A homegrown fast food chain attributed the controversy surrounding its burger promo to “fraudulent third parties” that allegedly “exploited” its systems.
On Wednesday, August 20, Jollibee released an update on the winners’ list of its “Burger Blowout Promo” for its third week, after being accused of including AI-generated names, some of which sounded non-Filipino.
The names included “Alayna Pfannerstill,” “Celestine Gaylord,” “Finn Hackett,” “Hobby Dynamics,” “Bonita Gulgowski,” “Norbert Pfannerstill” and more.
The fast food chain addressed the issue on August 16, saying it was working with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to review the names.
“We will be temporarily postponing succeeding raffle draws. Please be assured that this will not affect previously declared legitimate winners, and we remain committed to ensuring that only valid entries are considered for raffle draws,” Jollibee said before.
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Four days later, the company released an update on its investigation, attributing the issue to “fraudulent third parties” who, it said, “deliberately exploited the systems in place by submitting multiple unauthorized entries despite existing safeguards.”
“We want to assure everyone that we have fully addressed the issues raised and have strictly complied with the investigation initiated by the Department of Trade and Industry,” the fast food chain said in a statement.
“We immediately implemented corrective measures to address these concerns and proactively requested DTI’s approval to temporarily suspend the succeeding raffle draws. In strict adherence to DTI’s directives, we reinforced our verification and validation processes to strengthen the integrity of our promo and prevent similar incidents in the future,” it added.
Jollibee also said that the invalid prize winners for its Week 3 draw “have been disqualified” and that a re-draw will happen “to ensure fairness and compliance with the rules.”
The fast food chain also announced that it will hold a special raffle “to give more people a chance to win” as a gesture of appreciation to the community.
“The schedules for the Week 3 re-draw, Weeks 4-6 draws, and the special raffle will be announced very soon. Thank you again for your understanding and support,” it said.
The DTI also released a statement, confirming that third parties were involved in the controversy surrounding Jollibee’s Week 3 winners list.
“The internal investigation uncovered fraudulent attempts by third parties exploiting the entries and draw systems during its Week 3 draw,” the agency said on August 20.
“This resulted in the disqualification of the malicious entries and winners with the approval of the DTI. A re-draw will be conducted ensuring fairness, transparency and legitimate winners,” the DTI added.
The DTI also assured the public it will “continue to oversee the resumption of the Jollibee Burger Blowout Promo and similar activities to ensure fairness and transparency in all promotional undertakings.” — with reports by Philstar.com/Kathleen Llemit
