36 "Lifetime" Supply Winners Are Revealing How Long A So-Called "Lifetime" Is, And I'm Kinda In Shock
Have you ever wondered what happens when someone wins a "lifetime supply" of something? Like, if you ever run out of it, can you literally just call and ask for more?
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Well, recently, Reddit user u/LordFrieza8789 asked, "Redditors who have actually won a 'lifetime' supply of something, what was the supply you won, and how long did it actually last?" pulling back the curtain on these giveaways. Here's what some of the...well, apparently not so lucky winners had to say!
1."Lifetime supply of M&M candies. They sent 52 bags all at once."
"Given the US life expectancy of about 80 years, and the median age of 39 years old, it seems M&M assumes the average person will eat five bags of M&Ms every four years for the rest of the 41 years they have left to live."
2."I won a 'lifetime' supply of donuts (up to a dozen per day) at a local bakery, and it lasted two years until the original owner died and his asshole son took over the business."
3."As a consolation prize for losing on a TV game show, I was given a popcorn popper, a little girl's bicycle, and a lifetime supply of Dinty Moore Beef Stew. I gave the popcorn popper as a Christmas present and sold the bicycle. When the beef stew arrived, it was one case of 12 cans. After trying the first can, I realized that the other 11 would indeed last me a lifetime."
4."My stepdad won a lifetime supply of WD-40 in the 1990s. They sent him four 16-oz. cans. He died in 2019 — my mom still has two cans."
"This just made me realize I don't think I've ever used a full can of WD-40."
5."I won a lifetime of free oil changes for my car. It was during a sale the dealership was having where you had to take a photo with your pet, and the person who most resembled their pet won. (I don't know if I should feel happy or concerned about that one.) What they did fail to mention is that it was lifetime of oil changes for the vehicle I had, and I couldn't transfer it to anyone else. So, when my dad took over my car loan, they dropped that little tidbit of info on us. Only really lasted me for about two oil changes."
6."I got free multi-room DVR and HBO for life from my cable company. Little did I know that any little change, including replacing an eight-year-old broken router, would remove it from my account and make it 'impossible' to add back."
"Fuck Time Warner and their fucked-up businesses practices."
7."One free movie rental from Blockbuster every week. And well, ya know…"
8."I had a 'lifetime' gym membership that ended after two years. I thought it meant my lifetime, not theirs."
9."My parents won a lifetime supply of toiletries. Soap, toilet tissue, and some other stuff. Once per quarter, you mail in the coupon, and they send you another quarter's worth of stuff. It’s all institutional grade. Like what you’d expect prisoners to use."
10."Won a lifetime supply of mini chocolate milk cartons during a milk day at school lol (if you opened a carton of milk, and it mooed at you, you had to call the number on it and report that you have mooing milk). That was in 2007. I’m still getting milk shipped to me lol — my fiancé drinks it because I’ve grown to hate milk."
11."My mom and dad won a lifetime supply of Cool Whip in 1968 on Let's Make a Deal. I was only 4 at the time so I somehow thought that Cool Whip (and Tootsie Rolls, for another reason) were just free and plentiful. I am not sure how long it actually lasted. I think we just got tired of it."
"Addendum: Around the same time as the Let's Make a Deal windfall (where my parents also won a car), my dad noticed a truck he was following had smoke coming out the back. He flagged the driver down and helped him put out a small fire smoldering in his cargo, which turned out to be a truckload of Tootsie Rolls. The driver gave my dad all the fire-damaged cases, which resulted in us having basically an endless supply. Hence the reason I thought both Tootsie Rolls and Cool Whip were like water when I was a kid."
12."I won a lifetime supply of AA and AAA batteries from a major Canadian tech retailer about 20 years ago. Thing is, batteries last a long time, and there really isn't that much that I use batteries for. Hypothetically, I could start a black market battery business by just getting my free batteries and selling them to people in need, but it's just not worth the time. Even getting the batteries isn't worth the time. I have to get them to type in my name in their system, and there's a note by my name indicating that I get free batteries because I won a contest 20 years ago. And then, they run and get their manager to look at it, because that looks suspicious. And then, the manager looks at it and then asks me questions, and then, they finally relent and give me my free batteries."
