PCH Throws a Celebration for Mega Prize Winner!

Laura At PCH
2:20 am | 28 Comments »

There’s a party goin’ on right here
A celebration to last throughout the years
So bring your good times, and your laughter too
We gonna celebrate your party with you…

You know that Publishers Clearing House loves to “celebrate good times, come on!” That Kool and the Gang song has become our unofficial anthem – it has been featured in our commercials, used during our recent Prize Patrol meet and greet at Mall of America®, and even played to welcome our Mega Prize winner to PCH headquarters. Yes, that’s right, PCH threw a little celebration for a guest of honor: LeRoy Faulks Sr., Mega Prize winner of $1,000,000.00 plus $5000.00 A Week For Life!

LeRoy and his family were invited to spend a day at PCH headquarters in mid-January. This was the first winner visit since PCH invited Doris Gray, a past $5000.00 A Week For Life winner, to visit HQ a few years ago. The Faulks family was greeted by their old friends, the Prize Patrol, as well as PCH executives like CEO Andy Goldberg and Executive Vice President Deborah Holland. They were then led to the PCH cafeteria which was full of excited PCH employees festively throwing around balloons. And, of course, “Celebration” played as the Faulks family walked in to applause, a standing ovation! LeRoy said he felt like a celebrity (well, he kind of is to us!).

PCH employees and the guests of honor watched LeRoy’s winning moment as it was projected onto a big screen. The audience laughed, cheered, and “aww”-ed at all the right moments! LeRoy’s family provided colorful commentary as they watched their relative win a life-changing prize.

LeRoy and his wife, Cecilia, both said a few words, thanking the company and expressing their deep gratitude. Cecilia even shed a few tears, and I can tell you that my eyes were definitely not dry as the Faulks spoke. Dave Sayer even presented LeRoy and Cecilia with one of the special checks that will change their lives forever.

After this little celebration, the Faulks family was whisked away for a PCH tour, including a tour of a place that not many people have seen – the PCH photo studio! If you remember, when LeRoy was surprised by the Prize Patrol on November 30^th, he exclaimed that he couldn’t wait to buy a new camera with his winnings! Well, this tour of the photo studio was the perfect fit for LeRoy. The photographers gave him detailed explanations about how to use the photo equipment. Apparently, he didn’t want to leave!

After the tour, the Faulks and some PCH employees sat down for a delicious lunch where they relived the winning moment and got to know each other even better.

Hey Prize Patrol: What’s In That Suitcase?

Dave Sayer
12:29 am | 64 Comments »

On a recent Prize Patrol trip, I was often asked what was in my suitcase.

Capital One’s advertising slogan is “What’s in your wallet?”  Well, for me, the week of November 28^th was when everyone I saw yelled “What’s in your suitcase?”  That’s because I was jetting from Tampa to Cincinnati to Newark to Dallas to Houston and home again pulling my wheelie-suitcase with a big, bright Prize Patrol logo on it.  Even if Danielle, Todd and I were not dressed “as seen on TV” in our blue-blazer uniforms, everyone in airports, on airplanes and in hotels knew who we were and what we were up to.  “Are you coming to my house?” they cried.

You know the TSA personnel at airport security who are usually as stone-faced as the guards at Buckingham Palace?  Well, even they lost their composure as they screened our baggage – probably hoping that we were there to surprise them with thousands or millions of dollars.  Sadly we had to tell them we were on our way to deliver a prize to someone else or that we had just changed the life of someone nearby and were on to the next award.  “But,” I advised them, “you could be a winner too if you enter the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes.”

The universal reaction from far too many people in these situations was, “Gee, I never thought the PCH Prize Patrol was real!”  Imagine!  After all these years of showing actual “winning moments” on TV and appearing on national talk shows I couldn’t believe the amount of skepticism there is out there!

…more

Mega Shock For Our Mega Prize

PCH Staff
1:22 am | 33 Comments »

The day the Prize Patrol had been waiting for had finally arrived – November 30th, Mega Prize award day!  This is the largest prize I have ever awarded and I couldn’t wait to find out what the lucky winner would be like.

This Prize Patrol award had a special energy to it. A team from AOL.com was joining the Prize Patrol to document the award – and boy were they excited to get the rare and unique experience to actually travel with the Prize Patrol to deliver one of PCH’s largest prizes! I narrated the day’s events to the AOL cameras- from driving to the florist (and getting lost on the way), to scoping out the winners home, to the BIG winning moment.

At around 11:30 AM, it was time to knock on the winner’s door – we all had our fingers crossed that Leroy would be home. Well everyone asks what we do if the winner isn’t home – and that is exactly what happened; no one answered the door!  The large crowd at Leroy’s home created quite a scene and the neighbors were excited to be our accomplices in finding our winner.

One neighbor wanted to help so he called Leroy’s cell phone and told him that a package arrived at his home and he had to sign for it. Just like that, Leroy was on his way home having NO idea that the package waiting for him was the Prize Patrol with a big check for $1,000,000 PLUS $5,000 A Week For Life!

Within the hour Leroy arrived home. We hid around the corner so he didn’t see us. Once Leroy went inside, we went in for the big surprise!

Boy was Leroy surprised when he opened that door! Tears in his eyes, he was literally speechless. “I really can’t believe that this is happening to me!” He looked at the million dollar check (yes I said MILLION dollar real check) in absolute astonishment!”I can put this in the bank immediately?” I screamed, “YES!!!”

He told us about how this money will help him and his family. First, he would pay the church, donate to charity and buy his wife a new wedding ring!  Immediately I could tell how generous and selfless this winner was. For himself, he wants a new camera!

…more

Goodbye Mega Prize…Hello New Prize!

Amanda C.
1:25 am | 71 Comments »

Advice following Mega Prize award: Keep Plugging Away and for a New Prize Opportunity, Enter Our Online Sweepstakes!

It’s often been said that when one door closes, another one opens. At PCH, we share a similar philosophy. But instead of talking about philosophical doors, we talk Online Sweepstakes prizes. For us, when one prize ends, another one begins. And so, as we bid adieu to the fantastic Mega Prize from Giveaway #1400 and wish Mega Prize winner Leroy Faulks, Sr. all the best with his newfound money, let us say welcome to … PCH Giveaway #1830.

That’s right folks, you can wipe away those tears — there’s something big to be excited about again! But, for your chance to win this new prize, you’re going to need to reclaim that winning attitude I know you all have inside of you. You’re going to need to “keep plugging away,” as they say, and enter our Online Sweepstakes.  Do it every chance you get!

Take a cue from Leroy Faulks, Sr., our Mega Prize winner. Contest Manager Maryann Carter just informed me that Leroy was one of our most active Online Sweepstakes entrants! Did he ever give up after not winning? No! He kept plugging away, and now he’s celebrating with a new prize worth $1,000,000.00 Plus $5,000.00 A Week For Life!

Besides, you don’t see us giving up, do you? No! We’re going to keep giving away more and more prizes to more and more winners. After all, we’ve got dreams to make come true for our lucky fans and entrants!

So if you still want your chance to make your dreams come true, keep plugging away and entering our Online Sweepstakes.  Do it often, every day, even! When you do, be sure to keep a lookout for our new Super Prize, Giveaway 1830. Soon you’ll be seeing it all over PCH — on pch.com, PCH Search and Win, PCHGames and more. Won’t you give it the warm welcome it so deserves by entering?

Amanda C.

PCH Creative