SAMPLE ANSWER

(a) Agreement

Outback Burgers is obliged to supply at least one Land Cruiser for a winning scratch ticket if
Sam or Gordon or others can show a concluded agreement, an intention to create legal
relations, and consideration.

Agreement may be shown by an offer and an acceptance.

An offer is an expression to another of a willingness to be bound on stated terms. Generally,

advertisements are only invitations to treat. However, there is no general rule that
advertisements cannot be offers (Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co).

Here, the advertisement did not leave anything to be negotiated. It is certain in its terms and
not open-ended. It would seem to be an offer.

Acceptance must be unqualified and conform to the terms of the offer. This is a unilateral
contract, the required acceptance consisting of scratching the ticket, finding a gold car and
presenting it at Outback Burgers’ head office.

However, an offer can be revoked at any time before it has been accepted. A revocation is not
effective until communicated. This is when it is received by the offeree.

Was the offer still on foot when Sam and Gordon each tried to accept the offer? There have
been three possible ways the offer was revoked here:

1. the notice on the door;

2. the announcement in the media; and

3. in Gordon’s case, the overheard conversation.

(i) Sam

Sam scratched his two gold cars and presented his ticket to head office before the media
announcements. This attempted revocation was therefore too late in his case.

In relation to the notice on the door, the question will be whether this came to Sam’s attention
before he was able to effectively accept the offer. This in turn will depend upon whether the
receptionist was the authorised agent of Outback Burgers to receive any such acceptance. It
may be relevant to discover the reason why she asked him to wait in the front room. For
example, was it so she could arrange for him to be seen by someone who would make further
arrangements regarding his receipt of the car or instead so she could arrange for him to be
seen by a more senior employee who was authorised to receive any acceptance? If she was
authorised to receive any such acceptance, Sam has prima facie accepted the offer before the
notice was appended on the door.

Once an offer has been accepted, the offer is irrevocable. If she was not so authorised then
the notice revoked the offer to him before he was able to communicate his acceptance to the
relevant person at Outback Burgers.

(ii) Gordon

Gordon did not read the notice because it was obscured by people. It was not an effective
revocation.

In relation to the overheard conversation, revocation need not be communicated by the

offeror or an authorised agent if it is communicated by a reliable third party. There may be a
question, however, whether the nurses, who are strangers to Gordon, may be regarded as
reliable sources of information. In any event, where an offer is made to the world at large (for
example, an advertisement), it may be effectively revoked by using a similar medium. It does
not matter if someone who sees/hears the offer does not actually see/hear the revocation.
Even though Gordon did not hear the announcements in the media, it seems the offer was
revoked before he reached Outback Burgers’ head office and completed the act required for
acceptance.

There is no concluded agreement with Gordon.

(b) Certainty

If the receptionist was authorised to receive Sam’s acceptance, was the agreement with him
sufficiently certain?

The advertisement refers to ‘Scratch a ticket with a gold car, present it to the Outback
Burgers’ head office and win the grand prize of a Toyota LandCruiser’. Do ‘a’ car and ‘the’
grand prize mean that there is only one car to be won or that every winning ticket gets one
car?

The court will do its utmost to uphold the agreement. Further evidence is required, including
any other wording in the original advertisements and perhaps comparable promotions. If the
offer was only capable of one acceptance, then there is no contract with Sam because there
has already been a customer who has claimed the car.

Assuming, on the other hand, the offer is capable of multiple acceptances, there was an
effective agreement between Sam and Outback Burgers in relation to two cars.

(c) Intention to create legal relations

Intention to create legal relations is not a difficult issue. Here, the parties are at arm’s length
and there is a commercial advantage to Outback Burgers. There is the necessary intention.

(d) Consideration

In a unilateral contract situation, the same act may be both the acceptance and the
consideration. The consideration bargained for by Outback Burgers was scratching a winning
ticket and presenting it at head office. There was no requirement that the burgers actually be
purchased by the offeree in order to collect the 50 coupons.

Assuming, on the other hand, the offer is capable of multiple acceptances, there was an
effective agreement between Sam and Outback Burgers in relation to two cars.