The promotion offers consumers who switch to MSN by June 30 three months of free service and a $21.95-a-month rate until Jan. 1, 2003.

A mail-in promotion offered a 10-masted Cursed ship, the Guichuan, and her captain Headhunter.

Premature promotions not only offer no guarantee of problem-solving, but they also can set back the pitchers who are promoted.

Former promotions such as the International Fight League, offered insurance to its athletes.

At Sears, an early-bird promotion on Saturday offered $10 gift cards for the first 100 shoppers.

Both promotions offered aspirational experiences as the grand prize.

The promotions, ending Aug. 31, offer children chances at prizes, from $250,000 in cash down to a discount coupon for Pizza Huts.

For a freedman or slave, promotion as one of the Compitalia seviri offered a high local profile, and opportunities in local politics; and therefore business.

However, new promotions, available to anyone, now sometimes offer the same fares at 50 percent off.

A mail-in promotion that has been extended to the end of the year offers a free outboard infrared transceiver; it connects to computers' standard serial ports.