Michael FREEMAN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. the TIME, INC., Magazine Company, Et Al., Defendants-Appellees

ORDER

The Memorandum disposition, filed August 21, 1995, is redesignated as an authored Opinion by Judge Tashima.

OPINION

These are two consolidated appeals from the district court’s dismissal of two separate actions alleging that sweepstakes promotional materials were fraudulent and misleading.

FACTS

Plaintiff-appellant Michael Freeman (“Freeman”) received two separate mailers for the “Million Dollar Dream Sweepstakes,” a promotion of defendant-appellee Time, Inc. (“Time”). The mailers, personalized by computer, are similar in content and format — both contain statements in large type representing that Freeman won the sweepstakes, qualified by language in smaller type indicating that Freeman would win only if he returned a winning prize number. For example, the Sports Illustrated promotion states “If you return the grand prize winning number, we’ll officially announce that MICHAEL FREEMAN HAS WON $1,666,-675.00 AND PAYMENT IS SCHEDULED TO BEGIN.” It continues, “If you return the grand prize winning entry, we’ll say $1,666,675.00 WINNER MICHAEL FREEMAN OF ENCINO, CALIFORNIA IS OUR LARGEST MAJOR PRIZE WINNER!” The promotion provides, ‘We are now scheduled to begin payment of…