Official Rules

Thomas’® Split Decisions Contest

Official Rules

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING.

Thomas’® Split Decisions Contest (the “Promotion”) will consist of a recipe contest (“Contest”) and a voting sweepstakes (“Sweepstakes”). The entry period for the Contest will begin at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time (“ET”) on March 29, 2021 and end at 11:59 p.m. ET on April 30, 2021 (“Contest Period”). Finalist entries (as outlined below) will be posted for public voting from May 10, 2021 at 12:00 p.m. ET to May 16, 2021 at 5:00 p.m. ET (“Finalist Voting Period”). Individuals who vote on the finalist entries will receive an entry into the Sweepstakes, as further outlined below.

ELIGIBILITY: Promotion is open to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and the District of Columbia, who are 18 years of age or older. Employees of Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc. (“Sponsor”), Vault, 1000Heads, their subsidiaries, affiliates, distributors, promotion and advertising agencies, and members of their immediate family (spouse and parent, children and siblings and their respective spouses, regardless of where they reside) and persons living in the same household, whether or not related, of such employees, are not eligible to enter or win. Void where prohibited by law. Promotion is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws. The information you provide will be used for the purposes of Promotion administration.

HOW TO ENTER THE CONTEST: During the Contest Period, visit www.NationalEnglishMuffinDay.com and follow the instructions to complete and submit the entry form provided that includes two (2) of your favorite English Muffin topping combinations; one (1) for each half of your English Muffin (collectively, an “Entry”). OPTIONAL: Submission of one (1) photo featuring both topping combinations OR submission of two (2) photos each featuring a different topping combination.

Entries must be received by 11:59 p.m. ET on April 30, 2021 to be eligible. Limit of one (1) Entry per person using only one (1) email address throughout the Contest Period. Entries received from any entrant in excess of the stated limitation will be void.

Entry must be in English, be the original work of the entrant, may not have been previously published, may not have won previous awards, and must not infringe upon the copyrights, trademarks, rights of privacy, publicity or other intellectual property or other rights of any person or entity. If the Entry contains any material or elements that are not owned by the entrant, and/or which are subject to the rights of third parties, the entrant is responsible for obtaining, prior to submission of the Entry, any and all releases and consents necessary to permit the use and exhibition of the Entry by Sponsor in the manner set forth in these Official Rules. Sponsor reserves the right to request proof of these permissions in a form acceptable to Sponsor from any entrant at any time. Failure to provide such proof may, if requested, render Entry null and void. By submitting an Entry, entrant warrants and represents that he/she is the sole individual depicted and/or identifiable in the Recipe content provided and consent to the submission and use of the Entry in the Contest and to its use as otherwise set forth herein.

The Sponsor reserves the right to reject any Entry which Sponsor determines, in its sole and absolute discretion, does not meet the above criteria or is otherwise offensive or is not in keeping with the Sponsor’s image and reputation. By submitting an Entry, entrant hereby grants permission for the Entry to be posted at www.NationalEnglishMuffinDay.com or other websites and used in press materials. Entrant agrees that Released Parties (as defined below) are not responsible for any unauthorized use of Entries by third parties. Released Parties do not guarantee the posting of any Entry and may remove a posted Entry at any time.

CONTEST JUDGING: All eligible Entries received throughout the Contest Period will be judged by Sponsor based on the following judging criteria: (i) Appetite appeal (50%); and (ii) Creativity (50%). The five (5) Entries with the highest scores will be deemed potential finalists and proceed to the Finalist Voting Period identified below, subject to verification of eligibility and compliance with these Official Rules. In the event of a tie, an additional, “tie-breaking” judge will determine the finalist(s) based on the criteria listed herein. Sponsor reserves the right to advance fewer than five (5) finalists to the Finalist Voting Period if, in its sole discretion, it does not receive a sufficient number of eligible and qualified Entries.

FINALIST NOTIFICATION: Judges’ and Sponsor’s decisions are final and binding on all matters relating to this Promotion. Potential finalists will be notified by phone, and/or email on or about May 1, 2021 and will be required to (i) complete an Affidavit of Eligibility, Liability and Publicity Release (unless prohibited by law) and any other documents required by Sponsor within 48 hours from time of initial notification. Return of finalist notification as undeliverable, failure to sign and return requested documentation within the specified time period, the inability of Sponsor to contact a potential finalist within the time period specified above or noncompliance with these Official Rules by a potential finalist will result in disqualification and, at Sponsor’s sole discretion, a runner up finalist may be notified. If Sponsor so elects, potential finalists may be required to submit to, and cooperate in, a confidential background check to confirm eligibility and to help ensure that the use of any such person in advertising or publicity for the Promotion will not bring Sponsor into public disrepute, contempt, scandal or ridicule or reflect unfavorably on the Promotion or the Sponsor as determined by Sponsor in their sole discretion. If requested, potential finalists will agree to such background check and understand and agree that Sponsor may disqualify a finalist based on the results of the background check.

