From Team Fortress Wiki

“ Propaganda Contest submit page submit page Against all the rules of contest creation, there is STILL MORE! Because even if you don’t win ANY of the prizes listed above, Gabe Newell might take a liking to your poster and AWARD SOME POINTS to the side of your choice in the Soldier/Demo War. Is this fair? No! Does Gabe care? Not even slightly! ”

The Propaganda Contest was a community event run by Valve in conjunction with the WAR! Update. It encouraged users to create propaganda posters for their side of choice (BLU Soldier or RED Demoman). The posters were then submitted to Valve to be judged through the Propaganda Contest website. [1][2]

Prizes

The first prize was announced to be a one-of-a-kind hat, which was named based on the name the user wrote in when submitting their entry to the contest. The three leading prizes were later revealed to be J.Axer's Dapper Topper, Amber's Rad As All Hell Hat, and the Uncle Sam.

It was also announced that there would be 25 runners-up which would receive a mysterious Mann Co. "prize package". Over 40 runners-up were later selected, and received a Modest Pile of Hat as their prize.

The final "prize" announced was additional points for the side of choice of posters that Valve president Gabe Newell liked, which would help tip the scale of the ongoing "battle" between the Soldier and Demoman for the item that would later be revealed as the Gunboats. Because of the contest, the Soldier won the war, despite the Demomen having more kills.

Winners

1st place - J.Axer

2nd place - Amber

3rd place - John Freeman

Runners-up

Most Unique Likeness of Soldier and/or Demo

- Draw

Most Unique Likeness of Soldier and/or Demo

- Brown

Best Use of a Term We Don't Know the Meaning of, But That is Probably Filthy

- Matthias Rigling

Best Incorporation of Another Class

- Reese

Most Likely to Get Us a Cease and Desist Order From Bethesda

- LARATRON

Best Use of the Time-worn Maxim "Sex Sells"

- Agent Melon

Best Attempts to Make Soldier Look Adorable

- Delicious Spyger

Best Attempts to Make Soldier Look Adorable

- Anneka

Best Attempt to Make Soldier Look Heroic

- metalpiss

Best Attempt to Make Soldier Look Jet-Propelled

- B0nd07

Best Attempt to Make Soldier Look Manly

- Commissar K

Best Attempt to Make Soldier Look Normal

- Brooke

Best Attempt to Make Soldier Look Melting

- Nick Pearce

Best Attempt to Make Demoman Look Cowardly

- huzzah!

Best Attempt to Make Demoman Look Like a Drunk

- The Fox Fanfare

Best Attempts to Make Demoman Look Evil

- Chanicle Bullie

Best Attempts to Make Demoman Look Evil

- Daimao

Best Attempt to Make Demoman Look Like a Kamikaze Pilot

- ?Faction

Best Attempt to Make Demoman Look Like Billy Dee Williams

- The Wenny C's Pride

Best Alternate Entry by a Contest Winner

- J.Axer

Best Ironic Resuscitation of a Long-dead Genre

- Prototype

Best Use of Euclidean Space

- Hollohill

Best Attempt at Iconography

- Viva la Demo!

Best Poster to Take Into a Tattoo Parlor While Pointing at Your Chest

- BAO

Most Convincing Argument for Evolution

- Rawr/TankTaur

Most Convincing Argument for Education

- Plank

Most Convincing Argument for Learning How to Contract by One Pixel in Photoshop

- Cliff Hanger

Best Poster Evidently Scanned From a 14-Year-Old's Binder

- Ryan "Danger" Ohlemeier

Best Attempt to Raise Awareness About the Dangers of Alcohol

- Christian Grund

Best Attempt to Raise Awareness About Sticky Bomb Tragedies

- Esk

Best Use of Eye Patches

- Christian Kaiser

Best Reference to Conan the Barbarian

- UnidColor

Honorable Mentions in Catchphrase Creation

- rEJ

Honorable Mentions in Catchphrase Creation

- Wofiel

Honorable Mentions in Catchphrase Creation

- Shenanigans

Honorable Mentions in Catchphrase Creation

- .nik

Honorable Mentions in Catchphrase Borrowing

- kris aubuchon (awesomerobot)

Best Use of Garry's Mod

-Eric Salama

Best Reference to William Wallace

- Alan Longstaff

Best Reference to Uncle Sam

- Dan Tyler

Best Reference to Loch Ness Monster

- Wade "Nineaxis" Fabry

Best Literal Depiction of Larvae

- Christopher Martinez

Most Inevitable Incorporation of Urine

- Christian

Best Use of Sticky Bombs

- Michael A. Szymanski

Best Use of Gratuitous Violence

- Kyattsuai

Poster that Made Us the Most Hungry

- Swankery

Poster that Made Us the Least Hungry

- Yoplatz

Best Weapon-Centric Posters

- Saturnian

Best Weapon-Centric Posters

- Ben Holland

Best Attempts at Authentic WWII-Era Propaganda

- CaptainCube

Best Attempts at Authentic WWI-Era Propaganda

- AGENT MELON

Best Attempts at Authentic WWII-Era Propaganda

- KILOMONSTER

Best Attempts at Authentic WWII-Era Propaganda

- THE KAMINATOR

Best Attempt to Write Soldier Dialogue

- Eastman's Cranium

Most Incorrect Statement

- BLOB

Best Use of the Most Primitive Computer Art Program Available

- Zachary Lindemann

Most Disturbing Use of the Most Primitive Computer Art Program Available

- Johan