Johnsonville Hosts “Top Your Brat” Contest June 3-12

SHEBOYGAN FALLS, Wis. – Johnsonville is asking bratwurst fanatics to share their favorite toppings they most enjoy putting on a fully cooked Johnsonville Brat. The country’s number-one bratwurst brand is hosting a “Top Your Brat” contest during its Summerfest sponsorship, inviting fans to share up to three creative toppings that could be included on the Johnsonville menu at Summerfest next year – and what the item would be named. Will the toppings be the common sauerkraut, grilled onions and mustard ingredients? Or something different such as pimento cheese, chopped pickles and smoked paprika?

The contest runs June 3-12. Entrants can participate by replying with a comment to one of Johnsonville’s social media posts about the contest or post from their original social media account with the following:

   * Listing the maximum three toppings of their choice; (photos or video of the brat and toppings are not required but always welcome!)

    * A name for the hand-held brat and toppings

     * Including the hashtag #JohnsonvilleTopYourBrat

A team from the Johnsonville kitchens will choose three finalists’ entries to be judged on Thursday, June 22 in the Johnsonville Summerville area at Summerfest. There, the three finalist entries will be made and taste-tested by a panel of judges that will include Wisconsin media, local food talent, and Johnsonville owner and “Sausage King,” Ralph Stayer.

The judges will use the following criteria in determining one grand prize winner:

    * Originality/Creativity (25%)

     * Taste (25%)

     *  Visual Representation (20%)

     *  Ease of consuming/enjoying while walking around at Summerfest (15%)

     * Title of recipe/sandwich (15%)

The grand prize winner will receive free sausage for a year AND have their creation included on the Summerfest 2024 Johnsonville menu. Each of the three finalists will also receive free sausage for a year and Johnsonville merchandise. Official rules are noted below.

About Johnsonville, LLC

Wisconsin-based Johnsonville is the No. 1 national sausage brand, selling and serving more than 70 different varieties of sausage across 40+ countries and in more than 75 U.S. professional, semi-pro and college sports stadiums. Founded in 1945 by the late Ralph F. and Alice Stayer, Johnsonville remains a family-owned company led by third- and fourth-generation family members who work in all aspects of the business. 

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. Begins 8:00 AM ET on 6/3/23, ends 11:59 PM ET on 6/12/23. Open to legal residents of the contiguous U.S. & D.C. (excluding residents of CO, CT & MD), 21+. Void in AK, CO, CT, HI, MD & where prohibited. Subject to Official Rules available at Johnsonville.com/news. Sponsored by Johnsonville, LLC.

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Johnsonville Top Your Brat Contest  Official Rules – 2023

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER. A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING.

The Johnsonville Top Your Brat Contest (“Contest”) is sponsored by Johnsonville, LLC (“Sponsor”),

N6928 Johnsonville Way, Sheboygan Falls, WI 53085.

1.  Contest Period: The Contest Period begins on June 3, 2023 at approximately 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time ("ET") ends on June 12, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. ET (the "Contest Period") and consists of photo and/or video submissions that also include the required hashtag. Servers of Twitter, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram are the official time-keeping devices for the Contest.

2. Eligibility: The Johnsonville Top Your Brat Contest (the “Contest”) is open only to legal residents of the 48 contiguous United States (but excluding CO, CT, MD and where prohibited) and the District of Columbia who are at least twenty-one (21) years old at the time of entry. Employees of Johnsonville, LLC, and any contest support vendors. and any of their parent and affiliate companies as well as the immediate family (spouse, parents, siblings and children) and household members of each such employee are not eligible. The Contest is subject to all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations and is void where prohibited or restricted by law.    

3. Agreement to Official Rules: Participation in this Contest constitutes entrant’s full and unconditional agreement to these Official Rules. Sponsor’s decisions are final and binding in all matters related to this Contest. Winning a prize is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements, including for purposes of the Finalist selections, consent to a confidential background check to confirm each potential winner’s eligibility and compliance with these Official Rules. Due to the nature of the Grand Prize offered, if a background check reveals that a potential finalist or winner has engaged in conduct that could damage the reputation of or reflect unfavorably on Sponsor or any of the Released Parties, as determined by Sponsor in its discretion, the potential winner may be disqualified.

4. How to Enter:

A.      Participation Requirements: To participate, you will need to have a Twitter, TikTok, Facebook and/or Instagram account (each a “Social Account”).  Creating each Social Account is free, but is subject to the applicable terms and conditions of each Social Account: http://twitter.com/tos https://www.tiktok.com/legal/terms-of-service-us?lang=en, or http://instagram.com/about/legal/terms/#. Posting on any social media site may require a mobile device and therefore message and data rates may apply. If entering via a mobile device and using your wireless carrier’s network, standard data charges from your wireless carrier may apply. 

