Seriously - you can't. (The pack says yes, but the computer says no.) What I'm talking about are promotions that have effectively expired, yet still affect to entice the consumer with their offers of great rewards. Ironically, what set out to be a measure to protect the public has become a loophole through which the unscrupulous promoter can sneak an excessively extended but empty exhortation. Indeed, today's straw poll in Sainsbury's revealed there's a worrying number out there that are not doing the SP industry any favours. The 'trick' is the so-called 'late draw', a final prize awarded often months after the main activity closes, designed to sweep up any tardy entrants, and to enable an offer that accidentally sticks around on the shelves still to be valid. You'll have one too, if your Agency knows its oats. And that's all well and good - especially for products like soft drinks whose sales in summer lie at the mercy of the unpredictable British weather. (Actually, quite predictable!) But some promotions seem to be rather taking the mickey. I just found Pepsi multi-packs blaring out about "Win £1,000 Every 90 Minutes", when actually the 90-minute bit closed almost 2 months ago, on 21 May. All that remains is a miserly monthly draw for the remainder of the year. "Win £1,000 Every Forty-Four Thousand or so Minutes." Quite a come-down. Robinson's squash is offering "VIP Family Passes to Wimbledon 2008" - not surprisingly an activity that passed championship point on 19 June! Buxton mineral water's offer of "Win a £20,000 Home Makeover" put up the "Sold" signs on 22 June (won by one lucky Karen Moran). And Fanta's "Want it? Win it!" became "Want it? Bin it!" on 29 June. Ouch. This hurts. Already basking in the reflected ignominy of the appalling misdemeanours committed by organisations who apparently wouldn't know the CAP Code from the Highway Code, this is not the time for the SP industry to be running offers that stretch the rules at the expense of the consumer. Sure, there might be a logical argument for the campaigns I've described... but remember, you can't win an argument.