BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to advertising and, more specifically, to coupons that have a higher probability of redemption than existing coupons.

2. Description of the Prior Art Many periodicals include coupon inserts used to advertise products and to induce the subsequent purchase of the products. Coupons, by offering a discount on the product encourage the consumer to purchase the discounted product, thereby presenting the merchandiser an opportunity to shift the brand loyalty of the consumer.

Most coupons comprise graphics that indicate the product covered by the coupon, the amount of discount and a universal product code (UPC) that provides a machine-readable identification of the product and the amount of discount. Typically in redeeming a coupon, a consumer takes the coupon to a store and gives the coupon to the cashier while purchasing the product corresponding to the coupon. The cashier scans the UPC using a scanner, thereby indicating to the cash register the amount of discount to be applied to the purchase of the product.

Many, if not most, coupons go unused. One of the reasons for the low redemption rate of most coupons is that consumers are confronted with an

overabundance of coupons on a daily basis. Few people have enough time to closely evaluate every coupon that they come in contact with. Therefore, many coupons are discarded after only a summary evaluation by the consumer because the recited discount is no sufficient for the consumer to expend the extra effort to redeem the coupon.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The disadvantages of the prior art are overcome by the present invention which, in one aspect, is a method of printing coupons in which a first play spot is printed on each of a first set of substrates. The first play spot indicates a first discount amount on a purchase price for a product. A first scanable retail merchandise code is printed on each of the first set of substrates. The first scanable retail merchandise code identifies the first product and indicates the first discount amount. Each play spot on each coupon is covered with a removable material.

In another aspect, the invention is a method of printing coupons in which a first plurality of play spots is printed on a first substrate. A first preselected combination of the first plurality of play spots indicates a first award of a discount on a purchase price for a product. A first scanable retail merchandise code is printed on the first substrate.

The first scanable retail merchandise code identifies the product and the first award. A second plurality of play spots is printed on a second substrate so that a second preselected combination of the second plurality of play spots indicates a second award, different from the first award, of a prize. A second scanable retail merchandise code is printed on the second substrate. The second scanable retail merchandise code identifies the second award. The first plurality of play spots and the second plurality of play spots are covered with a removable material.

Yet another aspect of the invention is a coupon that includes a substrate. At least one play spot is printed on the substrate. The play spot indicates a preselected discount amount for a purchase price of a product. A scanable retail merchandise code

is printed on the coupon. The scanable retail merchandise code indicates the preselected discount amount for the product. A removable material covers the play spot.

These and other aspects of the invention will become apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments taken in conjunction with the following drawings. As would be obvious to one skilled in the art, many variations and modifications of the invention may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts of the disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1A is a drawing of the front side of a coupon in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 1B is a drawing of the front side of the coupon of FIG. 1A, in which a removable covering covers the play spots.

FIG. 2 is a drawing of the back side of the coupon of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A preferred embodiment of the invention is now described in detail. Referring to the drawings, like numbers indicate like parts throughout the views. As used in the description herein and throughout the claims, the following terms take the meanings explicitly associated herein, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise: the meaning of"a,""an,"and"the"includes plural reference, the meaning of"in"includes"in"and "on." As shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B and 2, one embodiment of the invention is a coupon 10 that is printed on a substrate 20. (FIGS. 1A and 1B show the front side of the

coupon 10, while FIG. 2 shows the opposite back side.) The printing on the coupon 10 typically includes an indication of the product being advertised 22, including the trademark for the product and an indication that the coupon 10 is issued as part of a sweepstakes. A set of rules 24, corresponding to the sweepstakes, may also be printed on the coupon 10.

A plurality of play spots 30 are printed on the coupon 10. The play spots 30 may fall into one of several categories. For example, one category of play spot 30 may include discount play spots 32 that indicate that a discount is to be applied to a purchase of the advertised product. Another category of play spot 30 may include free product play spots 34 that entitle the bearer to a free unit of the advertised product. Yet another category of play spot 30 may include prize play spots 36 that entitle the bearer to a prize. The prizes could include any conventionally awarded advertising-related prize, such as: a cash award, a product, a vacation, an entry into drawing, etc.

The play spots 30 are covered with a removable material 38. Such removable materials could include latex overprinted on the play spots 30, which forms a scratchable covering. Other removable materials include perforated tab or a peel-off label. The purpose of the removable material 38 is to prevent the person redeeming the coupon from knowing what the discount or prize is until the removable material 38 is removed. A suspense element is added to the consumer's evaluation of the coupon 10 by covering the play spots 30 and the possibility of winning a valuable prize. It is this added suspense element that causes the consumer to show greater attention to coupons made in accordance with the invention than to other coupons, thereby increasing the likelihood that the coupon 10 will be redeemed.

Also printed on the substrate is a scanable retail merchandise code 40 (such as a universal product code) that identifies the product corresponding to the coupon 10 and the value inherent in the coupon (for example, the scanable retail merchandise code 40 could include information as to the discount to be applied to the purchase of the product or the prize that is to be awarded to the bearer). The data from the scanable retail

merchandise code 40 may be scanned as input to a retailer's computer system and could be used, for example, by the retailer's accounting and inventory sub-systems.

It is contemplated that with the invention, different series of coupons 10 will be issued, each series awarding a different discount or prize so that the prizes are randomly distributed within a predetermined prize structure. In one example of a predetermined prize structure, the following coupons may be randomly issued: a single coupon that entitles the bearer to a grand prize (such as a large cash award); ten coupons that entitle the bearer to a first-tier prize (such as an expensive consumer product); ten thousand coupons that entitle the bear to a second-tier prize (such as an inexpensive consumer product); twenty thousand coupons that entitle the bearer to a third-tier prize (such as a free bottle of a consumable product); and the remaining series of coupons (up to several million) entitle the bearer to a discount on the product being advertised. It is important to issue the series of coupons randomly so that each consumer has a belief that he or she has a chance at winning a valuable prize.

The above-described figures include representations of a trademark and a UPC.

These representations are presented for demonstrative purposes only and they do not correspond to any actual trademarks or UPC's.

The above described embodiments are given as illustrative examples only. It will be readily appreciated that many deviations may be made from the specific embodiments disclosed in this specification without departing from the invention.

Accordingly, the scope of the invention is to be determined by the claims below rather than being limited to the specifically described embodiments above.