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Radio Candy Stunt Not So Sweet

R

rev_darkness

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0623051grand1.html

Woman sues when "100 Grand" prize turns out to be chocolate bar

JUNE 23--A Kentucky woman who thought she won $100,000 in a radio station giveaway is suing for breach of contract after learning that her prize was actually a Nestle's 100 Grand candy bar. According to the below June 22 Circuit Court complaint, Norreasha Gill, 28, claims that she was listening to Lexington's WLTO-FM on the evening of May 25 when host DJ Slick announced that he would award "100 Grand" to the tenth caller. When Gill, the pregnant mother of three children, was that tenth caller, the radio host told her she could pick up her prize the following day at WLTO's studio. She subsequently learned that the contest was a "joke," according to her lawsuit, which names the radio station's parent company, Cumulus Media, as a defendant. Gill's lawsuit seeks the $100,000 prize and additional punitive damages. The 22-year-old DJ Slick, whose real name is Jason Hamman, is no longer working for WLTO, a departure apparently hastened by the May stunt. Hamman, pictured at left, declined to speak about the "100 Grand" incident when contacted by phone today. In a May 25 blog posting promoting that night's giveaway, Hamman wrote that he would be presenting "our loyal listeners with a chance to Win 100 GRAND!!!! It's sitting in a bag to my left ready for someone to take off with just like the Runaway bride!" The tenth caller, he added, would be "100 GRAND RICHER!!! No joke."


Your thoughts?<P ID="signature">______________
"Right you are, Ken."</P>
 
> http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0623051grand1.html
>
> Woman sues when "100 Grand" prize turns out to be chocolate
> bar
>
> JUNE 23--A Kentucky woman who thought she won $100,000 in a
> radio station giveaway is suing for breach of contract after
> learning that her prize was actually a Nestle's 100 Grand
> candy bar. According to the below June 22 Circuit Court
> complaint, Norreasha Gill, 28, claims that she was listening
> to Lexington's WLTO-FM on the evening of May 25 when host DJ
> Slick announced that he would award "100 Grand" to the tenth
> caller. When Gill, the pregnant mother of three children,
> was that tenth caller, the radio host told her she could
> pick up her prize the following day at WLTO's studio. She
> subsequently learned that the contest was a "joke,"
> according to her lawsuit, which names the radio station's
> parent company, Cumulus Media, as a defendant. Gill's
> lawsuit seeks the $100,000 prize and additional punitive
> damages. The 22-year-old DJ Slick, whose real name is Jason
> Hamman, is no longer working for WLTO, a departure
> apparently hastened by the May stunt. Hamman, pictured at
> left, declined to speak about the "100 Grand" incident when
> contacted by phone today. In a May 25 blog posting promoting
> that night's giveaway, Hamman wrote that he would be
> presenting "our loyal listeners with a chance to Win 100
> GRAND!!!! It's sitting in a bag to my left ready for someone
> to take off with just like the Runaway bride!" The tenth
> caller, he added, would be "100 GRAND RICHER!!! No joke."
>
>
> Your thoughts?
>
IMHO, it was a dirty stunt to pull,esp. in that part of the country. If ya dont know it or not, KY is pretty much dirt poor and people will grab onto anything that gives them a chance to "get out of the hole". I have a feeling Cumulus - Lexington will get sued and they'll have to pay for the stunt, not only in cash, but bad public rep.
 
