NEWS: Life Imitates Seinfeld, it's Just Not as Funny

CULTURE: Life Imitates Seinfeld, it's Just Not as Funny

Around $500,000 in cash was seized when the crimefighters in "Operation Can Scam" busted up a couple of Ohio-based smuggling rings that had been taking advantage of the 10-cent Michigan deposit. In other states, people generally pay a 5-cent container deposit when they buy beer and soft drinks and can return the containers to stores and get paid the 5-cent refund for each. Cashing in cans and bottles from other states to collect the higher, 10-cent Michigan deposit is illegal, and has been estimated to defaud the state of about $13 million tax payer dollars per year.

The 10-cent deposit is used to fund environmental cleanup efforts throughout Michigan. In addition to the Ohio-based suspects, several Michigan merchants were in on the scheme as well.

The scam mirrored a 1996 episode of Seinfeld called "The Bottle Deposit." Newman and Kramer head to Michigan with a truckload of 5-cent New York cans, hoping to cash in on the difference.

Yeah. that was pretty much not funny.

I never found Seinfeld very funny anyway.

Poor Michigan...

okay, so the whole video is crap, but the first part says what I want to say.

Michigan should further utilize the Seinfeld theme by making the 15 offenders pick up trash by the roadside. $500,000 of 10 cent cans??? Did the Ohio plates give them away? Clearly whoever is making the rest of the 12.5 M has a slightly better ring.

well at least they were smart enough to make the numbers work. Apparenly smarter than Kramer.
With Todays high gas prices I applaude them for the enterprise. Too bad they got caught.

I made a glitch in posting this, see below for comment.

they did make it work by using Newman's Mail truck, that way they didn't pay for gasoline. Well at least they made it work in Theory, in actuality, being the show that it is, something happened to screw them up.

Well, at first the juvenile or slacker in me went "Hell yeah!" at the scam of defrauding the government of some tax money to beat the system. But after reading

I had to reconsider my self-serving sentiments. I guess I wouldn't object to ripping off 'the system' if I'm skimming off the profit margins of huge corporations. But if the funds I'm reappropriating are intended to be used to finance public efforts for the common good (such as environmental cleanup), I can't feel so good about such a scheme.

this sounds like something jack benny and Rochester would do.

At least they were recycling.

This 10 cent can return is one of the reasons why i like living in Michigan, it's great because when you are strapped for cash and don't have a paycheck for another 5 days you can round up your empties take them to the store and use the money you got back on the deposit to buy more beers!


My first semester in college i held onto all my cans from the semester, and when the semester ended I returned them all and had enough cash to buy new headlights for my Jeep hahahahah




..

So, there isn't a 10 cent fee already figured into the purchase price (tax/fees/whatever) when you purchase a recyclable beverage in MI?

I tend to be skeptical when it comes to any reward program that the government is involved in.

It's not factored into the price of the beverage.
The store/clerk at checkout factors it in, well more like the computer/register does

12pk = $1.20
36pk = $3.60
etc

AND it only pertains to pop/soda and beer/wine coolers/etc of that sort.

So you can have a Dasani *sp bottle manufactured and sold by Coke, and a bottle of Coke, same material, same plant. The bottle of water gets no bottle deposit and therefore also no 10 cent return when you recycle it. They have been contemplating putting the the 10 cent deposit on water for a few years since it's high volume of sales in relation to soda/pop

i work in sales to grocery stores. two of our stores bought cans directly from ohio and claimed the deposits in their figures. the stores where shut down completely. i guess the stores are facing felony charges.

and go figure now we are facing a shut down.

assholes didnt help any.

I always tried to figure out how those worked, especially when some would go through and some wouldn't. I came to the conclusion that it was a brand name issue.

Seinfeld was funny?

In some instances IT IS a brand issue, the stores that take back cans and bottles only have to take back the same brands as they sell, so for example you get some tasty micro brew beer and try and bring it into a run of the mill super market, unless they sell it there , there is a highly likely chance that when you run it through the machine it will not accept the can/bottle.

Wonder how long it took?
The 10 cent deposit is on the lid and on the side and clearly states MI 10 cent.

Too bad, so sad.

that or the OSU sweatshirts ...