Each of us has been disappointed by under-the-cap contests hundreds of times in our lives. I specifically remember being a kid and collecting Coke caps in a contest that awarded a grand prize if you spelled something like “Coke Is It.” My favorite contest as a kid was with McDonald’s during the 1984 Olympics - the Soviets are out and everyone’s a winner!

It’s debatable whether such contests are truly meaningful. My guess is that, like most advertising tactics that have been overdone, people are mainly immune to the long-shot odds afforded by such contests. Meanwhile, people are outsmarting the contests and sharing how with everyone thanks to the Internet.

The other day I heard a fresh take on under-the-cap contests from Comedian Mitch Hedberg. Enjoy:

“I opened up a yogurt; underneath the lid it said, ‘Please try again,’ because they were having a contest I was unaware of. But I thought I might have opened the yogurt wrong. Or maybe Yoplait was trying to inspire me. ‘Come on Mitchell, don’t give up! Please try again.’ A message of inspiration from your friends at Yoplait: fruit on the bottom, hope on top.”