Skip to main content

Ditch your smartphone for a year and win $100k from Vitaminwater

Image used with permission by copyright holder

We’ve all seen the social media posts that ask whether you could live without your smartphone in exchange for a set amount of money. Well, if you’ve ever scoffed at those challenges as “too easy,” now’s the time to put your mouth where your money is. Vitaminwater is offering the chance to win $100,000 in exchange for doing without your smartphone for a whole year.

To enter, simply post on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtags #nophoneforayear and #contest, and say why you need a break from your phone, and what you’d do with all your free time. You could also probably say what you’d with the money, too, if you like.

If you’re selected to take part in the contest, then Vitaminwater will give you a call on January 22, and deliver a 1996-era phone (with contract) that you’ll be able to use for communication purposes. During the 365 days from that point on, you won’t be able to use a smartphone or tablet — whether your own or a friend’s. In Vitaminwater’s own words, if texting is a pleasant experience or you can get on the internet, then it’s a smartphone and you’ll be banned.

On the plus side, you won’t be banned from using laptops, and smart home devices like the Google Home or Amazon Echo are just fine. Any eligible winners will be required to take a lie detector test at the end of year, and people who make it six months before failing will also be able to claim a $10,000 prize — which isn’t bad either.

With recent studies indicating modern children can spend up to six hours immersed in digital and social media, it’s becoming increasingly evident to some that it might be time to take a digital detox. Studies also indicate that almost half of millennials check their smartphone every 20 minutes, and 8 in 10 use their phone to complete everyday tasks — which has led some to proclaim millennials have no chance of beating this challenge.

While ditching phones entirely seems a bit much to most of us — they’re just so darned useful — we could probably all do with cutting down on the time we spend on our phones. Both iOS and Android now have tools to help cut down on your time spent in the digital world, while you can also find a variety of third-party apps that do the same thing.

Editors' Recommendations

Mark Jansen
Mark Jansen is an avid follower of everything that beeps, bloops, or makes pretty lights. He has a degree in Ancient &…
The top 7 bestselling phones of 2023 were all … you guessed it
Close-up view of titanium frame on iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Seven of the top 10 bestselling handsets in 2023 were iPhones, according to data from research firm Counterpoint.

This marks the first time in Counterpoint’s tracking of such data that Apple’s handset has dominated the chart to this extent.

Read more
If you really want to, here’s how to cheat in Words With Friends
Playing Words With Friends on a smartphone.

Words With Friends 2 is one of the best word games out there right now. Unlike Wordle, which is more of a solo game, Words With Friends 2 allows you to directly compete against your friends to see who has the superior vocabulary and strategy game skills.

Those who have mastered the game might be able to take on any opponent solo, but some of us need a little help.

Read more
Stop putting your wet iPhone in rice — seriously
iPhone 15 Pro in hand with iPhone 14 Pro Max and iPhone 14 in background.

The world of consumer electronics has its own share of urban myths. Some of them are actually so mainstream that no one even dares question their efficacy. Burying a wet phone in rice is one of them.

Research has repeatedly proved that it’s a futile trick, but for folks that need to hear it from the source itself, well, Apple has also made it clear that the rice-drying trick doesn’t work. Whether you have an iPhone 15 Pro or a model that's a few years old, it's time to stop this useless practice.

Read more