Originals Contest and the Voting being reset and yeah...

[girlsaidwhat]

My whole sense of the contest...is that MAC really doesn't seem to give a crap about it.

I entered, and they denied my entry because they said I "made statements endorsing products". I /didn't/...I didn't mention any products at all, except for the "list three of your favorite mac products". I wrote to them to ask them to reconsider...and re-read my entry because there was no mention of anything like that.

They didn't even bother to respond.

Another thing that bothers me about the contest...is the fact that anyone who enters late is automatically at a disadvantage. If MAC were judging the contest and the winners, that would be one thing. But this "public voting" nonsense, while maybe good in theory, has proved to be nothing but a disaster.

It's a shame...this whole contest thing has definitely soured my overall MAC admiration and love. It's just so bloody obvious that they don't really give a crap about it. Why offer something to get us fans excited and then treat it like it's a big bother? Down to the typos on the page, and the form letter responses that don't really deal with the issues directly..... I'm just disappointed.

Good luck to you guys who had the fortitude to keep going.

 

[GreekChick]

Redambition, I agree with you on some points. I just don't agree with #3.
Yes, the winning girl IS being original with not wearing any makeup, however, even though the contest rules don't mention it as a necessity, she is still running for a makeup contest. When MAC does an advertisement promoting the natural look or the "no makeup" look, makeup is still there. Lots of it. It just looks natural.
When you're running for a contest like this, it is common sense to at least wear a bit of makeup, even if you're going for the natural look. This is an "Originals" contest for a makeup company, not a "Take your best black&white original photo" contest. In fact, the only thing that is original in the girl's picture is her hair. Wild and natural. Even though the rules don't mention it, shouldn't she have at least put a bit of effort in her makeup? She could have applied a bit of Chestnut lipliner for example, one of her favorite products, and still make it looks natural. Remember, this isn't a skincare company, it's a makeup company.
Even though the rules don't mention makeup as a requirement, it is only logical to wear at least A BIT of makeup, even if she was going for the whole natural look.

 

[j_absinthe]

YOU'RE F****G ENTERING A COSMETICS COMPETITION! Oh yes, it's bloody smart to look like you're not wearing ANY of the product that, because this contest is a giant popularity contest instead of something that's rewarding actual skill, innovation, and talent, will be giving you 2000 dollars to spend on...Set Powder? Hell, I really wouldn't have such a problem if the photo were at least of decent quality and color, which isn't that what makeup is all about, being able to express yourself through color, be it naturals or brights? Sorry, grainy, monochrome webcams aren't cutting it for me.

I am all about my Afro'd, urban princesses, but this is ridiculous. Not to mention there are tons of entries flooding the website that are either duplicates, poorly shot, or trying to play off what the winning girl is doing-or all of the above.

This was an extremely, lazily managed competition. Let her do her thing though with that 2000 dollars. Maybe she can pawn it for a color camera.

for the record, I have no entry in the contest, it just sucks to see fellow makeup ARTISTS getting the shaft.

 

[electrostars]

I just got a reply to my letter from MAC about the contest:


Hello Erin:

We are very sorry to learn of your disappointment with the MAC Originals Contest. We appreciate the time you have taken to share your concerns with us. Please be assured that your comments have been forwarded to the appropriate executives for their consideration and review.

The MAC Originals Contest has been modified in accordance with the Contest Rules. We regret that the MAC Originals Contest is unable to be executed as planned due to technical issues which affect the administration of the voting for the Contest. Therefore, all eligible entries received to date will be included in a random drawing to award the prizes. Potential winners will be notified by February 22nd.

We apologize for any disappointment this may cause and thank you for your understanding in this matter.

Best regards,

Heather
MAC Cosmetics Online
Customer Service


Looks like Winners are going to be chosen by Random Drawing now instead of Popular vote......

 

[CantAffordMAC]

Lol...well that'll be a rude awakening to some. When they thought they'd be winning.

I'm sure she'll be awarded something though. theres no way MAC will completely disregard the fact that she had the most votes.

 

[electrostars]

We'll see... lol.

 

[SMMY]

Wow, just wow!

 

[electrostars]

Yeah I posted about it on the last page..I got a response from mac and that's exactly what they said to me. lol.

 

[soco210]

I saw this up on the page when I went to go check (I used to check every day but it just got tiresome looking to see who was voting for themselves the most in the top 5) and they had this posted:
NOTICE: The MAC Originals Contest has been modified in accordance with the Contest Rules. We regret that the MAC Originals Contest is unable to be executed as planned due to technical issues which affect the administration of the voting for the Contest. All eligible entries received will be included in a random drawing to award the prizes. Potential winners will be notified by February 15.

