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Instagram: Wacky JetBlue contest offers free flights if you delete all your pics

Would you delete all of your Instagram pictures for a chance to win free flights for a whole year?

That’s the challenge dropped by JetBlue in a contest that could see you jetting off to any of its more than 100 destinations across the U.S., the Caribbean, Mexico, and beyond.

But clearing your account of content is only the first step toward entering the contest. You’re also asked to upload a provided image promoting JetBlue, and ensure it’s the only image on the account from 9 a.m. ET on March 8 when the airline’s marketing team begins scouring the social media site for entries.

If the idea of removing all of your carefully curated Instagram images from your profile page has you breaking into a cold sweat, then there may be a couple of ways around it.

For starters, JetBlue mentions on its rules page that you can hide your images — and restore them later — rather than deleting them entirely. Feeling better already?

And there seems to be nothing stopping you from creating an account purely for the purposes of the contest, meaning you won’t have to delete — or archive — any content to enter. Whether an entry from an account with no followers will be conveniently missed by the marketing team, however, is another question entirely.

Also, if you’ve been thinking about deleting your Instagram account, then entering the contest would be a good way to exit the platform.

JetBlue is offering the all-you-can-fly prize to three lucky winners, with each one allowed to offer a second free ticket to a traveling companion. One downside, besides wrecking your Instagram account, is that you’ll have to cough up for each flight’s taxes and fees, though they’re unlikely to break the bank.

The offbeat contest is open to those living in the U.S. aged 18 or over, and limited to one entry per person. Prize winners will be notified on or around March 11 via Instagram direct message. Full details about how to enter can be found on the airline’s website.

While clearing all your images from Instagram will be a step too far for most people, the contest isn’t nearly as extreme as the recent one launched by Vitaminwater. To take part, entrants had to promise to give up their smartphone for an entire year for the chance to pocket $100,000.

When the year’s up, the winner will have to take a lie detector test to convince the organizers that he or she really did ditch their handset for a whole 12 months.

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Trevor Mogg
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