Reuben Republic Is Giving Away Free Sandwiches

We double checked the giveaway's published terms and conditions, they being (and still appearing, copied and pasted, on Oz Bargain):

• Limit of one sandwich per person
• Valid until 11th of NOV 2015 (hurry be quick!)
• Redemption by sign-up only and providing proof of your redemption voucher (will be emailed to you) at the store

We removed the article this morning until we had had a chance to review all information as a Concrete Playground team. We've popped it back up again to explain that this issue appears to be one unfortunately created by Reuben Republic, not Concrete Playground, by (a) publishing what, at the time of publication, appeared to be a general promotion on an open link accessible to anyone, (b) not capping their maximum number of redemptions at a level that was manageable for the business.

As lovers and huge supporters of independent Sydney businesses, we would never knowingly mess around a Sydney eatery. We've always supported Reuben Republic, writing very positive (and well deserved) articles about them on numerous occasions, and would never intentionally bring harm to them or any business. Championing Sydney legends like Reuben Republic is the reason we get up in the morning and we genuinely thought we were promoting something awesome that both our audience and Reuben Republic would be interested in.

Some key facts:

The publication of the article in question (Wednesday afternoon at 3.45pm)

• The promotion conducted by Reuben Republic came to the attention of one of our editors via a link which appeared in their Facebook feed on Wednesday.
• The promotion appeared on the restaurant’s website on an open link (accessible to anyone).
• None of the three Concrete Playground editors that worked on the story saw in the terms and conditions any mention that the promotion was only available to a closed Facebook group called 'Marrickville 2020’ (which were also copied and published on Oz Bargain), although that is now mentioned in the header.
• There was no mechanism in place to verify that people entering the competition were members of the group.
• Reuben Republic claimed to us ‘almost 3000 vouchers signed-up (sic)'
• Reuben Republic targeted the Marrickville 2020 Facebook group, promoting the offer to its 6,931 members.
• The post in question has only had 2,207 page views on Concrete Playground.

The issue brought to our attention (Friday night at 7.18pm)

• Concrete Playground became aware of the issue on Friday night when the restaurant’s owner, John Bogiatzis, contacted us demanding that the article in question be removed, as the promotion was only intended for the members of closed Facebook group Marrickville 2020.
• We promptly responded (8.01pm) saying that we would add mention of the new terms on our article.
• We did not receive any further response or request from anyone at Reuben Republic, so assumed that this was acceptable.
• We took the article down this morning until we had a chance to review as a team and write an amendment to bring to the attention of our readers that there were further terms to the promotion. We have now done this.
• Reuben Republic has the names, phone numbers and email addresses for everyone who signed up to receive a free sandwich (it was a term of the promotion). It is within Reuben Republic’s power to communicate with these people and clarify that proof of their membership of the closed Marrickville 2020 Facebook group would be required for redemption at the restaurant.