In the last week I’ve gotten a few facebook messages from friends about Home Run Inn Pizza’s “Halloween Video Contest.”  This is happening because my friends all know that if there’s anything I love more than video contests it’s Pizza and Halloween

The idea for this contest is one of the best I’ve ever heard; make a horror film that includes a Home Run Inn Pizza.  Now….take a second to think about that.  You already have 3 great ideas you can film, don’t you?  How about Night of the Living Pizzas!?  Or Pizzaface the serial killer that wears a mask made of pizza!?  Or maybe a giant Pizza the Hutt type pizza blob starts getting some payback for all the pizza we’ve been eating and starts eating people!?

It’s great to see a contest that actually has a unique concept and isn’t just “shoot a commercial for us so we don’t have to pay an ad firm to do it.”  Even the contest website is one the absolute nicest I’ve ever seen; cool layout, easy to use and filled with cute monsters and pictures of delicious pizza.

There is only one grand prize in this competition.  First place will get you $2,500 but ten runners-up will each get 12 free pizzas (and Home Run Inn is like the best frozen pizza out there) and a flip video camera.

Even though there aren’t a bunch of big prizes, I was ready to start shooting just because I know me and my friends would have a ton of fun making a pizza-based horror film.  I bet you would too.  But don’t start charging up your camera battery yet.  The way this contest is being run is screwed up that no one should even bother to enter.

Here’s how the winner is selected:

1. The submission period runs from 9/21/09 to 10/19/09
2. The submission period is also the voting period.  Viewers cast a vote for their favorite video during this time.
3. At the end of the submission/voting period the 10 videos with the most votes become the finalists.  Their scores are then reset.
4. “Round two” starts and runs until 10/26.  During that time, viewers again vote for their favorite video.
5. Finally the video with the most votes, wins.

SCREW….THAT……NOISE.  That sucks!  Any contest that lets viewers pick the winners sucks already but this plan seems like it was designed to make sure a really crappy video winds up the winner.

The biggest problem is that voting is happening during the submission period.  Right now, the video in First Place has 1,422 Votes!  The deadline is still 20 days away but anyone who entered right at the start of the contest has a gigantic advantage over people who submit later.  How is anyone who uploads a video today going to be able to catch up to 1,422 votes?  And to make things worse, all you have to do to vote for a video is register your e-mail address.  In the end, the winner will be whoever feels like registering the most accounts and voting for themselves over and over.

So this is a contest that you should stay a million miles away from because it will only break your heart.  What a fricking bummer.  You know what though?  It’s a pretty effective marketing campaign.  I seriously need some Home Run Inn Pizza now.