Editorial: Sweepstakes industry has dug its own grave

Thursday, March 11, 1999 | 11:49 a.m.

The odor from the testimony that tobacco executives gave to Congress five years ago -- in which they claimed their companies didn't do anything to addict smokers or keep them hooked -- still lingers in the air. On Tuesday executives of sweepstakes promotions companies picked up where the tobacco executives left off in trying to mislead the public about their tactics. Repeatedly, and with straight faces, they told a Senate committee that their come-ons don't mislead people into believing they're likely to win -- when in fact it is virtually impossible they'll ever see a prize.

Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., told an American Family Enterprises executive that it was misleading for the company to send a mailing to recipients with a large headline that stated there was a "2 person race for $11 million," when actually the odds were slim and none. Naomi Bernstein, vice president of marketing services, contended there was nothing deceptive in the letter. Durbin angrily stopped her. "This is a lie. You're deceiving people," he responded.

Congress already had enough evidence of abuses to require oversight of this industry, but the industry's refusal to tell the truth about its misleading practices should convince even skeptics of regulation that government intervention is needed.