THE PROOF! SIDE-BY-SIDE COMPARISON

Note: Please scroll down to the bottom to keep abreast of the incredibly controversial Home Depot $25,000 Gift Card contest meltdown. It was near-revolt at the Home Depot YouTube message board when they allowed the winning video to re-edit their video after the contest was over, just to meet contest rules (even though they disqualified others). The bottom-most post will fill you in on most of the details.

I have been able to sync up a saved original video submitted by the Longs (that they have now deleted from YouTube) with the newly re-edited version. This is the same video Home Depot declared the winner in their $25,000 contest, then allowed to be re-edited after the contest was over. In this video, we compare the two side-by-side, so you can see for yourself just what Home Depot allowed the Long family to change, just to keep them in the winner's circle, and despite the fact that their video should have been disqualified. (You can see the full, unedited version of the new video here)

The good news is, upon further analyzation, there are four, not five, copyright violations in the original video. I stand corrected on that one. The bad news is, I can find NOWHERE in the contest rules that indicate what Home Depot did was legal. It is the sole responsibility of the contest entrant to ensure they don't violate the rules. It is not Home Depot's responsibility. Am I wrong?



Take a look, and when you've seen enough, click the profile button to the left to contact some of the people responsible for this contest. Or, contact your local media stations and see if they will follow up on this story. Make sure you read all the posts below as well. Send me a comment to tell me what you think.

TODAY'S CHALLENGE: Link as many people as you can to this website or the YouTube version of the video below. Raise awareness! It all starts there!