I innocently signed my son up for the “Baby of the Year” Competition after seeing an ad on Instagram.
I had no idea that voting could be paid for. My poor mom wanted my son to win so badly that she donated $40. Now, I’m seeing all kinds of scam threads. I’m pretty sure they are luring parents and their families to pay for votes.
This is so sad. Jessica Alba is the face of this competition, and Colossal is the company behind it. This is such a messed-up ploy. They even claim it’s a tax write-off! Most people in this competition don’t make enough to have “write-offs.”
It’s giving Marie Antoinette “let them eat cake” vibes. I think there should be a class action lawsuit against Jessica Alba and this idiotic competition that exploits innocent families.
Edit: I know no one will see this from the parent’s point of view, but to anyone who entered and took the time to answer prompts and participate, only to find out at the end that winning was determined by who donated the most—I’m sorry. As a new parent, you may have been lured by the cute videos Jessica Alba made and trusted it wouldn’t be a pay-to-win deal. Most of us were not trying to “exploit” our own children, even though many people will say that. If you were in the competition, you would know that there were steps that made parents become invested and pulled on our heartstrings. Questions about our babies’ growth, their favorite toys, etc. Only towards the very last step was it revealed that your voters should pay for votes.
To an outsider, this would look like you were asking for donations or money, making you (the parent) look greedy or mean-hearted. When it all started, you truly believed you had the cutest baby and you do! But these people took advantage of that and used it for their greed.