Best of West Hawaii 2020 award recipients are being targeted by a Connecticut-based company looking to take advantage of the businesses and people selected for the honor by our readers.
The company, That’s Great News (TGN), is reaching out to winners via email with an offer to create a custom plaque featuring the prestigious award and other images with prices starting at $204. The unsolicited emails began filling inboxes within hours of West Hawaii Today publishing the annual awards section on Sunday.
While a fancy plaque commemorating the recognition may look nice, there’s two problems: TGN is not affiliated with nor has it been given permission to use the copyrighted content or offer such service by West Hawaii Today or its parent company, Oahu Publications Inc.
“We’ve received feedback from our customers concerned about these unsolicited offers, and we want everyone to know TGN has no connections or dealings with your local newspaper,” said Editor Chelsea Jensen. “This is an infringement of our copyrighted material and the hard work of our dedicated staff that we are looking deeper into.”
The Best of West Hawaii results were published Sept. 27 and can be viewed as an e-edition at www.westhawaiitoday.com. We look forward to seeing all of the 120 best businesses, entertainment and activities and people proudly display their “Best of West Hawaii 2020” awards.