13."When I was a kid, I won a contest online which included a 'lifetime' supply of Hubba Bubba Bubble Tape. I don’t remember the exact amount, but I think it was about a dozen boxes of gum. ... I got sick of it pretty quickly, and it had a shelf life. A friend and I wound up using it all for a school project where we had to make a model of the town from the book The Outsiders. We made the entire model out of gum, and it was disgusting. Our jaws got sore from chewing all the gum so we wound up dipping it in water instead."
"Our teacher docked us points for 'creativity.' 20 years later, and I’m still pretty mad about that."
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14."I won free full body massages for life, which basically just translates to two massages a week. It was really good. I got addicted. I knew everyone who worked there, and I got to experiment with all of them to see which were the best. Ended up fluctuating between three different staff toward the end. They would even train new staff on me for free because I spent so much time over there. Those training massages never cost me anything either or counted toward my two free massages a week limit. When the place closed down, I realized just how expensive massages were. ... I haven't had one in ages, and I miss it so bad."
15."This happened in the late '90s. A local bar ran a wet T-shirt contest where the girl who won would win a lifetime of free bar drinks at the bar. They also had cash prizes for second and third place. I don't remember how much, but it was a lot at the time. The result was a packed bar — tons of girls entered, tons of guys spending money. My friend's girlfriend at the time (now his wife) won first place. She was stoked. He was excited. Within a couple of weeks, the building was condemned and torn down a few weeks after that. Turns out the owners of the bar knew that the building was going to be condemned and just wanted to have one last party."
16."I once won a 'year's supply' of Pepsi from a local radio station. The contest was finding specific serial numbers on a dollar bill and being the first to call into the station. The 'year's supply' was a case."
17."In high school, I called in to a radio contest and was the x caller to call in (maybe the 105th?) to answer a trivia question. I answered it right and got a lifetime supply of ice cream, which turned out to be a monthly coupon for a gallon. It continued throughout high school, and then, when I went away for college, my parents didn’t keep up with it."
"That was so long ago. I’m 50 now. It was really fun and exciting at the time, though!"
18."A friend of mine won a lifetime supply of Nokia phones. So, yeah, just the one 3310."
19."My partner won a year's worth of Vans shoes. They sent him four 99% off vouchers."
20."Before I was born, my father won a lifetime supply of free Schick disposable razors. Growing up, I saw them all the time, and even now, 30+ years later, he still has a full box of them in the garage. Unfortunately, the quality of the razors is pretty terrible, and my father has always had trouble with nicks and cuts. I've tried to introduce him to better multi-blade razors, but he's too stubborn to make the switch."
21."I had a friend in college who won a lifetime supply of Gillette razors. They just sent him a crate of Mach 3 razors and refill cartridges, and that was that. It was just a one-time shipment."
22."My parents did twice in a relatively short period of time. The first was at a fair when I was in high school. They advertised it as a lifetime supply of ice cream sandwiches. They ended up giving us 100 boxes all at once. Right there on a warm July day. My mom was only able to collect at the end of the day, so there wasn't even that many people to hand them out to. We got home and had about 60 left after giving away as much as possible and throwing out what didn't fit in our freezer. I played lots of sports, so I ate a lot, and my parents just said I could eat as much as I wanted any time I wanted. I went through 60 boxes in couple months."
"The second was when they bought an expensive microwave about a year later and won a five-year supply of microwave popcorn. Basically, the same thing happened. We got huge box with, like, 200 packages, and I was told to eat as much as I wanted. After living in a house that smelled like popcorn for a few weeks, my parents just threw the rest in the garbage."
23."When I was in high school, my teacher won a lifetime supply of DNL — it was a 7 Up flavor back in the early 2000s. It amounted to, like, 10 cases of soda."
24."My mum won a 'lifetime' supply of Surf (the washing powder). Basically, we got 72 8KG boxes all at once on a pallet from some kind of raffle competition. Ended up selling 60 boxes for about £10 each to corner shops and splitting the rest with some family. She didn't have enough room and didn't even remember entering the competition itself."
"There was also a bunch of washing liquids and shit from the rest of their range, one of each type, too."