Entrants may create an TikTok, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter account at no cost by logging on to https://www.tiktok.com/,  http://facebook.com, http://instagram.com or http://twitter.com. Creation of an account requires a contestant to agree to the platform’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Due to how these social channels operate their services, entries from users with protected or private accounts (i.e., entrant has set his/her account so that only people the entrant has approved can view his or her updates) may not be received. If an entrant enters from his/her wireless phone, the entrant’s wireless service provider may charge the entrant. Entrants should consult their wireless-service providers regarding their pricing plans. Message and data rates may apply. This Contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with TikTok, Instagram or Twitter.

B.      Reply with a Post or Comment on a Johnsonville social media post announcing the contest, OR share a photo or video with the toppings listed and the topped-brat name, on any the above-mentioned social channels from the entrant’s social site: During the Contest Period, follow the instructions below to officially enter the Contest. 

Limit: There is a limit of one (1) entry per person, regardless of the Social Channel used for entry during the Contest Period. If more than one (1) entry is received from the same person and/or social media account, only the first entry received may be considered valid.

(1)    Reply with a comment to the contest social post from a Johnsonville social channel; OR Tweet or post with text or your photo or video (30-seconds max) of any three ingredient toppings used on a Johnsonville fully cooked brat (which would be served in some type of bread or handheld ingredient. The bread does not count as one of the three toppings).

(2)    With your content outlining the three toppings, also include the name of your brat-topping item; Photos or videos of your brat and toppings are NOT required but welcomed, with no penalty for providing a photo or video;

(3)    Include the #JohnsonvilleTopYourBrat hashtag with your comment, reply or post;

(4)    Tag @Johnsonville in the original caption of your social media post if providing your entry from your personal channel;

(5)    Your account settings must remain public during the Contest Period and until all prizes are awarded; and

(6) You must not change your social media handle during the Contest Period and until all prizes are awarded.

The content included in the entrant’s reply, photo or video will be judged or used to determine three “Top Your Brat” finalists.

Entries will be deemed made by the authorized account holder of the social media account when the entry is submitted from at the time of entry. The “authorized account holder” is the person who is assigned to the social media account by the online service provider.

C.      Entry Requirements: 

·       Entry must not convey any claims of Sponsor’s products or services that would be deemed unsubstantiated or deceptive if made by Sponsor;

·       Entry must not contain material that violates or infringes another’s rights, including but not limited to privacy, publicity or intellectual property rights, or that constitutes copyright infringement. However, Entry may include brand names or trademarks owned by Sponsor.

·       Entry must not contain any music;

·       Entry must not disparage Sponsor, or any other person or party;

·       Entry must not promote or reference illegal drugs, tobacco, or firearms/weapons, any activities that are or appear to be dangerous, or any political agenda;

·       Entry must not contain material that is inappropriate, offensive, indecent, obscene, sexually explicit, tortious, defamatory, slanderous or libelous;

·       Entry must not contain material that promotes bigotry, racism, hatred or harm against any group or individual or promotes discrimination based on race, gender, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, or age; and

·       Entry must not contain material (including copyrighted music) that is unlawful, in violation of, or contrary to the laws or regulations in any state where Submission is created.

·       Entry must not include any personally identifiable information (full name, e-mail address, telephone number, etc.);

·       Entry must not contain any viruses, spyware, malware, or other malicious components that are designed to harm the functionality of a computer in any way;

·       Entry must not contain, facilitate, reference or use material that contains prohibited content which shall include, but is not limited to, content that promotes, suggests, or encourages: gambling, including without limitation, any content related to online casinos, sports books, bingo or poker; the use of prostitution, pornography, nudity, profanity or other adult content, or violence; the taking up of arms against any person, government or entity or otherwise challenge or seek to overthrow any government;

If any entry fails to comply with any of these Entry Requirements or any other provisions of these Official Rules, at the Sponsor’s sole discretion, Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify the entrant. By participating in the Contest, entrant understands that he or she is providing his or her information to Sponsor and not TikTok (“TikTok”), Facebook (“Facebook”), Instagram, Inc. (“Instagram”) or Twitter, Inc (“Twitter”). Further, entrant specifically agrees to release the social media platform/company from any and all liability associated with this Contest. This Contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with TikTok, Facebook, Instagram (Meta) or Twitter or any of its affiliates.

