Is there no low that people won't go???

[Cloud23465]

I caught this story on the news last night and had to share it cause it's tied with disneys Hannah Montana.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sat Dec 29, 3:17 AM ET

GARLAND, Texas - An essay that won a 6-year-old Texas girl four tickets to a Hannah Montana concert began with the powerful line: "My daddy died this year in Iraq."

While gripping, it was not true, and now the girl may lose her tickets.

Her mom acknowledged to contest organizers the claim was made up specifically to win the contest.

The sponsor of the contest was Club Libby Lu, a Chicago-based store that sells clothes, accessories and games for young girls.

The girl won a makeover that included a blonde Hannah Montana wig, as well as the grand prize: airfare for four to Albany, N.Y., and four tickets to the sold-out concert on Jan. 9.

The mother had told company officials that the girl's father died April 17 in a roadside bombing in Iraq.

"We did the essay and that's what we did to win," Priscilla Ceballos, the mother, said in an interview with Dallas TV station KDFW. "We did whatever we could do to win."

She had identified the soldier as Sgt. Jonathon Menjivar, but the Department of Defense has no record of anyone with that name dying in Iraq. Company spokeswoman Robyn Caulfield said the mother has admitted to the deception.

"We regret that the original intent of the contest, which was to make a little girl's holiday extra special, has not been realized in the way we anticipated," said Mary Drolet, the CEO of Club Libby Lu.

Drolet said the company is reviewing the matter, and is considering taking away the girl's tickets.

I know there isn't an low that they won't go... people like this make me sick!

[Fireand'chutes77]

That's disgusting.

considering taking away the girl's tickets.

Why only "considering"?!! Rip them out of their hands and give them to someone who deserves them!

[campy]

That's disgusting.

considering taking away the girl's tickets.

Why only "considering"?!! Rip them out of their hands and give them to someone who deserves them!

A commenter on the blog I linked to yesterday said the mom & girl should be forced to attend every HM concert for the foreseeable future as punishment. Personally, I think just being made to go to Albany is cruel enough.

[Rob]

That's disgusting.

considering taking away the girl's tickets.

Why only "considering"?!! Rip them out of their hands and give them to someone who deserves them!

Agreed. That's just messed up right there.

A couple of yahoos, that's what they are. They deserve a nice, fat boot to the head!

[TransWarpDrive]

That's disgusting.

considering taking away the girl's tickets.

Why only "considering"?!! Rip them out of their hands and give them to someone who deserves them!

Agreed. That's just messed up right there.

A couple of yahoos, that's what they are. They deserve a nice, fat boot to the head!

A boot to the head wouldn't hurt those two...nothing up there but solid bone...:P
Seriously, though: they should be disciplined for lying like that to win the contest. The girl deserves to forfeit the tickets as a result of her part in that scam. The promoters would be wise to give them to some HM fan who couldn't afford to go to the concert.

[Greenmandmz]

Yeah, if the promoters are smart, they will take the tickets back and give them to someone who actually had a legitimate entry. Or, if they can't do that, like TWD said, give them to some kids who otherwise wouldn't be able to attend a HM concert. Being in the military myself, I am keenly aware of this sort of scam people will pull just to further their own ends.

This is particularly so for me. While I haven't lost any family in Iraq, my brother (who is with the army) just got deployed over there a few weeks ago. The men and women in the U.S. armed forces currently serving our country in Iraq deserve better than to be used as a means to scam someione into getting something. The mother obviously has little experience with the military and what they're going through on a day-to-day basis over in the Middle East. She needs rethink her priorities, no doubt about it.

[TransWarpDrive]

Yeah, if the promoters are smart, they will take the tickets back and give them to someone who actually had a legitimate entry. Or, if they can't do that, like TWD said, give them to some kids who otherwise wouldn't be able to attend a HM concert. Being in the military myself, I am keenly aware of this sort of scam people will pull just to further their own ends.

This is particularly so for me. While I haven't lost any family in Iraq, my brother (who is with the army) just got deployed over there a few weeks ago. The men and women in the U.S. armed forces currently serving our country in Iraq deserve better than to be used as a means to scam someone into getting something. The mother obviously has little experience with the military and what they're going through on a day-to-day basis over in the Middle East. She needs rethink her priorities, no doubt about it.

Amen to that, Green. It's unfair, unethical, and just plain criminal to pull a scam like this. It's also an insult to the families of service personnel for a civilian to falsely claim a loved one's in harm's way like that. I'm surprised the promoters of that contest haven't filed criminal fraud charges against that mother - she certainly deserves it for encouraging her daughter to lie in such a fashion.
Here's hoping your brother stays safe over there in Iraq - I know I worried about my older brother when he was deployed in the Middle East while serving in the Air Force (he retired with honors in 2003 after 22 years in the service).

[jeriddian]

My prayers go with your brother in Iraq, GMZ, to keep him safe.

There's no question that this mother is an amoral fool who so stupidly admitted what she did, obviously not understanding how wrong it was for her to do what she did and thinking nobody would take her to task for it. Hopefully she will be proven wrong, and I actually wonder if some form of crminal fraud charges should be brought against her. At the least, I should wonder if she should be allowed to continue to raise her own kids in such an amoral fashion. It might be better for them to be taken from her to be raised in a better environement.

[TransWarpDrive]

My prayers go with your brother in Iraq, GMZ, to keep him safe.

There's no question that this mother is an amoral fool who so stupidly admitted what she did, obviously not understanding how wrong it was for her to do what she did and thinking nobody would take her to task for it. Hopefully she will be proven wrong, and I actually wonder if some form of crminal fraud charges should be brought against her. At the least, I should wonder if she should be allowed to continue to raise her own kids in such an amoral fashion. It might be better for them to be taken from her to raised in a better environement.

Or, at the very least, she should be made to attend some classes on parenting and ethics...

[lunchmeat]

If they wanted to, the FBI could probably nail them on wire fraud, since this was an interstate deal.