At first I was going to agree with you, but then thought about how extortionate the commissions are for most tech recruiters... If they are trying to recruit s

At first I was going to agree with you, but then thought about how extortionate the commissions are for most tech recruiters... If they are trying to recruit smart talent with a lot of free time on their hands (IE nerdy college students), then there is probably high ROI from a stunt like this. Its on the front page of HN, probably Reddit and maybe some other blogs by now. Huge PR gain, plus a challenge that has smart creative young people clamoring to work for them. Its actually a smart investment.