One of the most ridiculous online competitions currently going on is Royal Imex's Hair Style Trendz Magazines' Hollywood Hair Fantasies Picture Competition that's offering a total of $250,000 in total cash and prize. They're giving away $1,000 to a hair stylist and $500 to a non-professionals EVERY WEEK for the ones who send in the best hair photos. This competition has far too many loopholes. First of all, it states that you must use the company's hair (Royal Imex is the maker of Hollywood Hair & Zury Hair). People have already told me they plan on sending some hot pictures from a few years ago and will go to the store later to buy a pack of hair in order to retrieve the code numbers that are necessary. Some hair stylists say they will be sending several different photos under other people's names and will cut in the imposters with some of the winnings. It's amazing what people will do to get some cash. And how can the presenters of this competition dispute someone getting assistance on their style(s)?
Looking further into this competition, what's the purpose for the online voting? According to the guidelines, hair industry professionals and representatives from the publication choose the winners, not the voters. Then, all the winners are invited to participate in their 2010 Summer Hair Show (city, date and location not yet announced), but it's not clear if their expenses will be paid. Often, it costs a hair stylist a few thousand dollars to travel with a quality hair production. Plus, how much of this $250,000 in cash and prize is really cash? And according to the ad, it doesn't say prizes - it says "prize" - as in "one prize." What would that prize be, a new car or SUV? Hmmmmmm.
Even after giving away $1,500 per week every week from November, 2009 up to the summer of 2010, that's about $6,000 in cash per month, leading up to the finals. There's a lot of cash & prize left to reach $250,000. Also, what type of styles are they really looking for? With the word "fantasies" in the title, is this a fantasy hair contest? Or is "fantasies" just a part of the hair brand? Plus, after viewing some of the entries, it's obviously not a fantasy contest according to the photos posted. Also, if you don't have your hair style(s) taken by a professional camera, you don't have much of a chance. You can barely see the hair on some entries.
It seems as though Royal Imex is trying to gather as many photos as possible to reproduce in their magazines without having to pay too many professional photographers, while at the same time, they're building their data base with every entry. This competition doesn't explain itself thoroughly and may create a serious backlash later - you know how fast the word spreads across the country. It's hard to expect a loser to spend money or talk good about a company when they believe something is unfair or unclear (and there will be many, many more losers than winners). Some competitions do more harm than good and this one isn't shaping up to be a positive.
People ask me all the time, what do you think? This one I can't recommend to our clientele.
I can't see many people going for the banana in the tailpipe.
