Fake giveaways, bad practice to gain exposure.

Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Have you heard that phrase? I have and I am not going to be fooled ever again. At least not on sharing for a chance to win. Not anymore.

It was just a couple of weeks ago that I attended a social media event. During the event, not once, but twice we were asked to share pictures on social media using an specific hashtag for the chance to win prizes. One of the prizes was valued at $500 so as you can imagine, a lot of people were sharing. However, to date, the winners have not been announced. (I even asked the brand if they had chosen a winner yet)

It is not the first time I have seen this happening. In the past, I had been sent out a toy and asked to take pictures of the toy in different places with the hashtag for a chance to win a big prize. Once again, prize winner never announced and the brand continue the "collaboration" relationship like nothing.

Why do brands (and even bloggers) do this? Well, the gain the exposure and reach with your post,. All your tweets, pictures, etc reach out your followers, without the brand having to actually pay for that "free" advertising. They also do it, because we participate with hopes of winning and because we trust them. 

Apparently this practice is pretty common. You see it over and over again on Instagram. Regram this picture and you could win. Retweet this and you could win. Share on Facebook for a chance to win. You see these type of posts every day from big and small companies. 

This is the WAKE UP post. I hope it helps people realize that you might not get a prize even after you share and post. Participate at your own risk. You might be part of this type of scam. There is no other way to put it out there or call it different. It is a SCAM. 

Sorry brands, I am done with sharing for a chance to win. You can afford the prizes so it is pity trying to fool us. We have learned the type of game you are playing and we will not be playing it anymore.
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Have you ever shared for a chance to win and never heard about a winner? Share below, let us know you are also tired of brands fooling you.