February 05, 2010
YuhRate has been hosting a Valentine’s Day competition on facebook that allows entrants to win a free Valentine’s Day dinner at three of Kingston’s fine dining restaurants – Café Aubergine, Chez Maria and Tamarind.
We asked Valentine’s related questions for peoples to respond and post to our YuhRate Facebook page. Though the entries are important, it was the number of likes, i.e. votes, that declares the winner.
We began promoting the competition on January 18th via Facebook ads and banners on all Panmedia websites.
The first leg of the competition ran for two weeks and the winner was announced January 29th. By the first weekend there were two people with clear leads. In the second week of voting things heated up.
A new contender who seemed determined to win had amassed 100 votes by mid-week. Then the excitement started. The top entrants, Troya Oliver and Tiffany Hinds, were racing for votes, apparently however they could get them. Soon, there were charges that Tiffany was creating fake profiles on Facebook to vote for herself. Here is one entry addressing that issue:
“Rory Newell :
why u a CHEAT ?! DEAN WILLIS IS A FEMALE? YORT OLIVIA [Troya Oliver was the contender]... MALE? LOOKS LIKE U JUST SPELT THE NAME OF UR BIGGEST COMPETITOR BACKWARDS, HMMMM.
Dean Gayle :
she making up ppl. lol.
Shanzy Tokio-poo Smith:
a wah dis man...tiffy u know dem ppl l ya!!!! WOW "Rory" THE OSCAR FOR SHERLOCK HOMES DUDE HAS ALREADY BEEN AWARDED>>>SO STOP TRYING TO FIND A MYSTERY WHERE THERES NONE>>>DUMBASS....lowe mi fren an understand u self”
In addition to the public outcry on the Facebook page that contestants were ‘cheating’, others who were concerned with the integrity of the process sent Panmedia emails saying that entrants were indeed being dishonest. Our own checks showed some suspect Facebook accounts, but we could not prove anything definitively. So we ran a post asking for the dishonesty to cease.
Nonetheless, the competition had an exciting finish. On the morning of the last day of voting for the first leg of the competition, the top contenders had more than 130 Likes/Votes each. By cut off time at 12:30 pm Troya Oliver’s vote count had increased to 139, making her the winner. Tiffany Hinds was a close second with 133.
First Question:
Say how you would celebrate Valentine’s Day with your sweetheart in 200 words or less.
YuhRate Valentine's Day Competition first winner Troya Oliver collects her voucher for Cafe Aubergine from Alex Morrissey, Manager, Design and Online Media.
Troya’s Winning entry
Firstly, my valentine would be treated to a hot soapy sponge bath after I woke him up to a breakfast of strawberry pancakes and whipped cream. Then I would lead him to the bedroom and give him a vanilla scented oil massage to ease the tension of his workweek. After the massage, we would go for a dip in the pool and la...y out together in the sun. While he stroked my hair, I would play with the water beads on his chest and kiss him gently on the lips then whisper "I love you." We'd watch the sunset on the verandah and talk about the most intimate moments we've shared over the past three years and laugh about our arguments. Later, we would go for dinner at cafer Aubergine and during dessert he would ask me to close my eyes and place a little black box on the table and then ask me to open it.... :)