FINALIST VOTING PERIOD & SWEEPSTAKES ENTRY: During the Finalist Voting Period, the five (5) finalist Entries will each have their topping combinations prepared by Sponsor who will then post photos of each prepared topping combination Entry at www.NationalEnglishMuffinDay.com for public voting. Individuals who are legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and the District of Columbia, 18 years of age or older will be able to view the finalist Entries and vote for their favorite. Limit of one (1) vote per person using only one (1) email address throughout the Finalist Voting Period. For each vote submitted by an eligible individual, they will receive one (1) Sweepstakes entry. Votes or Sweepstakes entries received from any person or email address in excess of the stated limitation will be void. Finalists are prohibited from obtaining votes by any fraudulent or inappropriate means, including, without limitation, offering prizes or other inducements to members of the public and/or using any websites or online forums designed to induce individuals or provide other incentives to vote for their Entry, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion. All votes are subject to final verification by Sponsor. Use of script, macro or other automated system to vote or with the intent to impair the integrity of the voting process is prohibited and all such votes will be void.

CONTEST WINNER DETERMINATION: At the conclusion of the Finalist Voting Period, the one (1) finalist Entry with the highest number of votes will be deemed the potential Grand Prize winner, subject to verification of eligibility and compliance with these Official Rules and confirmed tabulation of votes In the event of a tie, a “tie-breaking” judge will identify the winner based on the criteria listed above. Sponsor reserves the right not to award the Grand Prize if, in its sole discretion, it does not receive a sufficient number of eligible and qualified Entries. Potential Grand Prize winner will subsequently be notified via phone, and/or email on or about May 17, 2021 to notify him/her of the prize they will be receiving.

SWEEPSTAKES RANDOM DRAWING: Twenty-five (25) potential Sweepstakes winners will be selected in a random drawing held on or about May 17, 2021 from among all eligible votes/entries received throughout the Finalist Voting Period. Odds of winning a Sweepstakes prize will depend upon the total number of eligible votes/entries received throughout the Finalist Voting Period. Random drawing will be conducted by Sponsor, whose decisions are final on all matters relating to the random drawing. Sponsor’s decisions are final and binding on all matters relating to this Sweepstakes.

SWEEPSTAKES WINNER NOTIFICATION: Potential Sweepstakes winners will be notified via email, and/or phone on or about May 17, 2021. Potential winners may be required to execute and return an affidavit of eligibility, a liability release, an IRS W-9 Form and, where lawful, a publicity release within five (5) days of initial notification. If such documents are not returned within the specified time period, a prize or prize notification is returned as undeliverable, Sponsor is unable to contact a potential winner or a potential winner is not in compliance with these Official Rules, such prize will be forfeited and, at Sponsor’s discretion, an alternate winner may be selected.

CONTEST GRAND PRIZE (1): Grand Prize winner will receive $10,000 awarded in the form of a check. Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”) of Grand Prize: $10,000.

SWEEPSTAKES PRIZES (25): Each Sweepstakes winner will receive a $400 grocery store gift card. ARV of each Sweepstakes Prize: $400.

Total ARV of all Contest and Sweepstakes prizes combined is $20,000.

PRIZE CONDITIONS: Exact grocery store gift card received to be determined by Sponsor, in its sole discretion. Gift cards will be subject to certain terms and conditions as specified by issuer. All federal, state and local taxes and all other costs associated with prize acceptance and use not specified herein as being provided are the sole responsibility of the winners. Winners may not substitute, assign or transfer prize or redeem prize for cash, but Sponsor reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to substitute any prize (or portion thereof) with one of comparable or greater value. All prize details are at Sponsor’s sole discretion. Limit of one (1) prize per person throughout the Promotion.

LICENSE/USE OF CONTEST ENTRIES: By submitting an Entry, and to the extent allowed by law, you grant the Released Parties a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive, sub licensable, unconditional and transferable license to edit, modify, cut, rearrange, add to, delete from, reproduce, encode, store, modify, copy, transmit, publish, post, broadcast, display, adapt, exhibit and/or otherwise use or reuse your Entry, name, questionnaire, finalist photo (if applicable), finalist Entry (if applicable), and biographical material including, but not limited to, all materials submitted in connection with the Promotion in any and all media, throughout the world, and in any manner, for trade, advertising, promotional, commercial, or any other purposes without further review, notice, approval, consideration, or compensation to entrant or any third party.

