By Miles Romney
If you thought the Brittany Spears marriage was crazy, wait until you hear what a local radio station is offering contestants.
Following the pop star”s marriage and annulment to childhood friend Jason Allen Alexander, Star 102.7 is offering prizes and tickets, while offering to pay for a couple to get married and then annul that marriage within a certain number of hours.
The contest plays out like this: The station has a song contest, and the person that wins qualifies for the chance to get married –Brittany Spears style. This means the couple will get married in the same fashion and chapel as Brittany and her ex-husband. Also, the couple will receive an all-expense paid trip to a Spears” concert with hotel and travel included.
The contest is basically a spoof on celebrity mistakes.
“It”s an attempt to slap Brittany Spears making a celebrity mistake,” said Jim Fisher, assistant professor lecturer in the University of Utah Department of Communication. “Celebrities have always been open to ridicule or criticism, when they signed that contract.”
While the radio station is putting on the contest as a promotional tool, many people feel the promotion is essentially a reflection of society and the way it values marriage.
“This is a classic example of a society that is coming to devalue marriage more and more,” said David Dollahite, a professor of marriage and family. “It would certainly be nice for members of the media to rather than jump on the bandwagon, to further trivialize the institution of marriage, but to support marriage for what it is.”
BYU students may want to think twice before getting any ideas about entering the contest. They could find themselves in hot water with the honor code office.
“Entering a contest where you get married and then annulled would be considered very inappropriate for a BYU student,” said Steve Baker, director of the Honor Code Office.
While he said there is no cut and dry policy on a situation like this, a student participating in this situation shouldn”t be surprised if he or she gets a call.
“I think it is stupid,” said Deborah Watkins an elementary education major. “It takes the sacredness out of marriage.”
Luckily for the Honor Code, not many students seem to be scrambling to enter.
“I think it”s ridiculous, it”s idolizing Brittany Spears and glamorizing divorce,” said Kristy Muir, an art major.
Regardless of how people feel about Brittany Spears and marriage, two winners will get a little taste of what it”s like to be famous.