I think the random drawing is the best idea at this point. I'm glad they are doing something rather than just awarding/rewarding the top internet IP scammer lol now everyone has the same fair chance. (hopefully)
Sorry if this was already posted. I did scan through them but I just woke up so I might not have seen it

 

[SMMY]

yeah, I hate to be a "I told you so", but to me, it's obvious that voting fraud was the reason MAC decided to go the drawing names route. I wish they had gone with a panel of judges instead, as that would have been for fun and eliminated whole question of fraud. At this point, though, a drawing is the best way to go.

 

[j_absinthe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SMMY Wow, just wow!

Excellent!

 

[SMMY]

Wouldn't you love to be a fly on the wall at MAC corporate to find out exactly why the contest was switched to a random drawing? I'm betting it's due to rampant voting fraud, but if I'm wrong and anyone else has the skinny, please correct me.

 

[redambition]

i'm betting it's voting fraud combined with MAC being absolutely sick of being inundated with with emails crying "unfair!" because the writer of said email decided that they don't like something about someone else's entry, or they don't like the way the contest is being run, or they think their entry should be moved up on the page, or can they change their photo oh please oh please oh please.

 

[SMMY]

Actually, the problem is that MAC grossly miscalculated the power and speed of the internet. People now are fairly tech savvy and it isn’t hard to see that MAC unfortunately didn’t factor that in when putting together the contest. Roving IP addresses and my space communities have skewed the way you can hold a “beauty contest”, if you will, on the internet. In addition, letting people post their pictures without proper oversight, is an open invitation for trolls who live for this sort of thing. Of course, people are going to be outraged when they perceive that they aren’t competing on a level playing field. Should people just shut up and suck it up? People aren’t going to do that, especially when some of them put a lot of effort into their submission. Sure you can blame the people for complaining about it and write it off, but the key point is that MAC failed to take into account the medium they were working in. That isn’t the contestants fault, well most of them, and they shouldn’t be browbeat for objecting to what obviously wasn’t a level playing field. Now it is and I think most people are happier with a random drawing.

I dare say MAC has now gained an awareness of how things work in cyber-MACland and will rethink future promotional contests, such as these.

wow, I wasn't planning on writing an essay on something like this, but there you have it.

 

[redambition]

i don't think the complaints are the entire reason they've pulled the vote off the contest - but i am sure they have received a large amount of emails that aren't necessarily raising legitimate concerns about the contest - and this would have influenced the decision.

any online vote like this will always have a degree of voting fraud that can't be detected thanks to people who know how to work the system to avoid leaving tracks. MAC have shown that they were trying to monitor this by removing duplicate votes and trackable fraudulent votes... but this seemed to make people even more upset.

i have to agree that the random draw is probably the best way for them to go now - it'll remove any perceptions of unfairness and also will help alleviate all those emails being received by MAC. i can't help but think that some of the top entrants might be a bit cranky now though... being so close to winning a vote, only have the vote stopped.

you can't please everyone with these sorts of contests.

 

[SMMY]

Quote:

Originally Posted by redambition i have to agree that the random draw is probably the best way for them to go now - it'll remove any perceptions of unfairness and also will help alleviate all those emails being received by MAC.

Well, then I think we’re in agreement on this. Our only difference of opinion is how we got there.

 

[astronaut]

Aww I wish I would have entered then. I never bothered to enter because I knew I wouldn't win the "popularity" contest.

 

[SMMY]

I maybe wrong, but I imagine MAC will try to do something to make amends to people who entered the contest legitimately. Perhaps a gift card or a special promotion code. Not that they have to, but it might help mend fences with some of their customer base and be the positive P R boast that MAC was hoping for with the Originals contest. MAC isn't the anti-christ, but like a lot of other large companies fairly new to the Internet, they have a learning curve. I'm sure the next promo will go much smoother.

Stila had a similar situation during their cyber warehouse sale that went pretty badly. Things got rather heated between their customer base and them for a short while. They made an honest effort to rectify things by offering a special discount to Makeup Alley members. It was all very silly in retrospect, but does show that companies are beginning to realize that working with customers on the Internet, is vastly different than in a bricks n mortar store. Smart companies are adapting and I'm sure MAC will do the same. Problems that occur here travel faster than by word of mouth and fairly soon the domino effect is in play. Instead of one upset customer complaining to a single sales clerk, you have thousands of woman on message boards and other Internet communities sharing their experience with thousands of other women maybe over a single issue. It would be an interesting study for a cultural anthropologist, I'm sure.

 

[glam8babe]

i noticed that 'no makeup' girl winning too and was like WTF :O theres something dodgy goin on i reckon..

 

[COBI]

This is the message I get when I go there:

NOTICE: The MAC Originals Contest has been modified in accordance with the Contest Rules. We regret that the MAC Originals Contest is unable to be executed as planned due to technical issues which affect the administration of the voting for the Contest. All eligible entries received will be included in a random drawing to award the prizes. Potential winners will be notified by February 15.