WIN real spy gear by helping Brenda Priddy!
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Spy photographer extraordinaire Brenda Priddy was so pleased that her "mugshot" appeared on Autoblog today that she's sweetening the deal for Autoblog readers only. If you donate any amount of money to her Jail & Bail charity drive that benefits the March of Dimes, you can enter to win this "ESPIONAGE" baseball cap from the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. that's been customized with the name "Brenda Priddy & Company" on the back. It's like real official spy photography gear, just make sure not to wear it in Arizona with a camera around your neck. Not a good way to make friends with out-of-towners just passing through.
Entering couldn't be easier. Follow this link to Priddy's Jailbird web page and choose to donate whatever amount you'd like. The amount won't affect your chances, but if you're cool you'll do at least $10 because it's for a really good cause. We did $25, but no pressure. This is the important part – when asked to leave a comment for Priddy, write "Saw this on Autoblog". Only donations that are accompanied by the comment "Saw this on Autoblog" can be part of the drawing for the spy hat.
If the response to this is good enough Brenda promised to pull out more spy gear to give away, so let's help the March of Dimes save some babies!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Howard Kerr 6:30PM (9/08/2006)
You are kidding?
Brenda Priddy is notorious to motorheads on the net as a person who is EXTREMELY vigilant about being credited for her spy shots...and she wants support for her favorite charity?
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Fred Simmons 6:49PM (9/08/2006)
Howard: I think the whole point of her "vigilance" is that the spy shots are her business. It's how she pays the bills. And when web sites steal (yes, that's exactly what some do) her shots, it's like shoplifting at KMart. She must have huge expenses. I'm always amazed when people turn the tables and make a situation such as the one I'm talking about - taking someone's property - photos or money or clothing or cars - suddenly makes the owner/victim the person in the wrong.
I don't know if this is her favorite charity or not, but it seems to be a good cause. And she gets no personal gain here. As a matter of fact, it appears that she's even donating "prizes". What could be so bad?
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Car chops and Discussion 8:00PM (9/08/2006)
looks kinda cheap :
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Fres Simmons 8:44PM (9/08/2006)
It's JUST a hat.
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Howard Kerr 10:00PM (9/08/2006)
Re Fred Simmons,
you have a good point and I was thinking of agreeing with you, but then I read a post in connection with another "article" here on AutoBlog that I had not read when I posted my comment on this article.
The poster made the comment that pictures taken by Ms. Priddy were, for all intents and purposes, FREE publicity for many car companies. (Publicity some of them may not have wanted?) I don't know how the spy photo business works, articles I've read in Car&Driver and the British magazine CAR, lead me to believe that folks like Ms. Priddy and Mr.Hans Lehmann are never paid by the companies whose cars they photograph. Quite the opposite, car companies DON'T want these folks near their cars or their facilities. A case can be made that Ms. Priddy and Mr. Lehmann pay their bills by "stealing" pictures of cars.
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John Neff 11:29PM (9/08/2006)
Car spy photographers steal nothing. They shoot vehicles out in public, which isn't illegal. There's nothing the manufacturers can do to stop them except for not driving test mules on public roads.
And, the hat is a nice token offered by Brenda to encourage people to donate to a really good cause. It is just a hat, but there are a lot of people out there who donate money to charities without expecting anything in return. We're happy Brenda has offered a little token to sweeten the deal, but we didn't expect her to put up her favorite DSLR or anything.
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Mustang 2:26PM (9/09/2006)
Howard: I have to disagree. If the car companies really didn't want their product in "spy" photos then they would camouflage them much better than the little zebra stripes that they use today.
Take for example Porsche, and the trouble they've been going through to not let the public see the actual Panamera. They've even put the Panamera's drive train in various other vehicles so the car itself wouldn't be seen. On the other hand before Ford released the GT500 there were tons of GT500 test mules all over the place with almost no camo at all, just a flat paint job and production wheels painted flat black. If they really didn't want the GT500 seen don't you think they would have just run the car in V6 trim?
The reality of it is that the auto manufacturers LOVE it when Brenda snaps a shot of their cars because it's free advertising, and builds hype around upcoming vehicles. If Brenda stopped taking pictures tomorrow the auto manufacturers would probably start releasing little spy shots of their own.
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SONYA HARDEN 8:51PM (9/17/2006)
I HAVE A DISABLED CHILD MY SELF I COMMEND HER FOR SUPPORT OF MARCH OF DIMES THANK YOU FOR HELPING THE CHILDREN OF THIS WORLD
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ralphie 10:08AM (10/05/2006)
The car spy photo biz works both ways, trust me.
Auto PR types have told me that they've both garnered advance PR by "anonymously" calling the mags and shooters alike to say "if you happen to be by the McD's between say 1-3 there's a good chance you might see a copy of the latest ABC Sedan parked nearby" hint hint.
And I've been in Death Valley where we took cars out for a spin and there's two carloads of shooters with long lenses ablazing on our departure - to the chagrin of the auto firm.
The hat is a nice perk that just might get someone to donate. Give her kudos for that.
Folks, they're shooting cars, not Britney Spears or someone through the bushes and trees or hanging from a helicopter trying to get a glimpse of the celeb bride at a wedding.
There's nothing "stolen" in public that I can see.
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