How Far Would You Go?

I waited with anticipation and a fair degree of curiosity until the Dracarkis Jeweller’s Facebook page announced the winner of a $10,000 diamond ring through their recent Hearts On Fire competition in April this year, held in Sydney. To enter this competition first you had to solve a number of clues that were posted on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and their website, then you had to access a map and finally on the last day, front up and join in a search in Hyde Park after asking the right person in the crowd to ‘marry you’.

Finally you had a chance to find the ring hidden somewhere in the park. The competition was well promoted and appeared to have a huge following – at the beginning at any rate! Good on Dracarkis Jewellers for being creative! The Facebook post announcing the winner finally went live and there, before us, was a photo of the smiling face of the winner, holding her prize ring in her hand, showing it off to all of us would were too lazy or couldn’t be bothered to go through all the hoops to win it.

Silly us…she looked elated and so she should be. Who wouldn’t want to win a $10,000 diamond ring like this one? Comping is a great hobby. It can be creative and challenge us mentally as well as social and just fun. Who doesn’t enjoy those days when the prizes arrive? But how far would you go in order to win a prize? The steps that the winner of the diamond ring had to take were not as complicated or as daunting as some that compers I know have been prepared to go to in the course of securing a prize.

Here is one story from a fellow comper that I am sure not many of us would be happy to replicate. The competition was run by UBank, who offered the opportunity to win $1,932 (which was the average saving one could make at the time if they switched their home loan to UBank). Entrants had to say what they would be prepared to do to win the cash and they also had to be prepared to go through with their pledge if they won one of the ten prizes up for grabs.

The only problem for the said comper was – his pledge was to man a Kissing Booth in the Queen Victoria Markets (in Melbourne) and raise money for charity. That was all well and good, but the stunt was also to be professionally videoed and uploaded to YouTube. Despite some early nerves, he duly went through with it, received his prize and actually admitted that it had been fun. The other two prize-winners, who were bold enough to go through with their pledges were a male entrant who walked down Rundle Mall (in Adelaide) in full drag and a female entrant who dyed her long hair green (the UBank colour).

Would you have gone through with these? I’m not sure I would have but…? How far would you go? To get you thinking, here is a list of things I definitely wouldn’t do.

1. I wouldn’t do anything naked.
2.  I wouldn’t cook anything in public. This is basically because I am just a lousy cook and probably wouldn’t get chosen anyway.
3.  I wouldn’t do anything that would cost me money because essentially, I don’t have any (which is why I would have been hoping to win the prize).
4. I wouldn’t do anything where I would be too cold (winter) or too hot (summer) because I am a wuss.
5. I wouldn’t do anything that involves my hubbie because he is not into comping. Yes…he’s missing out, I know. And that’s how far I wouldn’t go! For now.