lost, interrupted or unavailable network, server, Internet Service Provider (ISP), website, or other connections, availability or accessibility or miscommunications or failed computer, satellite, telephone or cable transmissions, lines, or technical failure or jumbled, scrambled, delayed, or misdirected transmissions or computer hardware or software malfunctions, failures or difficulties, or other errors or difficulties of any kind whether human, mechanical, electronic, computer, network, typographical, printing or otherwise relating to or in connection with the Contest, including, without limitation, errors or difficulties which may occur in connection with the administration of the Contest, the processing or judging of Entries, the announcement of the prize, or in any Contest-related material.  Released Parties are also not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by site users, tampering, hacking, or by any equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest.  Released Parties are not responsible for injury or damage to any person's computer related to or resulting from participating in this Contest or downloading materials from or use of the Website.  Persons who tamper with or abuse any aspect of the Contest or website, who act in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner or who are in violation of these Official Rules, as solely determined by Sponsor, will be disqualified and all associated Entries will be void. Should any portion of the Contest be, in Sponsor’s sole opinion, compromised by virus, worms, bugs, non-authorized human intervention or other causes which, in the sole opinion of the Sponsor, corrupt or impair the administration, security, fairness or proper play, or submission of Entries, Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to suspend, modify or terminate the Contest and, if terminated, at its discretion, select the potential winner from all eligible, non-suspect Entries received prior to action taken using the judging procedure outlined above.

(8) CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE THE WEBSITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST MAY BE IN VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES AND OTHER REMEDIES (INCLUDING ATTORNEYS’ FEES) FROM ANY SUCH INDIVIDUAL TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW, INCLUDING CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.

(9) Request for Winner’s Name: For the name of the winner (available after Friday, November 28, 2008), send a self-addressed, stamped, envelope for receipt by Friday, December 19, 2008 to: The Uncle Ben's® Ultimate Holiday Rice Recipe Contest, c/o Current Lifestyle Marketing, 111 E. Wacker Dr., Suite 2605, Chicago, IL 60601.

(10) SPONSOR: MarsFood US, LLC, 2001 Cashdan Street, Rancho Dominguez, CA  90220.

(11) OFFICIAL RULES: For a copy of these Official Rules, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: The Uncle Ben's® Ultimate Holiday Rice Recipe Contest Official Rules Request, Current Lifestyle Marketing, 111 E. Wacker Dr. Suite 2605, Chicago, IL 60601.  Requests must be received by Friday, December 19, 2008.  VT residents may omit return postage