Monday, February 22, 2010

You have got to be fucking kidding me.

I rec'd this today:

Hi bastinptc,


We are running a special invite only competition for bloggers in the lead up to SCOOP and we would like to invite you to take part.
For taking part and successfully completing the required tasks you will receive a free $22 dollar ticket to SCOOP in your account.
All you need to do is the following:


Part 1:
Write and publish an article on your blog that incorporates the following sentence (including making the word 'poker' a link to www.pokerstars.com): 'which is why playing poker is clearly a game of skill'


Email your username and the link to your blog article to bloggertournament@pokerstars.com


Part 2:
We will send additional phrases between now and when SCOOP starts, there will be 5 in total.


Part 3:
We will award 50 additional $109 tickets to the bloggers who show the most work, imagination or make us laugh in placing these phrases within blog posts.


Also every blogger who participates in this competition will also receive exclusive access to higher value spot-prizes for live blogging promotions we will be running during SCOOP


The Rules:


1) Only one ticket per blog
2) Only one ticket per person
3) All 5 blog posts must be published
4) The word 'poker' in the phrases provided must be a link to www.pokerstars.com
5) Tickets are non-transferable
6) Judges decision is final
7) This is an invite only event


All questions and queries regarding this invite only competition should be sent to bloggertournament@pokerstars.com


Happy Blogging!
Kind Regards
Fintan C

Marketing geniuses. Write for us, oh, say five outstanding but veiled promotional pieces, and if you're lucky, we'll pay you in a tender that is only valid at the company store.

Special and exclusive. My ass. 

12 comments:

lightning36 said...

This seems to be a common response. I wonder who thought this up?

KenP said...

Party Poker paid me more for doing less.

Hell, they're actually being nicer. They made bloggers into sheep with their freeroll that gave them an SEO field day that others pay nice bucks for.

KenP said...

Here's the copy to use:

With the horrible and excessive rake at P*, winning there is proof a sucker is born every minute 'which is why playing poker is clearly a game of skill'

Memphis MOJO said...

I got one too, seemed like a lot of work for nothing.

BLAARGH! said...

...but can you tell us how you REALLY feel?

bastinptc said...

Hey Gumby on Peyote - As you no doubt have read in the comments and on a bunch of other blogs, I am not alone in my feelings. It's simple, really, so I kept it so.

If Stars wants to pay me my hourly rate to write for them, then we can talk. I'll even through in a little gratis marketing advice.

Haley said...

Seems like Stars struck quite the negative chord with this one.

bastinptc said...

J- Hey, it's just my opinion. I muster one up every once in a while. Besides, what do I know? I mis-spelled 'throw" in my comments. LOL

joxum said...

Not to worry, Bastin - 'twas only but a joke: Flushdance is not for sale either: http://flushdance.com/i-got-the-invite-too

/j.

The Dyer said...

In fairness. I am a very low stakes player and a $22 free roll in a tourney is worth a few blog posts if you ask me. You guys stay up there on your high horses. Gives me less donkeys to crush.

The Dyer

bastinptc said...

The Dyer - I am a low stakes player as well, so I understand your position in that regard. I have no hostility whatsoever toward those who choose to write the posts required for the SCOOP tickets. Other bloggers who feel similar to the way I do regarding how the offer was positioned have written about their position in a manner much more eloquent than I did, to be sure, their grammar and clarity to be admired.

BLAARGH! said...

Dyer... advertising costs money. A lot of money. It costs money because coming up with fresh, creative ideas is a lot harder than most people think. Executing those ideas is a lot harder than most people think. Keeping a creative business running is a lot harder than most people think. Big companies that can afford to spend money on creatives are constantly trying to short change them in order to save advertising costs. While $22T sounds like a lot to you, it represents about 4 minutes worth of my billing time. PS is getting you to bump their search rating for a small fraction of the price they would normally pay, and getting you to do unpaid creative work for them. This is not a "high horse" issue, it is a right and wrong issue.

Have fun at your "free" roll.