What type of contract is this?

Question

An advertising company contracted with McDo to fly an advertisement above the Connecticut beaches.The advertisement offered $5,000 to any person who could swim from the Cnnecticut beaches to Long Island acroos Long Island Sound in less that a day.Mark saw the streamer and accepted the challenge.He started his marathon swim that same day at 10am.After he had been swim for 4hours and was about halfway across the sound, Mark saw another plane pulling a streamer that read,"McDo revokes."Is there a contract between Mark and McDo?If there is, what type(s) of contract is(are) formed?

Answer 1

Using the Restatements of Contracts (2nd) approach:

The first streamer is an offer, which promises $5000 to any person would make the swim. Becasue the method for acceptance was not specified, Mark could accept the contract by tendering performance. Once he started swiming, the contract turned into an Option Contract, that could not be revoked. Hence there is a contract.

Using a more traditional approach:

The first streamer was an offer in the unilateral mode, which could only be acceptance by performance. Once Mark started swiming, the ad company lost it's power to revoke. Therefore, there is a unilateral contract.



The words are a bit different, by the effect is the same: there is a contract, that Ad company cannot revoke via the second streamer. It can be called either an Option Contract or a Unilateral Contract.

Restatements of Contract (2nd)

45. Option Contract Created By Part Performance Or Tender

(1) Where an offer invites an offeree to accept by rendering a performance and does not invite a promissory acceptance, an option contract is created when the offeree tenders or begins the invited performance or tenders a beginning of it.
(2) The offeror's duty of performance under any option contract so created is conditional on completion or tender of the invited performance in accordance with the terms of the offer.




The Ad company was only seeking performance and not a promise to perform






I think I see what you mean to ask, but we need to tweak the facts a bit. As written, the contract would be between the advertising company and Mark. Mc Do is powerless to revoke the contract. so "Mc Do revokes" could never be a revokation.

I assume you mean the last

Answer 2

Contract law is based on the Latin phrase pacta sunt servanda (literally, promises must be kept). The contract you are referring to will fall under the general Law Of Obligations.