Sausage or Pepperoni?

On the way in to work this morning, I heard on the radio that Pizza Hut is making an offer for a unilateral contract  (okay, that’s not exactly the way the d.j. put it, but anyway…).  The offer is free pizza for life to anyone who manages to ask either one of the presidential candidates during the town hall debate, “Do you prefer sausage or pepperoni on your pizza?”  The debate will take place October 16 at Hofstra University.  (It turns out that the offer is not actually “free pizza for life” it’s actually a $520/year gift card for up to 30 years).  A silly contest, of course — but a good example to illustrate the difference between a unilateral and bilateral contract and related issues having to do with effective offers and acceptances.  Often, it doesn’t really matter if an offeree accepts by performing by by promising to perform– but in some cases (i.e. bets, dares), it really does.  I used to refer to the bet in the book, HOW TO EAT FRIED WORMS to explain the difference between a unilateral and bilateral contract (15 worms in 15 days for $50).  This year I might use the more election -season- friendly example of the Pizza Hut offer.

[Nancy Kim]