I'm with you, DCrux. These contests are nothing more than a way for companies to try and find the cheapest, most desperate possible "talent" out there. People will go to insane lengths to win one of these for the "prestige" factor.
I did it once...sort of...in my very early days. I saw this 'logo design contest' where, for the chance at $50, I could design a company logo to be used everywhere.
So...I figured I had a couple of hours to kill at the time, whipped something decent together, and submitted it. Within 15 minutes, I received an email from someone in the company claiming that it was the 'worst' of the entries and that I should do a lot better because there were people spending 10-15 hours on their logos (note: I hadn't told them how long I had worked on the logo.)
Needless to say, I immediately realized what was going on. If my entry were that bad, I never would have received feedback. They just wanted to see how cheaply I would work. I emailed them back saying it was the best I was capable of (which, if I'd bothered to put in the 10/15 hours, wouldn't have been, but not for $50) and never heard from them again. Haven't entered a contest since.
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