Jeremy Levy and Mark Phillips spent 30 hours over the last three days working to build publicity for their Web cam, but it was all for naught.

The Syracuse University students planned to live in a Chevrolet Aveo for five days, trying to earn the most votes in order to win a new car in Chevy’s ‘Livin’ Large’ contest. Despite the students’ efforts, Lilly Testa, a senior public relations major and director of Campus Hill Public Relations, had to inform Levy and Phillips they would not be able to compete with the seven other teams from across the nation.

‘I was devastated,’ said Mark Phillips, a senior political science and French language literature major. ‘This just came out of nowhere.’

Phillips said after working since Friday to put the word out on campus about the contest, the two were notified at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday about the contest cancellation.

The car the students would be living in was supposed to be parked outside either the Carnegie Library or Shaw Hall. Testa said because the car was going to be on school grounds, the University needed to sign a legal disclaimer. She said the specifics of the contract did not warrant the school’s approval because of concerns for the student’s well-being.

‘They didn’t feel as though the contract would provide enough for the safety of the participants over the course of the five days,’ Testa said.

Phillips and Levy were told when they were selected for the contest the Public Relations Student Society of America would help them promote their Web cam. The students had not been formally contacted by anyone in PRSSA until Wednesday night.

Testa explained the association was in contact with local television stations but was holding back the major public relations work until it knew for sure the contest would be occurring on campus. She said she did not contact Phillips or Levy because she didn’t have anything concrete to tell them.

‘There was no sense in informing them either way because we had no idea if (the contest) would follow through or fall through,’ Testa said.

Levy did not blame Testa for the contest being called off at SU. Instead, he said the administration did not put in the time to figure out a contract that would work for everyone. Still, he said he was annoyed the news came so late.

‘I kind of understand (Testa’s) way of thinking,’ Levy said. ‘But that cost us so much time. I just wish she could have told us there was a problem earlier on.’

Levy said the two students worked constantly for the last three days to tell people about the contest and how to vote online. They started a Facebook group called ‘Livin Large in the Aveo’ that had 378 members on Wednesday night. Levy and Phillips spent days calling and texting friends at other schools. They were in touch with local news channels, The Post-Standard and The Daily Orange to have the adventure covered by as many media outlets as possible.

In addition to contacting media, the students had come up with a game plan to generate enough popularity for their cause and prepare events to entertain the Internet viewers. Levy and Phillips bought Halloween costumes for themselves and decorations for the car. They spent time writing songs and making deals with stores on Marshall Street to sponsor them. They even contacted Garbo’s to have their chests waxed on the Web cam.

‘We just devoted so much time to this for no reason,’ Levy said. ‘It’s really embarrassing for us.’

Published on October 25, 2006 at 12:00 pm