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If you’ve been to a grocery store any time since March 2020, you’ve probably noticed some things on your grocery list are out of stock, or that there is (still) a purchase limit on certain items.
The ongoing shortages are now apparently hitting cream cheese. While spreading a bit on a bagel every now and then shouldn’t be a problem, if you have plans to make a cheesecake this holiday season, you’ll be using a lot of cream cheese. So Kraft’s Philadelphia Cream Cheese brand is asking you to skip it this year — and they’ll even pay you to forgo the cheesecake and make or buy another dessert.
In an effort to make sure everyone has some cream cheese, the brand is offering to pay people not to bake cheesecake. They will be giving 18,000 people $20 to reimburse them for a different store-bought or homemade dessert.
“Unprecedented demand has left cream cheese shelves in grocery stores noticeably empty as people continue to use cream cheese as an ingredient in easy desserts and recipes and at breakfast time,” the company wrote in the terms of the promotion. “At Philadelphia, we want to spread the feeling this season and make sure you have the pleasure of dessert on your holiday table. So, buy any dessert — cookies, brownies, cupcakes — and Philadelphia will reimburse the cost to replace your homemade cheesecake up to $20 when you make a limited reservation and show us your store or restaurant receipt.”
The deal includes any dessert or dessert ingredients, so if you still want to bake something from scratch, just submit the receipt with what you bought instead.
To sign up for the deal, you’ll first need to head to Philadelphia’s website beginning at noon EST on either Dec. 17 or Dec. 18. Once you’ve reserved your spot, you will receive a one-time use link.
From there, just head to a store or restaurant to buy a dessert or ingredients from Dec. 17-24. Make sure you have a receipt showing where it was purchased. Lastly, from Dec. 28 until Jan. 4, use your unique link to submit your dessert receipt for your chance to receive a $20 digital reward. You can get $20 regardless of how much you spent on your dessert.
While the deal goes until Jan. 4, you’ll want to try to secure your spot as soon as possible, as the deal is on a first-come, first-served basis, with 10,000 links being given out on Dec. 17 and 8,000 on Dec. 18.
If you’ll be skipping the cheesecake and making something different instead, check out these 12 classic Christmas cookies, this Funfetti Christmas cake roll or this hot chocolate lasagna.
What is your favorite holiday dessert?
Kaitlin is a freelance multimedia journalist with a degree in journalism and psychology. Along with Don't Waste Your Money, she also writes for Simplemost, where she covers new product and food launches and overall general news. You can email her at kaitlingateswrites@gmail.com or find her on Facebook at Facebook.com/KaitlinGatesWrites. More.
