Status: PR Stunt (I'd wager $1 million it's never awarded to anyone)
At the upcoming Bigfoot Conference in Texas, Loren Coleman plans to announce a
$1 million prize for anyone who can safely capture a "Bigfoot, Yeti, Lake Monster, Sea Serpent, or other cryptozoological specimen." It's a good bet this money is never paid out. I wonder if Coleman will actually put aside $1 million in an escrow account, or if he'll only worry about coming up with the cash once someone produces a specimen. These million-dollar prizes always strike me as phony, even when skeptics offer them (such as Think and Reason's
$1,000,000 reward to prove God exists). No one ever gets the money. The only purpose of the prize is to generate publicity.
Comments
"Like proving God exists; anyone who captured a Big foot or a sea serpent wouldn't need his measley 1 mil."
Why would it necessarily be expensive to find Bigfoot? If the thing is out there walking around, why couldn't it be found by an amateur with a camera? Even if it did cost more than a million bucks to capture it (live or on film), wouldn't the million bucks go a long way toward reimbursing the finder?
It also seems to me that winning this prize would open the door to a lot of other money-making possibilities, like licensing the film to TV shows, etc.
Sasqploitation?
"Cranky, I believe the idea is that $1 million would be a pittance compared with the value of a living sasquatch. You could earn far more than that exploiting it, so the reward is less meaningful."
Well, yeah, but the million would be ON TOP of what you'd make with the thing, right?
This whole discussion is moot, though, since there ain't no Bigfoot.
"At the 5th Annual Texas Bigfoot Conference in Jefferson, Texas, October 15-16, 2005, and the Bates College Cryptozoology Symposium in Lewiston, Maine, October 28-29, 2005, Loren Coleman will be unveiling the details of a $1 million bounty to encourage the public assist in obtaining a photograph that will lead to the safe capture of a Bigfoot, Yeti, or Nessie."
And: "...Loren Coleman plans to announce a $1 million prize for anyone who can safely capture a "Bigfoot, Yeti, Lake Monster, Sea Serpent, or other cryptozoological specimen.""
The "other cryptozoological specimen" is a wild card that begs questions. Is this ANY previously-undescribed animal?
I suspect that the bounty is limited to Bigfoot, Yeti and the Loch Ness Monster. None of these animals actually exist. He might as well extend his bounty to satyrs, fairies, leprechauns and unicorns. The bounty may not be a hoax, but the desired creatures are hoaxes or myths.
Having said that, the bounty is a worthless public relations scam. Nobody with any business sense would claim the bounty if they did capture any of these "things" alive. There would be a great number of other legitimate entities that would pay far more than $1 million for a living Bigfoot, Yeti or Nessie.
Demanding proof of $1 million in escrow is stupidity following the stupid. The sudden capture of a living specimen (of these) would cause multiple institutions to offer many millions in cash for the animal. If you sold it to Coleman for $1 million (that is what a bounty is about), he could easily sell it later the same day for $5 million.
It's not like you're ever going to have to pay it.
On the other hand ...
"... The "other cryptozoological specimen" is a wild card that begs questions. Is this ANY previously-undescribed animal? ..."
As a matter of fact, I have a fish in my home aquarium that has not (yet) been scientifically described (that doesn't mean nobody's ever seen it, obviously, it just means nobody's published a detailed taxonomy of it). It's known among fish geeks as "Gymnogeophagus species 'Rosario II'." I like this fish a lot, but I might be willing to part with it for a million dollars or so.
The money was never from me personally, and from the first rumors of the forthcoming announcement, this detail was made clear.
It was going to be about photos that lead to the capture of a specimen, but the funding organization (Duel Masters of Wizards of the Coast, Hasbro) and their lawyers decided someone could be hurt in a misunderstood frenzy to kill a Bigfoot or some such scenario.
Therefore, before the formal announcement, it was changed to a photo contest, with secure money prizes, and nothing to do with capturing or killing a cryptid.
Instead of a possible prize that might have been given by Hasbro (they do have that much money), actual prizes totally $9000 were distributed during 2006 as the conclusion of their "Creatures Appreciation Week" contest.
The top prize of $5000 went to a 14 year old for his photograph of Mothman. The other prizes went to a variety of individuals, mostly for photos of Bigfoot-type creatures.
No one every hid the fact it was a promotion tied to a Duel Masters launch in the USA. It was to encourage "cryptozoologists-in-training" and targeted at young males between the ages of 12-19 who like these kinds of cards.
All the exact details, and not the rumors noted in this above posting, were found online at http://www.caw2005.com from the first day of the formal announcement during the week before Halloween 2005.
Best wishes
Loren Coleman