As for the awards, with what we have now seen, I now suspect that they did know, but just turned a blind eye, otherwise we would have seen some statement by now stating the award/s have been retracted, awaiting for a genuine candidate to come along.
Quite right I suspect, lets face it, the publicity machine generated far more positive publicity for the sponsers than a few wingers on a flying forum!!!
We get hoodwinked all the time by the media these days, this is nothing new. Its only the fact that it grates on a few people on a forum that its got any life. The argument that its had loads of responses and views is irrelevant, its actually a small group of posters making comments and the views are just the normal refresh as mostly the same people check in and see whats going out of a bit voyeurism!!