Thursday, June 23, 2005

In the News

A 28-year-old woman is suing a radio station in Lexington, Kentucky, after the "100 Grand" prize she won by being the 10th caller turned out to be a Nestle's 100 Grand candy bar. The station later offered her $5,000 (presumably in addition to said candy bar), but she is having none of it. She is quoted in the article as saying "Nobody would watch and listen for two hours for a candy bar." Yes, and on the other hand, no radio station would fork over 1,000 Benjamins to a person for just listening to the radio for a couple hours. I seem to recall the contests for anything more valuable than a pair of concert tickets tend to be rather involved. In one of my former radio station markets, there was a three-stage contest just for a set of patio furniture. The car they gave away each summer, worth maybe half of what this woman expected to win, required a three-month commitment to listening to the station to pass all stages of the contest.

The article also states:

Before her family went to sleep that night, Gill says, she promised her children — ages 1, 5 and 11 — that they'd have a minivan, a shopping spree, a savings account and a home with a back yard.

"What hurts me is they were going to get me in front of my children, all dressed up, and hand me a candy bar, after all those promises I made to them," she told the Lexington Herald-Leader. "You just don't do that to people."

Again, as much as I want to feel for this woman for having been taken in by a radio contest, I can't help wondering how she thinks $100,000 will buy a minivan, home with back yard, and a shopping spree with enough left over for a savings account.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Don't forget that in another of your former radio station markets, a station had a contest to see who can stay in a car longest. 5 people were crammed into a car (can't remember what it was. I think it was a mid-size Honda) and a marching band was hired to wake them up one morning. I remember asking one of the contestants what they would do if they stayed in the car longest and won it. She said the first thing she would do is reapholster.

I also remember thinking life isn't long enough to sit in a car for months just so I can drive it home.

Elie