From Today's "You've-Got-To-Be-Kidding-Me" File...

Club Libby Lu.

If you've ever had daughters, you know this place. For those of you that haven't been so blessed, it's a pink and purple and glittery and feather-boa kind of place that you can take your daughters and they can have tea-parties and tiaras and be everything that little girls enjoy being. I suspect that Club Libby Lu, found in many suburban malls, is pretty much a money-printing factory.

So, like many businesses, they have promotions aimed at their demographic clientele.

In this case, a trip for four to New York City--airfare, hotels, the whole bit--to see Hannah Montana in concert.

This may not mean much to you, but I suspect that if you have a girl aged 8-12, winning this would be the high holy day of her childhood to date.

And, Club Libby Lu decided to hold an essay contest. 5 sentences (not much of an essay...but the contest was for kids who might be in 2nd or 3rd grade) about how they would "rock" someone's holiday season. Here's the 6-year-old girl's winning essay:

"My daddy died this year in Iraq. I am going to give mommy the Angel pendant that daddy put on mommy when she was having me. I had it in my jewelry box since that day. I love my mommy."

Breaks your heart, right? You can see why Club Libby Lu awarded her the grand prize, right?

One problem: It's not true.

At all.

Once the winners showed up at the store with the obligatory cameras recording the surprise moment for promotional purposes...and the obligatory questions about the story were being asked...

...well...

...the story started to unravel. At that point Club Libby Lu started following up on the details, and confirmed no soldier by the name the family supplied had died on the date they said he died.

Here's a quote from the mom: "We wrote whatever we could do to win. It said to write and essay. It never said it had to be true. I never said it was true...It was just an essay. We wrote whatever we could to win."

Club Libby Lu officials said, "We told a 6-year-old today that she was going to see Hannah Montana, and we're not going to renege on that."

So, props to them for their integrity. You are better people than I am. Or at least better business people than I would be in this situation.

However, I can officially say, for the record, the mom will not be winning The Diner's award for Mother-Of-The-Year 2007.

Enjoy your trip to New York. I hope it's all worth it. Because when your 6-year-old has forgotten all about her whirlwind trip to the Big Apple to see the show...

...she'll remember life lessons about integrity in the little things. And don't be surprised, Mom, when she does the same things to you regarding integrity in the little things. She's watching you like a hawk.

And, maybe, just maybe, Mom, those of us that appreciate what our servicemen are doing right now don't like their sacrifice being used to see a concert. The very freedoms they're dying to protect are the ones you're manipulating in the grossest of ways to see a show. And, while you likely don't see the irony of that reality...

...surely you'll understand why any thinking American is bordering on outrage, right?

And, just so you can check up on this little story for yourself, you can get that here, complete with video from Channel 8.