LOVE ISLAND USA — “Week 2 ” Episode TBD — Pictured: (l-r) Melanie Moreno, Sincere Nicholas Rhea — (Photo by: Ben Symons/Peacock via Getty Images)
Ben Symons/Peacock via Getty Images
Melanie Moreno’s own mother flew to Fiji, looked her daughter in the eyes, and told her to leave Sincere Rhea. Melanie said no. She made it to the finale with him anyway. If her own family couldn’t convince her, a free vacation probably wouldn’t either. But that didn’t stop brands from trying.
JetBlue, Regal Cinemas and more made offers as part of a high-attention marketing play that became a recognizable pattern. The key question here is whether the open letters to Melanie are enforceable offers.
Most of these posts fail that test, meaning Melanie likely could not collect even if she left Sincere. But as brand-driven social campaigns become more elaborate, understanding where the line between marketing and enforceable promise sits is worth knowing.
Peacock’s Love Island USA Season 8 became one of the summer’s most talked-about reality shows. Set in Fiji, singles hoping to find love meet in a villa, pair up and test the strength of their connections. It films in real-time, so all the drama reaches viewers just hours later.
At the center of this season was Melanie and Sincere, a couple that paired up on day one. Over the weeks that followed, Sincere grew close with two other women while downplaying those connections to Melanie. The contestants watched it all play out during Movie Night, a Love Island USA tradition where contestants watch footage of each other.
Fans rooted for Melanie to walk away. Brands chimed in too.
Over the past week, businesses with no formal association with Love Island USA or Melanie posted open letters on social media offering her free products and services if she left Sincere.
JetBlue Vacations offered a free vacation. Regal Cinemas offered a free movie night. City Cruises offered free cruises for life. Outback Steakhouse offered Melanie, her sister and mom a free dinner. And Wheel of Fortune offered Melanie $1 million, with an asterisk and corresponding fine print: “We can’t actually give you $1 million but please leave him anyway.”
Whether any of this is enforceable largely depends on whether a contract was formed. Importantly, contracts don’t have to be signed to be enforceable. They don’t even have to be written.
Contracts can generally be formed by words (written or oral) or conduct. Regardless of how they’re formed, they must include: an offer, acceptance and consideration.
The key question here, then, is whether the open letters to Melanie are offers. Under California law, where most of these brands operate, an offer must contain the essential terms of the proposed agreement—who, what, when and at what price—so that a simple “yes” from the other side would create a binding deal.
These brands almost certainly could not be legally required to follow through on their open letters. And as it turned out, they didn’t need to. Melanie finished third in the finale and (at the time of this writing) is still with Sincere.
Take JetBlue Vacations, which said it would send Melanie “on a vacation.” A vacation where? For how long? For how many people? A court likely cannot enforce a promise with no destination, no dates and no defined scope. The same applies to Regal Cinemas’ “movie night worth celebrating.” Free movie tickets? How many? Are popcorn and soda included? These phrases sound generous but leave several important terms open.
City Cruises arguably came closer. It said it would “give [Melanie] free cruises for life,” a defined benefit and a clear duration. A court would have more to work with here than it would with JetBlue’s vague “vacation” or Regal’s “movie night worth celebrating.” But there are still gaps that could make it difficult for a court to enforce, like which routes, which departure cities and how many cruises per year.
Outback Steakhouse came closer still. It offered Melanie an all-you-can-eat dinner at Outback for her, her sister and her mom. It defined who (three specific people), what (all-you-can-eat dinner) and where (Outback). This is more specific than the preceding statements, but a court would probably still want to know which location and when.
Of course, no one is filing a lawsuit over a dinner at Outback. And practically speaking, some of these brands might not mind honoring their promise if Melanie showed up to collect. A movie night and a dinner are relatively painless to deliver. Free cruises for life is a different conversation.
And then there’s Wheel of Fortune, which cut to the chase. It offered Melanie “$1 million dollars*” then added fine print at the bottom of the post: “*We can’t actually give you $1 million, but please leave him anyway.” The brand acknowledged in its own post that no real offer existed.
For brands, the engagement play worked well here. The brands posted their open letters, collected their engagement and never had to deliver a thing.