Cryptozoology Photo Contest

I am sure most of you are aware of the $1 million reward that was announced last year by Dual Masters trading cards(owned by Hasbro). The reward was "to encourage the public to assist in the safe capture of a Bigfoot, Yeti, Lake Monster, Sea Serpent, or other cryptozoological specimen" . A few days later, it was announced that the reward was retracted due to safety reasons. However, there was another contest announced soon after that. In this contest Dual Masters were going to offer smaller cash prizes for "the best photos that help to perpetuate the mystique surrounding legendary creatures". Personally, I have had mixed feelings about this contest. If you go to the Dual Masters website you will see the news about the contest as part of their "Creature Appreciate Week" which started in late October. My first concern, are the photos they have on the site. Now, I am sure these are just there to promote the contest but they are all obvious fakes. Most done with photographic manipulation techniques, i.e. Photoshop. What most alarms me though is what is stated in the rules for the contest: Entrants may use photography tricks and/or staging of props and/or other elements within the photograph in their attempt to create a photograph that helps further the myth and allure of finding a mythical beast. That right there tells me they do not want legitimate photographs of these creatures. They want fakes. In my opinion, this is not what Cryptozoology needs. This would just encourage people to submit fake photographs for this contest. If we are ever to legitimize these creatures we need serious, scientific study. Not contests like this. I have some more news about this contest as well. I won't write about it right now. I will very soon though. Stay tuned!