By submitting an Entry, each entrant acknowledges and agrees that (a) Sponsor may obtain many Entries in connection with the Contest or other contests staged or promoted by Sponsor, (b) such Entries may be similar or identical in theme, idea, format or other respects to other Entries submitted in connection with the Contest or entries for other contests sponsored by Sponsor or submitted for other reasons or other materials developed by or on behalf of Sponsor and (c) entrant waives any and all claims entrant may have had, may have, or may have in the future that any Entry or other works accepted, reviewed or used by Sponsor may be similar to entrant’s Entry, or that any compensation is due to entrant in connection with such Entry or other works used by Sponsor.      

5. Sponsor's Use of Entrant’s Submissions: Posting a contest entry on any Social Channel constitutes Entrant’s consent to give Sponsor a royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive license to use, reproduce, modify, publish, create derivative works from, and display such content in whole or in part, on a worldwide basis, and to incorporate it into other works, in any form, media or technology now known or later developed, including for promotional or marketing purposes. If requested, Entrant will sign any documentation that may be required for Sponsor or its designees to make use of the non-exclusive rights entrant is granting to use the content.

By submitting an Entry, each Entrant hereby grants permission, and covenants, represents and warrants that such Entrant has all releases and consents necessary to grant such permission, for the Entry to be posted on Sponsor’s social and digital properties or other websites. Entrant agrees that Released Parties (as defined below) are not responsible for any unauthorized use of Entries by third parties. Released Parties do not guarantee the posting of any Entry and may remove a posted Entry at any time.

6. Judging to Determine Finalists: All Entries will be judged by a panel of judges based on the following criteria:

* Originality/Creativity (25%)

* Taste (25%)

* Visual Representation (20%)

* Ease of consuming/enjoying while walking around at Summerfest (15%)

* Title of recipe/sandwich (15%)

The three (3) entries with the highest scores will be deemed potential Top Your Brat Finalists, subject to verification and compliance with these Official Rules. Their brat topping entries will be created and taste-tested by a panel of judges chosen by Johnsonville, in the Johnsonville Summerville area at Summerfest, on Thursday, June 22. A panel of judges at the onsite event will determine the one (1) Top Your Brat Grand Prize winner.

A.      FINALIST NOTIFICATION: Three (3) Top Your Brat Finalists will be notified by Sponsor via private message on the Social Channel that the Entrant posted or replied with his/her entry on. The Entrant will be asked to complete an Affidavit of Eligibility, Liability and Publicity Release (unless prohibited by law) and any other documents required by Sponsor, which must be returned within two (2) days of date appearing on the Finalist notification. Return of notification as undeliverable, failure to sign and return requested documentation within the specified time period, the inability of Sponsor to contact the potential Top Your Brat Finalist/s within two (2) days of Finalist notification or noncompliance with these Official Rules by potential Finalist will result in disqualification and, at Sponsor’s sole discretion, a runner-up may be selected as a Top Your Brat Finalist.

B.      ON-SITE FINALIST EVENT: The three (3) Top Your Brat Finalists will be invited (but not required to attend in person) to the Johnsonville Summerville stage while the judges taste and judge the entries on June 22, 2023 between 11:30 am-1:30 pm, at Summerfest in Milwaukee, Wis. Sponsor will provide each Top Your Brat Finalist with sausage for a year (via 12 free coupons) and Johnsonville merchandise. will use the criteria outlined above to determine the one (1) Top Your Brat Grand Prize winner.

7. Prizes:

Three (3) Finalist Prizes:  A prize package consisting of the following elements will be awarded to each Finalist: (i) free sausage for a year (via free coupons for Johnsonville products; (ii) a Johnsonville swag pack of merchandise. Approximate retail value (ARV) of each Finalist prize package: $165.

One (1) Grand Prize Winner from the June 22, 2023 onsite Top Your Brat contest will additionally be awarded the distinction of having his/her brat-topping item and the name of the item, included on the 2024 Johnsonville menu at Summerfest. Finalist prize package ($0).

ARV of all prizes is $495. These are estimated values only. All travel to the On-Site Finalist Event and travel to the June 22, 2023 judging event is the sole responsibility of Finalist.  Sponsor will not provide transportation arrangements.  Finalists are responsible for compliance with all venue rules and regulations, including compliance with all venue vaccination, Covid testing, or masking requirements, if any.   Sponsor will not be responsible for changes in schedule of any element of the Finalist Prize and will not be liable for any expenses resulting from delay. Sponsor will not be responsible for acts of God, acts of terrorism, civil disturbances, work stoppage or any other natural disaster outside their control that may cause the cancellation or postponement of the Finalist Prize.  The prize is non-assignable and nontransferable. Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value. Finalists are solely responsible for payment of all federal, state and local taxes on the prize value awarded and for all costs and expenses not specified herein and other expenses incurred by accepting the merchandise prize is the sole responsibility of the prize winner.

