Yup, in the UK sign up for a cell phone contract, get a free phone and a free "gift", ie: PS3, LCD TV, Wii, XBox, etc.. 

There's no catch, except that you can only get these deals from 3rd party stores that offer plans for all of the major providers. Our friends signed up for a 2 year contract, got a free Blackberry and 32" TV, their friends got an XBox 360. This won't work for a hot new phone like an iPhone 4S, but will work with last year's models. 

I can only assume that either something shady is going on here or these 3rd party stores get a big enough commission from each customer that they somehow make a profit.