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Metropolis Reality Forums Ť Fairplay relative? ť

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   Fairplay relative?

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Topic: Fairplay relative? (Read 1444 times)

yesteach
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Fairplay relative?
« on: Dec 28^th, 2007, 10:20pm »

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Local news story - a six year old in GArland, TX won tickets to see HAnnah Montana in an essay contest. Her story was about her father being killed in Iraq. A local organization that works with families who have lost familyin Iraq didn't recognize the name. When DOD records were checked the man named has not been killed on that day or any oher. It's now been decided it was all made up.

No details about whether it was the kid or mom who made up the story... but I can't believe the mom allowed her to do this! Mom is refusing to talk to local reporters and has made no statement..

The company who gave the prize was shocked. Said it never occured to them to validate the story.. just wanted to make a litle girl's holiday better Sad

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AmberJ
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Re: Fairplay relative?
« Reply #1 on: Dec 28^th, 2007, 10:33pm »

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that is horrible and terribly offensive to those who actually did lose relatives... the things people will do nowadays...

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AmberJ
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Re: Fairplay relative?
« Reply #2 on: Dec 29^th, 2007, 4:30pm »

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GARLAND, Texas (AP) -- An essay that won a 6-year-old girl four tickets to a Hannah Montana concert began with the powerful line: "My daddy died this year in Iraq."

A fake essay won a 6-year-old girl four tickets to a sold-out Hannah Montana concert.

While gripping, it wasn't true -- and now the girl may lose her tickets after her mom acknowledged to contest organizers it was all a lie.

The sponsor of the contest was Club Libby Lu, a Chicago-based store that sells clothes, accessories and games intended for young girls.

The saga began Friday with company officials surprising the girl at a Club Libby Lu at a mall in suburban Garland, northeast of Dallas. The girl won a makeover that included a blonde Hannah Montana wig, as well as the grand prize: airfare for four to Albany, New York, and four tickets to the sold-out Hannah Montana concert on January 9.

The mother had told company officials that the girl's father died April 17 in a roadside bombing in Iraq, company spokeswoman Robyn Caulfield said.

"We did the essay and that's what we did to win," Priscilla Ceballos, the mother, said in an interview with Dallas TV station KDFW. "We did whatever we could do to win."

She had identified the soldier as Sgt. Jonathon Menjivar, but the Department of Defense has no record of anyone with that name dying in Iraq. Caulfield said the mother has admitted to the deception. Watch a reporter confront the mother ť

"We regret that the original intent of the contest, which was to make a little girl's holiday extra special, has not been realized in the way we anticipated," said Mary Drolet, the CEO of Club Libby Lu.

Drolet said the company is reviewing the matter, and is considering taking away the girl's tickets. E-mail to a friend

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

heres an article from CNN.com

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Genius
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Re: Fairplay relative?
« Reply #3 on: Dec 29^th, 2007, 11:13pm »

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Though not the main point of the incident, the dad is still in Iraq, isn't he?

« Last Edit: Dec 29^th, 2007, 11:15pm by Genius »

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Elizabeth
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Re: Fairplay relative?
« Reply #4 on: Dec 30^th, 2007, 4:04am »

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Uhm...since when does an essay have to be the truth before it can be entered in an essay contest?

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AmberJ
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Re: Fairplay relative?
« Reply #5 on: Dec 30^th, 2007, 7:45am »

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uh it was not a story writing contest, stories can be fiction, essays are factual. An essay is a non-fiction piece of prose...

My understanding is the contest creators wanted competitors to write an essay as to why they deserve tickets to Hannah Montana, not write a story about something fictional.

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yesteach
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Re: Fairplay relative?
« Reply #6 on: Dec 30^th, 2007, 10:13am »

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The girl's aunt used the same argument on the news "we didn't know it had to be true"...

I don't think the father even exists, I think the whole thing was made up.

On the news it said the prize has been given to someone else. Also, I work with 6-7 year olds. They don't write too well on their own, they need lots of help. which means the mom had to be in on this. What sort of ethics is this child going to have?

What's even worse, she was shown on the local news, so it's very likely kids at her school will know about this when they return. One station blurred her face in the story, but one didn't... Sad

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Heather
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Re: Fairplay relative?
« Reply #7 on: Dec 30^th, 2007, 3:48pm »

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Even if they hadn't, it really wouldn't be hard to figure out if it was a small town.