GENERAL CONDITIONS: By participating, each entrant agrees: (a) to abide by these Official Rules and decisions of Sponsor and judges, which shall be final and binding in all respects relating to this Promotion; (b) to release, discharge and hold harmless Sponsor, Vault, 1000Heads, their affiliates, subsidiaries, distributors, and advertising and promotion agencies, and the respective officers, directors, shareholders, employees, agents and representatives of the forgoing (collectively, “Released Parties”) from any and all injuries, liability, losses and damages of any kind to persons, including death, or property resulting, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from entrant’s participation in the Promotion or any Promotion related activity or the acceptance, possession, use or misuse of any awarded prize; and (c) to the use of his/her name, voice, performance, photograph, prize information, image and/or likeness for programming, advertising, publicity, trade and promotional purposes in any and all media, now or hereafter known, worldwide and on the Internet, and in perpetuity by Sponsor and its designees, without compensation (unless prohibited by law) or additional consents from entrant or any third party and without prior notice, approval or inspection, and to execute specific consent to such use if asked to do so. By participating, participant also agrees not to release any publicity or other materials on their own or through someone else regarding their participation in the Promotion without the prior consent of the Sponsor, which either may withhold in its sole discretion.

MISCELLANEOUS: Released Parties are not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, damaged, inaccurate, stolen, delayed, misdirected, undelivered, or garbled Entries, photos, or votes; or for lost, interrupted or unavailable network, server, Internet Service Provider (ISP), website, or other connections, availability or accessibility or miscommunications or failed computer, satellite, telephone or cable transmissions, lines, or technical failure or jumbled, scrambled, delayed, or misdirected transmissions or computer hardware or software malfunctions, failures or difficulties, or other errors or difficulties of any kind whether human, mechanical, electronic, computer, network, typographical, printing or otherwise relating to or in connection with the Promotion, including, without limitation, errors or difficulties which may occur in connection with the administration of the Promotion, the processing or judging of Entries, recipes, the tabulation and calculation of votes, the announcement of the prizes and winners, or in any other Promotion-related materials. Released Parties are also not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by site users, tampering, hacking, or by any equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Promotion. Released Parties are not responsible for injury or damage to any person's computer related to or resulting from participating in this Promotion or downloading materials from or use of the website. Persons who tamper with or abuse any aspect of the Promotion or website, who act in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner or who are in violation of these Official Rules, as solely determined by Sponsor, will be disqualified and all associated entries/photos will be void. Should any portion of the Promotion be, in Sponsor’s sole opinion, compromised for any reason, including virus, worms, bugs, epidemic, pandemic, any Act of God, non-authorized human intervention or other causes which, in the sole opinion of the Sponsor, corrupt or impair the administration, security, fairness or proper play, or submission of entries, Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to suspend, modify or terminate the Promotion (or portion thereof) and, if terminated, at its discretion, select the potential winners for the Contest and/or Sweepstakes from among all non-suspect, eligible Contest Entries and Sweepstakes votes/entries received prior to action taken using the applicable procedure(s) outlined above. In the event of a dispute regarding entries received from multiple users having the same email address, the authorized subscriber of the email address at the time of entry will be deemed to be the entrant and must comply with these Official Rules. Authorized account subscriber is the natural person who is assigned to the applicable email account by the email service provider. CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE THE WEBSITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE PROMOTION MAY BE IN VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK ANY AND ALL REMEDIES AVAILABLE FROM ANY SUCH INDIVIDUAL TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW, INCLUDING CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.

ARBITRATION: Except where prohibited by law, as a condition of participating in this Promotion, participant agrees that (1) any and all disputes and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Promotion, or any prize awarded, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, and exclusively by final and binding arbitration under the rules of the American Arbitration Association and held at the AAA regional office nearest the participant; (2) the Federal Arbitration Act shall govern the interpretation, enforcement and all proceedings at such arbitration; and (3) judgment upon such arbitration award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction. Under no circumstances will participant be permitted to obtain awards for, and participant hereby waives all rights to claim, punitive, incidental or consequential damages, or any other damages, including attorneys' fees, other than participant's actual out-of-pocket expenses (i.e., costs associated with participating in this Promotion), and participant further waives all rights to have damages multiplied or increased.

CHOICE OF LAW: All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of participant and Sponsor in connection with the Promotion, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the substantive laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, USA.

WINNER’S NAMES : For the names of the winners, available after May 26, 2021, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to: Thomas’® Split Decisions Contest Winners, Vault Communications, 610 W. Germantown Pike, Suite 160, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19380 for receipt by June 26, 2021.

SPONSOR: Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc., 255 Business Center Dr., Horsham, PA 19044.