I can't believe I forgot to mention this before! Remember that movie ticket giveaway thing I had awhile back? Well, at least one of the winners didn't get a movie ticket out of it, but instead received, like, a Ghost Rider hat or something like that. I thought that was absurd, so I wrote to the prize people at Buzztone to ask, "What's up with that?" Their response was quite irritating. Here it is:

Due to a limited supply of screening passes, we had to send out Ghost Rider promotions like a movie t-shirt or a cap. We tried to accommodate everyone with screening passes but since they were going out fast, not everyone got a pass. Instead, some got merchandises. We apologize for this inconvenience and I hope your winner understands.

How bogus is that? Just to be clear, here is what their initial e-mail said to me- "We have set aside some screening passes for you to give away on your site." Here is their follow-up e-mail:

The passes are limited so each site is offered only 4 passes. We are expecting the winner to receive the tickets prior to the screening. However, if the winner does not get the tickets in time, email us back and we will send movie tickets to see the movie after its release,

. Finally, here's the kicker, the NEXT follow-up e-mail:

Thank you very much for that [my contest post]. Once the results are in, please send me the mailing addresses of the winners and we'll get the screening passes out as soon as possible. There are 4 passes reserved for your winner(s). Thank you once again for your help. Have a great day!

How absurd is this? I am not a fan of the whole airing of dirty laundry stuff, and if it was me, I wouldn't bother. But these are people who were told by me that they won tickets, and they didn't because of what appears to be just outright dishonesty on behalf of the prize people, and if it is not dishonesty, it is at least incompetence ("We reserved you four passes - oops, never mind, the passes went too fast, how about a hat?"). Poor showing by Buzztone.