[quote name=\'Brian44\' date=\'Jun 29 2003, 03:49 PM\']Nowadays, Price buys most of those small prizes outright. They have no problem telling e-mailers at cbs.com that they purchased the corn popper at Wal-Mart, the massager at Target, etc. Do they have that big of a budget surplus that they don't need to go after sponsors for their small prizes? My guess is that they more than make up for it on the big-ticket items.[/quote]
Does this also explain why an increasing number of prizes are described without mentioning their brand names? This always sounds weird to me, and occasionally (as Randy can attest) it makes for a somewhat awkward moment when the contestant wants that information.
On the other hand, it does increase the realism of the home versions, which, of course, have always featured generic products. Somehow, though, I don't think the folks at TPIR have this in mind when buying prizes and writing copy.