25."I won a year supply of Pepperidge Farm Milanos when I was in college. My boyfriend and I ate them all in, like, three months. Three glorious months."
26."I won free groceries for 'life' at my local grocery store in a raffle. They give me a digital $100 gift card once a month, which is wonderful; however, it doesn't even cover a week of groceries. It will end when the total given has reached $10,000. I've got about $4,000 left."
27."I won a lifetime supply of Camel cigarettes in 1982. It was one pack of Camels (20 cigarettes), and it is still unopened in a storage box somewhere in my basement."
28."I won a lifetime supply of fruit roll-ups when I was a kid. One of those chances to win because of the print on the inside of the box. It was gone within a year, partly because my parents gave away about half of it. By the time I saw the delivery, it was down to six large master cartons with multiple retail boxes inside."
29."I won a year's worth of chicken from a Lebanese chicken shop. I was licking my lips at the thought of free chicken for a year, especially drowned in enough garlic dip to ward off Dracula himself. Reading the fine print, though, it was only $20 a week for 52 weeks. … You could drop $30-$40 for one person, easy, in a sitting!"
Finally, let's end on a few that actually worked out well:
30."Not me, but my Grandpa won a lifetime supply of Altoids back in the early 2000s. They sent him a box with, like, 200 tins in it, and that was it. I remember when we went to his house, he gave me, like, a dozen of them."
31."I know someone who won a free gas for life contest many years ago. They get a $100 gift card every month." (This is definitely not enough "for life," but it's still pretty good.)
32."I won a lifetime supply of Oreos. It was actually just one pallet full of Oreos. Probably would last a normal person their whole life. It was like 1,000 lbs. of Oreos. I gave away so many Oreos! Having a party? I'll bring a bunch of Oreos. Break room needs snacks? Oreos. I ended up donating, like, 400 lbs. of Oreos to a shelter, just to get them out of my garage. Just for kicks, I called to inquire if lifetime meant my lifetime, and that I had finished off the pallet. They said the pallet would last a reasonable person their whole life."
33."My uncle gets free Ben & Jerry's for life. He's been friends with the actual Ben and Jerry since before they opened the first shop. He has a card that says free ice cream for life, and he can get pints or cones at any scoop shop (at least locally). He also gets decks of free pint coupons that he can use at grocery stores and gas stations. When Unilever bought them out, they tired to buy back all the 'free ice cream for life' cards. I guess it was a fairly generous offer because my uncle is one of only a few that chose to keep the card."
34."Won a lifetime supply of gourmet coffee beans in a contest at a country fair. Contestants had to guess, as closely as possible, the number of coffee beans in a large glass cylinder prominently displayed. Years later, I'm still receiving monthly shipments of several pounds of gourmet coffee beans (my choice of variety). Since there are more beans than I can use every month, I give them away to friends who appreciate fine quality coffee."
35."My father played a game on Teletext back in the day and won a lifetime supply of some beer. However, they cheated him and only sent him a party keg. My dad was a programmer, so he wrote a program which played cards for him on Teletext. If the program was about to lose because of bad cards, it quit the channel and logged in again automatically again for the next run. The program was playing day and night, and after some weeks, he had won several TV sets, video cameras, cruises, you name it. Eventually, the organizer of the game locked my father out — which was illegal. So, he sued the company which organized the game and reached an agreement: They paid him an amount of about 10k, and he never played again."
"So, instead of a lifetime supply of beer, he got a lot of stuff, and this is why I, as a teenager, had my own video camera (which, at this time, was so expensive that people had to lease them)."
36."Back in 1977, when I was 13 years old, I won a contest for a lifetime supply of models from Revell. A semi truck pulled up to our house in a very quiet suburban neighborhood and proceeded to unload four pallets of plastic models in the driveway. There were hundreds of models; probably one of everything they offered in their catalog at the time. I kept about two dozen, which kept me busy for a year or so. My father helped by finding a local retail hobby store to buy the rest of them at a very favorable price so we could just get rid of them. He put the money into US savings bonds for me, which I cashed out many years later to use for a down payment on my first new car."
Have you ever won a lifetime supply of something? What did you actually end up getting? Let us know in the comments!
Submissions have been edited for length/clarity.
