Video contest fraud?

[tkane18]

I was recently involved in a Halloween video contest where many of the contests and viewers of the videos feel the final outcome was fixed. The goal was to make a 2 minute Halloween video which featured the sponsor's products. In this case it's Home Run Inn Pizza. As a test, I want to link the videos here, have HPOTD members watch them then honestly rank them (1-6 with 1 being the best) to see if you agree with the final results.

The Delivery
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SLICE
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The Leaf Thing
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The Uninvited
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Pizza Coma
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The Unexpected Guest
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[MinionZombie]

The Delivery:

Nice little gimmick/gag at the end, enjoyed the zeds turning up, appreciate the effort despite the more amateur technical side of the production.

Slice:

Better technical side than the first, plays the horror/comedy card which is certainly a frequently popular thing to go for when doing these sort of contests, which are definitely ideal for such a combination of a genre plus comedy. The filmmaker plays on certain aspects of the slasher quite well, throws us some eye candy too.

The Leaf Thing:

Again, a slightly more amateur affair but with plenty of effort and such, the monster 'gimmick' was done quite well and was fun to watch.

The Uninvited:

I take it this is your vid? Anyway, I really like the opening shot, looked fantastic, I liked the addition of Night of the Living Dead as a reference and the voice over on the television, I also dug the Shaun of the Dead style "wooshing" to the quick shots of pizza prepping. The acting was the iffy part to be honest, and the pay off could have been a bit more ... duno how to explain it, coulda been a bit more ... something. But certainly not the least of the films, not at all.

Pizza Coma:

Again, like the other couple of more amateur efforts in this series, it's clearly from an enthusiastic place which I encourage. I think the central premise (in the title) needed to be played up more, and the coming up the stairs took too long in one shot, it would have been nice to have had more atmosphere, a variety of shots, better mood lighting etc. I think the idea could have been pulled off better with a bit more humour to the central premise ... and who eats pizza in their shower? :)

The Unexpected Guest:

A good deal of effort has gone into this piece, the makers clearly having a ball going for the Universal Horror era vibe, the key issue - PIZZA - is incorporated well throughout the film. The short production time is also impressive.

My favourite probably would be "Slice", then I think "The Unexpected Guest", then "The Uninvited" and "The Delivery", then "The Leaf Thing" and then "Pizza Coma".

So - what's this contest fraud issue you mention?

[tkane18]

MZ,

Thanks for your honest video reviews.

Issues:
Why was there a 6th finalist when they said there would be 5? The rules clearly state that any tie would be broken by the online votes.

The Kelly family won. Mike Kelly is a plant manager for HRI. Are the related?

Part of the grand prize was to have your house professionally decorated for Halloween. An internal email from HRI was accidentally sent to a contestant which said "I wish her yard was bigger." Was the winner picked due to the size and visibility of their location for advertising purposes?

These are only some of the issue which have been brought up to HRI. They have not responded to any of these allegations at this time.

[MinionZombie]

Which one was the Kelly family one?

Ah, marketting considerations eh? Aye, could be a stitch up alright.

[DjfunkmasterG]

Most companies don't allow its employees to participate, plus, to be honest, its their contest so their rules.

Personally, from an advertising standpoint none of them were worthy, especially the chick showing her ass and panties.