American Family Publishers was an American company that sold magazine subscriptions. Founded in 1977, American Family Publishers (AFP) was one of America's leading marketers of magazine subscriptions. AFP was jointly owned by TAF Holdings, Inc. (a subsidiary of Time Inc.) and a group of private investors. It is best known for running
sweepstakes
A sweepstake is a type of contest where a prize or prizes may be awarded to a winner or winners. Sweepstakes began as a form of lottery that were tied to products sold. In response, the FCC and FTC refined U.S. broadcasting laws (creating the ...
in which a large amount of money was offered as the grand prize (in a range of several hundred thousand to one or more million dollars). The winner was chosen at random, by a professional auditing company, from among all who responded to the sweepstakes, regardless of whether a magazine subscription was purchased or not.
History
Originally based in
Newark
Newark most commonly refers to:
* Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States
* Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area
Newark may also refer to:
Places Canada
* Niagara-on-the ...
, New Jersey, then
Jersey City
Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.
In a related phenomenon connected to the company's promotion tactics, news stories reported cases of
elderly
Old age refers to ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings, and is thus the end of the human life cycle. Terms and euphemisms for people at this age include old people, the elderly (worldwide usage), OAPs (British usage ...
Americans travelling to Florida (the company, at least for some time, routed their mail through
St. Petersburg, Florida
St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...
) in an effort to collect the money that they believed they had won, because of the promotional language contained in the sweepstakes entry forms (for instance, their frequently used phrase You may have already won $10,000,000!, although mitigated by an introductory line that stated "If you have the winning number...," led people to believe that they had already won the major prize).
Television exposés have also aired that claim to reveal, through
garbology
Garbology is the study of modern refuse and trash as well as the use of trash cans, compactors and various types of trash can liners. As an academic discipline it was pioneered at the University of Arizona and long directed by William Rathje. The ...
, that the entries of people who did not order magazines were thrown away rather than entered into a random drawing; however, AFP claimed that this came from a misunderstanding of how AFP processed entries at that time. Most of AFP's entry envelopes had windows on the back revealing an OCR code to identify the customer and sweepstakes, as well as any magazine subscription stamps on the entry form. If a stamp appeared in the proper window, the envelope was opened for further processing; if not, the envelope was scanned for entry in the sweepstakes, then thrown away unopened. A separate checkbox below the return address also allowed AFP to process address corrections without opening the envelope. ''
Star Search
''Star Search'' was an American television show that was produced by T.P.E./ Rysher Entertainment from 1983 to 1995, hosted by Ed McMahon, and created by Al Masini. A relaunch was produced by 2929 Productions from 2003 to 2004. On both versio ...
'' host
Ed McMahon
Edward Leo Peter McMahon Jr. (March 6, 1923 – June 23, 2009) was an American announcer, game show host, comedian, actor, singer, and combat aviator. McMahon and Johnny Carson began their association in their first TV series, the ABC game sh ...
was the original spokesperson for American Family Publishers from its start and starting in 1993,
Dick Clark
Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American radio and television personality, television producer and film actor, as well as a cultural icon who remains best known for hosting ''American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 198 ...
(who co-hosted ''
TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes
''TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes'' is an American television series. Debuting as a weekly series, new episodes have been broadcast as infrequent specials during most of its run. It premiered on NBC in 1984, moved to ABC in 1998, and was revived in ...
'' on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
with McMahon) later became co-spokesperson with McMahon.
These claims eventually led to litigation by several states' attorneys general against the company, resulting in court orders requiring changes in the way the company promoted the sweepstakes. The company complied, but increased lawsuits resulted in the company, which was 50% owned by
Time, Inc.
Time Inc. was an American worldwide mass media corporation founded on November 28, 1922, by Henry Luce and Briton Hadden and based in New York City. It owned and published over 100 magazine brands, including its namesake ''Time'', ''Sports Illu ...
, changing its name to
American Family Enterprises
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
. At that time, Time Inc. took a more hands-on role in the business, filing for bankruptcy in 1998.
Competitors
Publishers Clearing House
Publishers Clearing House (PCH) is a direct marketing company that markets merchandise and magazine subscriptions with sweepstakes and prize-based games.
It was founded in 1953 by Harold Mertz to replace door-to-door magazine subscription sales ...
(PCH) was a competitor to American Family Publishers that ran similar sweepstakes. The two companies were often mistaken for each other, with ''
Star Search
''Star Search'' was an American television show that was produced by T.P.E./ Rysher Entertainment from 1983 to 1995, hosted by Ed McMahon, and created by Al Masini. A relaunch was produced by 2929 Productions from 2003 to 2004. On both versio ...
'' host
Ed McMahon
Edward Leo Peter McMahon Jr. (March 6, 1923 – June 23, 2009) was an American announcer, game show host, comedian, actor, singer, and combat aviator. McMahon and Johnny Carson began their association in their first TV series, the ABC game sh ...
and ''
The $25,000 Pyramid
''Pyramid'' is the collective name of a series of American television game shows that has aired several versions domestically and internationally. The original series, ''The $10,000 Pyramid'', debuted on March 26, 1973, and spawned seven subsequ ...
'' host
Dick Clark
Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American radio and television personality, television producer and film actor, as well as a cultural icon who remains best known for hosting ''American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 198 ...
, the
spokespeople
A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman, is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others.
Duties and function
In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...
for AFP, mistaken for representatives of the better-known PCH. PCH remains in business and promotes its products by means of sweepstakes.