Many times I get real stupid messages
from my cellphone service provider
asking me to answer some silly question like

Barfi is a) sweet b) sour
Send you ans to 55555 and win 1 Lakh cash prize
SMS costs Rs 3

Even a 10 month old kid will be able to answer this question

So why such a stupid question.
Or is it that I have become intelligent.
Naah, I am pretty much the same.

I am not very fond of quizzes because woah,
they are difficult.
What happened in 1562 in that place?
Who was the CEO of that company when it started?
How many runs did he score in the match in 1992?

I find it a bit difficult to remember all this information.
But here I have a perfectly easy question.
Not at all difficult.
I can answer.
I can win.
Really?

I Lakh = 1,00,000
Now each SMS costs Rs 3
1,00,000 / 3 = 33,333.33
Lets take it 33,335
33,335 * 3 = 1,00,005
1 Lakh prize money and Rs 5 company's earnings

Let the company pay only 1 paisa for one SMS
and it sends SMS to all its subscribers.
A company generally has a subscriber base in millions
Lets take it to be 1 million
1 million = 10 lakhs
So company spends 10 lakhs * 1 paise = 10,000

Now out of 10 lakhs if only 33,335 ppl answer
the company has made earnings of 5 rupees.
To cover 10,000 only 3333 more people will have to reply
Total SMS answers = 33,335 + 3,333 = 36,668
out of 10 lakh people

So basically, we all are paying for the prize money
and the organiser will get all the extra money.
Easier the question, higher probability of more people answering,
higher the company's earnings.

And the odds of one person winning if he sends only one SMS
1 in 36,668
Easier the question, higher probability of more people answering,
lower the odds of anyone winning.

And these are just the minimum figures.