The Ruling on Prize Contests on Dairy Products and Oils

Question:
The topic that follows is about the contests currently found in dairy products, oils, and other items. They ask: What is the ruling on these contests? And if I buy that type of milk, for example, or use that type of oil in my car, and then I win a prize, what is the ruling?

Answer:
These prizes that companies or merchants put on their goods in order to encourage customers to buy them are not permissible.
This is because they lead to harms and corruptions, and they are a form of consuming wealth unjustly. A person might buy a lot of milk or a lot of Pepsi, not because he wants to drink it, but in the hope of getting this hidden prize, thinking he might find it. It has even reached us that some people buy boxes of Pepsi cans, then open them and pour the contents on the ground without drinking them, because they do not need it, but only want to see if they can find the number or code on one of the lids. Similarly, they buy a lot of milk that they do not need and then spoil it, hoping to get the hidden prize code in one of the milk cans. All of this is deceiving people and extracting their money unjustly. Also, the prize that one wins might be a car of great value. What makes it lawful for him? In what exchange did he take it? In what consideration? This falls under the forbidden gambling (maysir), so it is not permissible. The Committee of Senior Scholars has issued a fatwa on this matter forbidding it. Yes.