Ashlee Difuntorum recently published the article titled “‘Love Island USA’: Brands Urged Melanie To Leave Sincere–But She Can’t Collect” in Forbes. This piece examines whether brands’ high-profile marketing efforts, presented through open letters to Peacock’s “Love Island USA” Season 8 contestant Melanie Moreno, constitute legally enforceable offers.
Several businesses with no formal affiliation with “Love Island USA” addressed open letters to Melanie, offering her free products and trips on social media if she left Sincere, the individual she was coupled with on the show. Ashlee spotlights some of these open letters, all differing in specificity and rewards, including JetBlue Vacations’ free vacation; Regal Cinemas’ free movie night; City Cruises’ free cruises for life; Outback Steakhouse’s free dinner for Melanie, her mom and sister; and Wheel of Fortune’s payment of $1 million, which stated in its letter, “We can’t actually give you $1 million but please leave him anyway.”
Ashlee explains the occasions under which these open letters could become legally enforceable, illustrating, “Whether any of this is enforceable largely depends on whether a contract was formed. Importantly, contracts don’t have to be signed to be enforceable. They don’t even have to be written.” She further highlights that contracts are typically formed in two ways: through words, whether written or oral, or through conduct. “Regardless of how they’re formed, they must include: an offer, acceptance and consideration,” she adds.
Ashlee continues to emphasize what she describes as the key legal question, “whether the open letters to Melanie are offers.” As most brands operate in California, and therefore, under California state law, she clarifies, “an offer must contain the essential terms of the proposed agreement—who, what, when and at what price—so that a simple ‘yes’ from the other side would create a binding deal.”
As Melanie stayed with Sincere, brands are not required to fulfill their open letters, and most likely would not be required to even if she left Sincere. Ashlee analyzes each of these open letters, noting that JetBlue Vacations did not specify the vacation duration, location, or how many people could come, and how Wheel of Fortune, which she writes, “Acknowledged in its own post that no real offer existed.”
To conclude the article, Ashlee reflects on the strategy of the brands, penning, “For brands, the engagement play worked well here. The brands posted their open letters, collected their engagement and never had to deliver a thing.”
