Denny's Contest Has No Entries. Dear Denny's: We Won't Work for Food.

From the how not to create a viral campaign files:

Denny's kicked off its "America Votes 4Real" contest on July 8th and, so far, it has no entries - despite 25,000 views of a sample video. In the contest, Denny's wants John McCain and Barack Obama look-alikes to submit a video of themselves advocating "real breakfast." The prize? Big whoop: "Two lucky consumers" win a free Denny's breakfast once a month for a full Presidential term.

Dear Denny's and Fleischman-Hillard, (Denny's PR firm): if you want people to take the time and make the effort to create great content for you - as people have proven time and again that they can - you need to offer great prizes. Hint: that would not be 48 breakfasts at Denny's.

Some delusional commentary from Denny's press release:

"Elizabeth Geer, senior director of advertising and merchandising for Denny's, said, "Denny's 'America Votes for Real' campaign allows the nation to express its opinion by casting its vote - as is the American way, supporting real breakfast and spreading the word that they aren't going to settle."

Geer continued, "Our research shows most consumers would prefer a real breakfast. They appreciate the fresh ingredients and made-to-order preparation and, of course, the delivery of being served on real dishes with real silverware by a smiling server. Now all of America can stand for real."

Posted by BL Ochman
UPDATE: There are still no entries in the Denny's contest. The same two sample videos are still lonely all by themselves.

Holy hell - this is hilarious! Not to laugh at anyone's dismay but the fact that so many people probably gave a funny look at their computer screens when viewing what the Grand Prize was - is hilarious. We wish we could have made a viral of THAT...each face looking in confusion like "What the hell?" No one wants 48 Denny's Breakfasts - except maybe the homeless man down the street.

a lot of contests have meager prizes, but this is the worst yet. they'd be better off feeding the homeless than running a contest like this one

It seems Denny's is either unclear on the concept of user generated content, or Fleischman-Hillard's campaign is pure genius -- in a few months Denny's could be running crazy viral presidential look-alike ads across the Net...they may even migrate to the big tube?

Nobody wants to work for breakfast...but there is no shortage of people dying for 15 minutes of fame...

John - unclear is putting it mildly. there are still no entries. http://www.youtube.com/group/vote4real

"Fleischman-Hillard's campaign is pure genius" NOT.