> > http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0623051grand1.html
> >
> > Woman sues when "100 Grand" prize turns out to be
> chocolate
> > bar
> >
> > JUNE 23--A Kentucky woman who thought she won $100,000 in
> a
> > radio station giveaway is suing for breach of contract
> after
> > learning that her prize was actually a Nestle's 100 Grand
> > candy bar. According to the below June 22 Circuit Court
> > complaint, Norreasha Gill, 28, claims that she was
> listening
> > to Lexington's WLTO-FM on the evening of May 25 when host
> DJ
> > Slick announced that he would award "100 Grand" to the
> tenth
> > caller. When Gill, the pregnant mother of three children,
> > was that tenth caller, the radio host told her she could
> > pick up her prize the following day at WLTO's studio. She
> > subsequently learned that the contest was a "joke,"
> > according to her lawsuit, which names the radio station's
> > parent company, Cumulus Media, as a defendant. Gill's
> > lawsuit seeks the $100,000 prize and additional punitive
> > damages. The 22-year-old DJ Slick, whose real name is
> Jason
> > Hamman, is no longer working for WLTO, a departure
> > apparently hastened by the May stunt. Hamman, pictured at
> > left, declined to speak about the "100 Grand" incident
> when
> > contacted by phone today. In a May 25 blog posting
> promoting
> > that night's giveaway, Hamman wrote that he would be
> > presenting "our loyal listeners with a chance to Win 100
> > GRAND!!!! It's sitting in a bag to my left ready for
> someone
> > to take off with just like the Runaway bride!" The tenth
> > caller, he added, would be "100 GRAND RICHER!!! No joke."
> >
> >
> > Your thoughts?
> >
> IMHO, it was a dirty stunt to pull,esp. in that part of the
> country. If ya dont know it or not, KY is pretty much dirt
> poor and people will grab onto anything that gives them a
> chance to "get out of the hole". I have a feeling Cumulus -
> Lexington will get sued and they'll have to pay for the
> stunt, not only in cash, but bad public rep.
>
I agree completely. The jock, more than playing fast and loose with the truth, simply misrepresented what the prize actually was. Don't know what the FCC's reaction would be, if any, although stations elsewhere have been held accountable for staging misleading and even damaging promotions. Further, in cases such as this, the possibility exists of involvement by the Federal Trade Commission as well as the FCC. Chances are it will remain a civil matter between the woman and her attorney and the errant station/company.

This is painfully what radio has come to in all too many instances--companies that don't care employing neophytes who don't know any better--a dangerous combination. The candy bar may prove to be a jaw breaker.
 
> Your thoughts?
>
Honestly it's a bunch of PC crap. We did this same exact thing 9 years ago. Gave away a 100 grand candybar on April Fool's day. Didn't get sued, either. The next year on April Fool's day it was "Come Meet Bryan White." Not THE Bryan White the country singer, just some random guy named Bryan White.

When did people in this country lose their sense of humor? If the judge has any sense he/she will toss the suit out.
 
Re: Free car!

> Does anybody remember when a station had listeners
> scrambling to win a TOY YODA?
>

Why would any station want to pull a stunt that makes a fool of your audience?
 
> >
> IMHO, it was a dirty stunt to pull,esp. in that part of the
> country. If ya dont know it or not, KY is pretty much dirt
> poor and people will grab onto anything that gives them a
> chance to "get out of the hole".

What? As someone who grew up in Dallas (Lake Highlands) and was educated at the University of Kentucky (My New York friends refer to me as the ultimate red-neck highbred) I can assure you this is not true. Lexington is a very aristocratic town (horse farms, old-money coal, etc.) One drive through that town and you would change your mind fast. Not that there aren't any poor people, but sheez... what an ignorant statement. Besides what does that have to do with the stunt?

OK... so I am a little defensive...but what a great college town!

I have a feeling Cumulus -
> Lexington will get sued and they'll have to pay for the
> stunt, not only in cash, but bad public rep.
>

They already have been sued.
 
Re: Free car!

> > Does anybody remember when a station had listeners
> > scrambling to win a TOY YODA?
> >
>
> Why would any station want to pull a stunt that makes a fool
> of your audience?
>
Simple, they have no soul nor any couth in this day or time.
 
Re: Free car!

Twitch and I did this long ago but had enough sense to tell em they were getting a candy bar---PLUS WE FAKED IT. COME ON NOW!!! That's ridiculous!!
 
Re: Free car!

> Does anybody remember when a station had listeners
> scrambling to win a TOY YODA?
>
I remember the story, but don't remember the who, where, when?
 
Re: Free car!

> Twitch and I did this long ago but had enough sense to tell
> em they were getting a candy bar---PLUS WE FAKED IT. COME ON
> NOW!!! That's ridiculous!!
>

Hmmm...after how long? How long were those poor listeners 'on the hook' for Justin and what's-her-name's supposed deaths in a car crash? ha. Sure, I know, it's all about getting some attention, but to not expect any backlash over it??? Well, just ask Fitz about his fake power-outage, or Pantoja's tear-up-the Fort Worth-library stunt.

Seems like some station here, long ago, was giving away a million....yen. But the "yen" part was kept secret until the contest was over. Cute, sure, but stuff like that can sure lose a lot of listeners when the truth comes out...and those listeners will likely doubt any other contests that station may do later, if they still bother to even listen.
 
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