Odds of winning a prize depend on the number of eligible entries received and the skill of the respective participants.

8. Released Parties: By receipt of any prize, each winner agrees to release and hold harmless the Sponsor, Milwaukee World Festival Inc., TikTok, Twitter, Inc., Facebook, Instagram, Inc., Meta, Inc., and their respective parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, suppliers, distributors, advertising/promotion agencies, and prize suppliers, and each of their respective parent companies and each such company’s officers, directors, employees and agents (collectively, the “Released Parties”) from and against any claim or cause of action, including, but not limited to, personal injury, death, or damage to or loss of property, arising out of participation in the Contest or receipt or use or misuse of any prize, including any related travel.  

9. Publicity: Acceptance of any prize (Finalists and Grand Prize) shall constitute and signify each winner’s agreement and consent that Sponsor and its designees may use the winner’s name, city, state, likeness, photo, including winner’s social media profile photo, prize footage, contest submissions, and/or prize information in connection with the Contest for promotional, advertising or other purposes, worldwide, in any and all media now known or hereafter devised, including the Internet, without limitation and without further payment, notification, permission or other consideration, except where prohibited by law. 

10. General Conditions: Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, suspend and/or modify the Contest if any fraud, technical failures, human error, any other factor impairs the integrity or proper functioning of the Contest, or any event or cause beyond Sponsor’s control (e.g. events such as national pandemic or widespread illnesses, natural calamities, national emergencies, declarations of war, acts of God, acts of terrorism) interferes with any aspect of the Contest, including but not limited to fulfillment of the prize(s), as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion. If terminated, Sponsor may, in its sole discretion, determine the winner(s) from among all non-suspect, eligible Entries received up to time of such action using the judging procedure outlined above.  Sponsor may also modify the prizes offered. In addition, Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any individual it finds to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Contest or to be acting in violation of the Official Rules of this or any other promotion or in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner and void all associated entries. Any attempt by any person to deliberately undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest may be a violation of criminal and civil law, and, should such an attempt be made, Sponsor reserves the right to seek damages and other remedies (including attorneys’ fees) from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law. Sponsor’s failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision.

11. Limitations of Liability: Released Parties are not responsible for: (1) any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by entrant, printing, typographical or other errors or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest; (2) technical failures of any kind, including, but not limited to malfunctions, interruptions, or disconnections in phone lines or network hardware or software; (3) unauthorized human intervention in any part of the Contest submission process or the Contest; (4) printing, typographical, technical, computer, network or human error which may occur in the administration of the Contest, the uploading, the processing or judging of contest entries, the announcement of the prizes or in any Contest-related materials; (5) late, lost, undeliverable, damaged or stolen mail or direct messages; or (6) any injury or damage to persons or property which may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from entrant’s participation in the Contest or receipt or use or misuse of any prize (including any travel/activity related thereto). Released Parties are not responsible for misdirected or undeliverable Submissions or for any technical problems, malfunctions of computer systems, servers, providers, hardware/software, lost or unavailable network connections or failed, incomplete, garbled or delayed computer transmission or any combination thereof. Released Parties are not responsible for any unauthorized third-party use of any Submission.

12. Disputes: Except where prohibited, each entrant agrees that: (1) any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Contest or any prize awarded shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, and exclusively by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin or the appropriate Wisconsin State Court located in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin; (2) any and all claims, judgments and awards shall be limited to actual out-of-pocket costs incurred, including costs associated with entering this Contest, but in no event attorneys’ fees; and (3) under no circumstances will entrant be permitted to obtain awards for, and entrant hereby waives all rights to claim, indirect, punitive, incidental and consequential damages and any other damages, other than for actual out-of-pocket expenses, and any and all rights to have damages multiplied or otherwise increased. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of the entrant and Sponsor in connection with the Contest, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of Wisconsin without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules (whether of the State of Wisconsin or any other jurisdiction), which would cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than the State of Wisconsin.

13. Entrant's Personal Information: Information collected from entrant is subject to Sponsor’s Privacy Policy https://www.johnsonville.com/policies/our-privacy-policy.html.

14.  Finalist & Winner List: For a list of the Finalists and Grand Prize winner list, can email SSchafer@johnsonville.com . The winner list will be posted after winner confirmation is complete.

© 2023 Johnsonville, LLC.  All rights reserved.

This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with TikTok, Twitter, Inc./Instagram, Inc./Facebook, Inc.