Skittles entices fans to “gamify” a pyramid scheme to win million candies

Skittles encourages its Canadian fans aged 13 and older to touch the rainbow and become a millionaire. The Wrigley-owned confectionary brand, known for its bizarre commercials, launches a new competition Get Skittles Rich by BBDO, Toronto—it calls the participants to share the contagious video of the contest and inspire their friends to do the same.

The triangular Skittles scheme brings virtual points, and the person who generates most points wins one million real Skittles. The viral spot is available only for those who have the link, and features a fictional character, Skittles millionaire Danny Falcon, who explains the idea behind the promotion.

Every time the shared video is watched, the person on the top of the pyramid gets four virtual Skittles. When his or her friend signs up for the effort, the initial sender gets eight more virtual Skittles. For each second-level connection, the user on the top of the pyramid receives six virtual Skittles—so the more shares and connections the participant have, the higher the chance of winning. View the table here that explains how many virtual Skittles a participant can earn for each connection in this pyramid scheme, and also reveals additional earning opportunities.

The contest is running from October 23 through December 3, with the winner to be announced on December 10—it will be the participant who will accumulate the most of virtual Skittles. The overall winner will receive one million real Skittles candies, which is 94 bulk cases of the candy or about 5,500 of the full sized bags. The winner, who secured victory with the support of friends, will obviously need their help again—to eat the prize, unless it takes the Skittles millionaire the next 15 years to consume a bag every day alone. There will also be nice secondary prizes— 3 packs of 100,000 Skittles as well as daily and weekly prizes—for runner-ups.

You can check the leaderboard to see who is currently winning. The contest is open for Canadian residents only.