CBR Live! Archive
Ghost Rider Movie Contests Are Bad
- by Brian Cronin
- in Announcements
I can't believe I forgot to mention this before! Remember that movie ticket giveaway thing I had awhile back? Well, at least one of the winners didn't get a movie ticket out of it, but instead received, like, a Ghost Rider hat or something like that. I thought that was absurd, so I wrote to the prize people at Buzztone to ask, "What's up with that?" Their response was quite irritating. Here it is:
Due to a limited supply of screening passes, we had to send out Ghost Rider promotions like a movie t-shirt or a cap. We tried to accommodate everyone with screening passes but since they were going out fast, not everyone got a pass. Instead, some got merchandises. We apologize for this inconvenience and I hope your winner understands.
How bogus is that? Just to be clear, here is what their initial e-mail said to me- "We have set aside some screening passes for you to give away on your site." Here is their follow-up e-mail:
The passes are limited so each site is offered only 4 passes. We are expecting the winner to receive the tickets prior to the screening. However, if the winner does not get the tickets in time, email us back and we will send movie tickets to see the movie after its release,
. Finally, here's the kicker, the NEXT follow-up e-mail:
Thank you very much for that [my contest post]. Once the results are in, please send me the mailing addresses of the winners and we'll get the screening passes out as soon as possible. There are 4 passes reserved for your winner(s). Thank you once again for your help. Have a great day!
How absurd is this? I am not a fan of the whole airing of dirty laundry stuff, and if it was me, I wouldn't bother. But these are people who were told by me that they won tickets, and they didn't because of what appears to be just outright dishonesty on behalf of the prize people, and if it is not dishonesty, it is at least incompetence ("We reserved you four passes - oops, never mind, the passes went too fast, how about a hat?"). Poor showing by Buzztone.
- Posted on March 27, 2007 @ 10:57 PM
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14 Comments
Flush it all away
March 27, 2007 at 11:13 pm
Uh, a movie ticket is cool and all, but hats are forever!! If I had won, I totally would've preferred a tangible, lasting symbol of Ghost Rider-ness rather than the fleeting memories of a 2-hour screening.
The Mad Monkey
March 27, 2007 at 11:18 pm
I agree with Flush...
Ghost Rider was a crappy movie anyway.
The hat would've at least given protection from flying concessions thrown by irate Ghost Rider movie-goers.
Ion
March 28, 2007 at 1:13 am
How do you run out of screening passes? I have a solution... Go out, buy another one, and ship it. Better yet, in leiu of a Ghost Rider pass, send a gift certificate for a movie theatre. Then you can see ANY movie, INCLUDING Ghost Rider.
Timmy Mac
March 28, 2007 at 5:26 am
I'm just trying to figure out how having to watch Ghost Rider, even for free, could in any way be considered a PRIZE.
Joe Rice
March 28, 2007 at 5:30 am
If you wear a Ghost Rider hat, by definition, you have not won anything. You have lost much.
Michael
March 28, 2007 at 6:30 am
Especially if it's not, technically, a Ghost Rider hat, but a "Team Blaze" hat.
Ryan Day
March 28, 2007 at 7:08 am
The hat could be cool if you could set it on fire. (While wearing it, obviously. Without burning yourself. Really, that'd be some hat.)
JesseLman
March 28, 2007 at 7:18 am
It's an old joke, but...
Second Prize: 1 free ticket to a screening of GHOST RIDER!
First Prize: 0 free tickets to a screening of GHOST RIDER!
SanctumSanctorumComix
March 28, 2007 at 8:37 am
It's like that old "Seinfeld" episode where he reserves a car and the woman behind the counter says that they have no car for him as they had all been rented out.
He says: "But I have a reservation. That is what HOLDS the car HERE."
She says: "I KNOW what a reservation IS."
He retorts: "I don't think you DO. If you DID, I'd have a car. Sure, you're good at the TAKING of the reservation. But you don't understand about the HOLDING, and THAT is the most important PART of the reservation. The HOLDING."
---------
I'm not a big Seinfeld fan, personally, but that bit ALWAYS gets me to laugh. (Maybe because it's happened to me quite a few times).
Anyway, I'd also have preferred a hat or shirt, although I understand your beef is that they PROMISED tix, and thusly YOU promised tix.
You just would have liked to have been able to keep "your" word.
Admirable.
~P~
P-TOR
Rebis
March 28, 2007 at 10:44 am
Of course they're lame for not ponying up as they said they would. They got you to shill for a lame movie, Brian, and then they didn't even hold up their end of the bargain. If they had any PR skill, they'd deliver some sort of free tickets to your winners instead of dumping off some embarrassingly cheap (and no doubt made in China) promo crap. CSBG is not their landfill.
The Dane
March 28, 2007 at 11:02 am
Joe, I suspect that he who willingly dons a Ghost Rider hat had lost much prior to his contact with said hat - so much so that donning the hat would likely have a negligible affect on any kind of loss/gain valuation that we could decipher from the event (that event being said donning of the hat in question).
Not a Lawyer But...
March 28, 2007 at 2:51 pm
This is also illegal. If you hold a contest or give away and offer a specific prize you cannot change it. If you wanted to take this to a legal authority they could be in very serious trouble...
Knucklehead
March 29, 2007 at 7:48 pm
WHINERS!!! It's a friggin' movie ticket! Or a cap. Or a tshirt. Or a used condom.
Who CARES? It's dumb ass free stuff so GET OVER IT and get a life.
Sheeesssshhhh, some people...
Up Ur Ass (Dacoda)
July 4, 2007 at 7:34 am
Ghost Rider is a cool movie, it's just dumbasses like you guys don't get it and don't know what it means. Btw It's free prizes! u don't have to pay u get free stuff and if u don't like the contest then don't enter! Oooooh! a flaming hat would be cool! that would be gay like Ryan Fag. Im Out Retards