US brewer offers $1m Bigfoot reward

US brewer Olympia Beer is offering US$1 million for “the safe return of “Bigfoot”. The year-long contest has started in “an effort to highlight the proud histories of both Bigfoot and Olympia Beer in the [US] Northwest”.

The grand prize of $1m, will be paid to any person who finds “irrefutable evidence” of Bigfoot’s existence in compliance with the contest’s official rules.

The brewer has joined forces with Bigfoot experts at The Falcon Project for the contest, which promises to be one of the most comprehensive searches for the mysterious beast.

Evan and Daren Metropoulos, owners of Pabst Brewing Company and Olympia Beer, said: “We have been operating in the Northwest since 1896, so we know firsthand how important Bigfoot is to the people here.

“In addition to our desire to spur scientific discovery in partnership with The Falcon Project, we’re also simply encouraging people to get outside and have some fun.”

On its website the brewer emphasises that the contest is focused on the safe capture of Bigfoot, it states: “When we say safe capture that means Bigfoot has to be alive and breathing folks, with no wounds. That’s right you can’t use any act of violence, no guns/knives/boxing gloves/nets/etc, only sugar or sweets to lure him in.”

The contest rules state that Bigfoot “refers to a previously undiscovered species of upright, bipedal hominid, native to North America existing contemporaneously with the Contest Period or the twenty-five (25) year period immediately prior to the Contest Period.”

In terms of evidence the judging panel said: “Evidence may include, but is not limited to DNA Evidence. DNA Evidence may include hair, blood, tissue or saliva that proves the DNA sequence of the donor shows that said donor resides in the primate evolutionary family tree, among other apes or hominids, but does not have the same genetic markers and DNA sequence as any known species.

“Evidence may also include ‘Visual Proof’ of a live physical body. Any photo or video taken with photographic or video equipment is not sufficient to qualify as evidence in and of itself for consideration in the contest, but may be considered as supporting evidence.”

The contest is running for one year, finishing at the end of March 2014 and the website states that the $1m reward will be payable at $25,000 per year for 40 years.