As a member of the media, I receive hundreds of press releases each week. Today one came through that really caught my eye. The title of the email was “Non Profit Launches Contest to Pay Off Debt.” Great! Anything to help people get motivated to pay off debt is awesome. However, the contest is sponsored by the American Debt Counseling agency.
American Debt Counseling is a credit couneseling organization and not a debt settlement company but almost everything a credit counselor can do, you can do for yourself. Although I think it is great that this contest is out there I find it interesting that it is sponsored by an organization that benefits, directly, from consumers in debt.
Here’s a copy of the press release:
CONSUMERS CAN WIN $5,000 TO HELP PAY OFF CREDIT CARD DEBT
National Non-Profit Credit Counselors at American Debt Counseling Launch “Here’s Me Debt Free” Online Video Contest
SUNRISE, Fla. (June 9, 2010) – With more than 54 million US households struggling to pay off an average of $16,000 in credit card debt according to the Federal Reserve’s 2010 report on consumer credit, the non-profit credit counselors at American Debt Counseling are inspiring consumers to shed their debt and offering to jump start their efforts through the nationwide “Here’s Me Debt Free” campaign running online at americandebtcounseling.org/heresmedebtfree.
American Debt Counseling is calling on consumers in debt to submit a funny and creative video portraying how they would feel if they were suddenly debt free. Three winners will be selected. A grand prize of $5,000, a second place prize of $1,000 and a third place prize of $500 will be awarded in the form of direct payments toward winners’ existing credit card balances.
Alan Silverberg, founder and CEO of American Debt Counseling, a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit credit counseling agency, said, “I am hopeful that our Here’s Me Debt Free campaign will inspire America’s consumers to imagine a life free from crushing credit card debt. Last year alone, our credit counselors helped clients pay off more than $37 million in credit card debt.”
Anyone 18 years or older living in the US with an excess of $500 in credit card debt is invited to use a camcorder, camera or mobile device to record and submit a video clip no longer than three minutes. Videos will be judged on originality, creativity, adherence to theme and number of page views generated.
The contest runs through 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on July 31, 2010. Winning videos will be announced in September and available for online viewing at americandebtcounseling.org/heresmedebtfree and on the American Debt Counseling Facebook page.
So what are your thoughts on the sponsorship of this program – cleverly disguised marketing ploy or altruism?
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