I can't believe someone would convince/let their child do this. if it was a story-writing contest, then it would give a powerful message, but to write an essay like that, lying? When so many real people die in Iraq every day? Wow. Sad

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AmberJ
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Re: Fairplay relative?
« Reply #8 on: Dec 30^th, 2007, 3:56pm »

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I personally think it's really dangerous to bring up Iraq in such a way; it's something that people want to help with.

Canada is not in Iraq but we are in Afghanistan and I know from personal experience people want to help soliders families. My brother in law is preparing to go to Afghanistan and the support is overwhelming. Some of his friends have been injured while over there and it's something that always brings a community together, a death even more.

It's quite dangerous to go "down that road". The thing that bothers me the most is that the mother said "we were willing to do whatever to win". That is more upsetting, that the mother sees no harm in what is done. Clearly if a little girl tells someone her dad (daddy's little girl) was killed in Iraq, while fighting for America, it's going to pull at peoples heart strings. I lived in Texas for a few years and when I was there at least, it was a very patriotic area. I don't know, this upsets me on many levels...

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JP
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Re: Fairplay relative?
« Reply #9 on: Dec 30^th, 2007, 11:01pm »

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I can't help but remember an inspirational message from long ago about some sport star or celebrity (not sure if it's even true). The celebrity heard of a girl who was sick and he donated money to help the girl. Then someone told him that there was no sick girl and the celebrity said "that's great news".

So yea, I don't know why I thought of the good news (her father didn't really die, nobody really died hopefully) than of the bad (she lied!!! her mother lied too!!!).

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yesteach
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Re: Fairplay relative?
« Reply #10 on: Dec 31^st, 2007, 9:55pm »

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Well it just goes on and on... the mother has now hired an attorney. According to the mother on the news tonite, they didn't say the essay had to be true... guess she missed the definition of "essay."

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Rhune
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Re: Fairplay relative?
« Reply #11 on: Jan 2^nd, 2008, 11:06pm »

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What a great example she sets for her child..

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Joab
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Re: Fairplay relative?
« Reply #12 on: Jan 3^rd, 2008, 1:45am »

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Indeed, what a mom. Duh.

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Genius
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Re: Fairplay relative?
« Reply #13 on: Jan 4^th, 2008, 10:22am »

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I don't see this contest as too different from the following scenario. Eg..

A company selling cereals organizes a contest and wants buyers to send in a short entry on why they love the cereal so much. If the prize is attractive enough, I'm sure many casual fans will also try to send in an entry to win something, even if they don't think that the company is best one around.

In Singapore (and most probably the rest of the world), it's not uncommon for students to write about a dead fictional relative/friend/whoever for narrative essays. You may even win an award for writing about a gripping (but fictional) death if you enter a writing contest.

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Rhune
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Re: Fairplay relative?
« Reply #14 on: Jan 4^th, 2008, 11:55am »

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It's interesting that that's not uncommon there. I think it's a cultural issue...here authors are generally vilified in the press if they publish something that they represent as being true, and it turns out to have been made up even if it is a harmless thing. If people read it/hear it and believe it to be true and rally behind it emotionally, they feel personally betrayed and personally lied to when it turns out to be false.

This is a good example of why people were so upset when they found out Denise wasn't exactly painting a true picture about her job situation on the Survivor finale. It had more to do with the emotional impact her false statements made, than the statements themselves. People took it very personally when it turned out to be false.

Now, the point of this contest was to give the tickets to the child the judges felt was most deserving, not to the child who's mom came up with the best fake story.

What bothers me more is that the minute this woman didn't get what SHE wanted (the tickets) rather than showing any kind of remorse or make any sort of apologies, she shot back with anger and justification. If she had come at this from a different angle and apologized and then told something truthful about herself or her daughter and why the child deserved the tickets, they might have let her keep them.

Instead she lawyered up and has continued to justify to herself and everyone else why SHE deserves these tickets for her daughter. The child didn't go get these lawyers and throw this stink, nor did she write the essay...the adult did. Mom got caught cheating, and rather than be humble about it, she's convinced herself that she's the victim here and is using her daughter as an emotional pawn to try and get her way. So, what is the lesson the daughter is going to learn from all of this?

« Last Edit: Jan 4^th, 2008, 11:57am by Rhune »

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