David Phillips

David Phillips is an American civil engineer who accumulated frequent-flyer miles by taking advantage of a promotion by Healthy Choice Foods in 1999. While grocery shopping, he calculated that the value of a mail-in promotion for frequent-flyer miles exceeded the cost of the pudding on which it was offered. In May 1999, Phillips received 1,253,000 frequent flyer miles.

Phillips is the associate vice president of energy and sustainability at University of California.

Process Healthy Choice was running a promotion offering 500 miles for each pack of 10 Healthy Choice bar codes (UPC) mailed in as proof of purchase. for $3,140. He also had the Grocery Outlet manager order additional cases. To divert attention, he claimed he was stocking up for Y2K. Clerks started calling him "Pudding Guy".

The promotion included an early-bird bonus if the packages were mailed during May 1999 (the mileage earned would double from 500 miles to 1,000 miles for every 10 UPCs submitted). Unable to remove all the UPCs himself in such a short time, Phillips recruited members of a local Salvation Army branch to cut the UPC codes off the cardboard wrapped around the pudding containers; in exchange, he donated the individual puddings. This donation allowed him to receive $815 in tax write-offs, further increasing his return on investment. He applied some of the miles to his United, Delta, and Northwest frequent flyer accounts, and the majority (over 1 million miles) to his AAdvantage account, earning himself lifetime Gold status.

Phillips' pudding story received international attention from news outlets, such as The Wall Street Journal and The Times. The story was the inspiration for a subplot in the 2002 film Punch-Drunk Love.