Gamertell

This past week several sites, including Gamertell, reported that Sam’s Club was offering a rather incredible Wii bundle deal for Black Friday (November 28, 2008, aka the day after Thanksgiving). Unfortunately, the price indicated in the scan of the print ad was incorrect.

According to a cease and desist request sent by Baker Hostetler LLP to Gamertell and many other outlets, the following line was requested to replace the image:

“The Sam’s Club advertisement included unauthorized changes that reflected inaccurate pricing information.“

A representative from Baker Hostetler indicated to Gamertell’s parent company, Dabbledoo Media, that,

“The ads posted were unauthorized and doctored by an as yet unknown party, such that the information in them is incorrect and damaging.”

It is unclear at what point the prices were “doctored.” The original image shows a Nintendo Wii Family Bundle with a Wii console, three WiiMotes. three Nunchuks, Wii Sports, Mario Super Sluggers and King of Clubs Mini-Golf incorrectly for sale for $224. The corrected price for the same bundle is being reported by Kotaku , Engadget and others, as $425 while other sites that previously posted the incorrect ad are not yet reporting a price. We have been unable to confirm the bundle’s actual Black Friday price and the oft cited site, Black Friday Ads, does not have a reference to the supposedly corrected price.

Some sites are speculating that the scan of the print ad was manipulated while others believe the scan was unaltered and the mistake was made prior to printing (which would be either a typo not caught by the ad maker’s copy editing department or some sneaky employee trying to create a false albeit much better deal). Keep in mind that until Sam’s Club or Wal-Mart issues a statement regarding the reason - which we have requested - these remain speculations.

It is rather interesting to note that many sites that had taken down the image, likely due to receiving the cease and desist, have since cropped and edited the image to reflect the $425 price and re-posted it.

We are posting Black Friday deals as we find them, so be certain to check the site early and often.

Read [Official Wal-Mart Blog] Via [Kotaku] Also Read [Gizmodo] Site [Gamertell: Black Friday 2008]