As tiresome as it can be to hash through the details of this contest"meltdown", I put together a synopsis of many of the points brought forth in this blog. Since the beginning, we've tried to validate the Home Depot YouTube contest decisions. So far, we haven't had much luck in disproving anything we suspected, except one... the fact that Home Depot probably had the right to delete all the messages on YouTube that contradicted their decision (still, not a great publicity move). Let's take a look at the battle against reality:
[1] HOME DEPOT/IMRE COMMUNICATIONS:
Official Rules state that entrants are prohibited from submitting copyrighted material
REALITY:
Winning video contained copyrighted material
[2] HOME DEPOT/IMRE COMMUNICATIONS:
Said the "very brief image" in question in the winning video didn't impact their judging
REALITY:
There were four, not one, images that were re-edited to avoid disqualification.
[3] HOME DEPOT/IMRE COMMUNICATIONS:
Claims they sent notice to entrants, telling them their video would be disqualified, and gave them the opportunity to rectify
REALITY:
Another video was disqualified, but never officially notified
[4] HOME DEPOT/IMRE COMMUNICATIONS:
Official Rules state that entries may be submitted no later than 11:59:59 p.m. EST on December 15, 2007 (Rules: "Videos submitted prior to or after the Contest Period will be disqualified")
REALITY:
Winning video submitted after December 15, 2007 (December 21st)
It has been too long with too little response from Home Depot and Imre Communications. I'm urging all readers to take a moment to contact the people below however you can and ask them to explain any or all of the five "reality checks" above. Then, whether you get a response or not, please send an e-mail with an update on what happened (hdmeltdown@yahoo.com). If they aren't feeling enough heat to answer the questions that so many of us have, you can help "turn up the heat". Do what you feel comfortable with, but do something! Do you want an official answer to these issues, or do you want to quietly close the door?
[5] HOME DEPOT/IMRE COMMUNICATIONS:
View Content (number of viewers as listed by You Tube) is 20% of the judging criteria
REALITY:
Winning video re-submitted, creating a view count of ZERO, yet still remained the winner
HOME DEPOT:
[a] Frank Blake, CEO Home Depot, francis_blake@homedepot.com
[b] Paula Drake (Media Contact) paula_drake@homedepot.com 941-488-1289
[c] Manish Shrivastava, president of Home Depot Incentives
Main Line: GA Tel. 770-433-8211 - Toll Free 800-430-3376
IMRE COMMUNICATIONS:
[d] Will Zweigart willz@imrecommunications.com 410-821-8220
[e] Cathy Austin, Partner & Senior Vice President cathya@imrecommunications.com
[f] Dave Imre, APR, President & Partner
Main Line: 410.821.8220, FAX: 410.821.5619 info@imrecommunications.com
Or, get creative...
[g] Entrants, instead of faxing your signed affidavit to Madeline Wong as requested, send her a fax demanding answers from those responsible before you sign away all the free publicity they want from your video. Fax it to 770-384-2824.
[h] Contact your local stations or newspapers and alert them
[i] Express your concern with your local Home Depot managers and, if applicable, how the contest might have affected your relationship with the store
Please be polite but firm with all your correspondence. Now go for it!
(UPDATE: We've added a couple more contacts for you to try. From what we're seeing in the comments, Home Depot is sending out cookie-cutter responses that parrot what they posted in their message boards on YouTube (before they promptly deleted them). They seem to have mastered the art of "copy-and-paste" in their response, and I have yet see any more insight to justify their decisions)
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