--- title: "Contest Giving Away $10,000 If You Can Give Up Your Phone for A Month" description: "A yogurt company is giving away $10,000 to whoever can live without their phones for a month — and it's a pretty ingenious marketing scheme." date: "2024-01-27" modified: "2024-01-27" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/digital-detox-contest" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "advertising" - "digital detox" - "marketing" - "the digest" --- # Contest Giving Away $10,000 If You Can Give Up Your Phone for A Month ![A yogurt company is giving away $10,000 to whoever can live without their phones for a month — and it's a pretty ingenious marketing scheme.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Rack 'Em With social media being as [bad and broken]() as it is, the idea of a month-long vacation from it sounds like reward enough. And with a new contest from \*checks notes\* the Siggi's Icelandic yogurt company, you might be able to get some serious cash out of it, too. In an announcement on the company website, Siggi's Dairy said that to enter its "[digital detox program]()," contestants must write a short essay "explaining why you need a digital detox in your life and how it will impact you in a positive way that aligns with the Siggi’s brand philosophy." If selected, contestants will then — though fair warning, it's not detailed super clearly — lock their phones in a lock box for a month and instead use a "good ol' fashioned flip phone" for all their calling and texting needs, replete with a one-month prepaid SIM card. ## Detox Detour Siggi's, of course, did not invent the concept of a digital detox. For years now, everyone from [wellness]() [bloggers]() and [Redditors]() to [news]() [outlets](), [academics](), and [medical associations]() have preached the benefits of logging off as a means of "detoxing" from the poisonous nature of being online. Indeed, with so much science on the detrimental [physical]() and [mental health]() effects of "screen time" — that time spent staring into the illuminated high-tech rectangles of our smartphones, computers, tablets, or TVs — it's no wonder people dedicated to healthy living, be they [doctors]() or [natural wellness types](), are preaching the digital detox gospel. Some companies have even gone so far as to use this cultural catchphrase as a way to make a buck, with the term "digital detox" itself being the [name of a health tech company](), yoga retreats using the term to [promote their expensive offerings](), and $100 [couple-oriented box sets]() proliferating on e-commerce marketplaces like Etsy. That's not to mention the [hundreds of books]() with "digital detox" in their titles, or the beauty brands that slap it onto their [pricey products]() geared towards [customer self-care](). Though Siggi's is obviously using the term and concept as a viral marketing campaign, the company is at least offering not just some cold hard cash for its lucky winners, but also a three-month supply of its delectable cultures as well. As far as the world of digital branding is concerned, the company could [do a lot worse]() — and for [far less worthy]() a cause. **More reasons for a digital detox:** [*AI Garbage Is Destroying Google Results*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()