[GTO]

Came across this amazing story on the weekend and thought it's worth sharing.


Source

In 2004, Oprah pulled off a crazy stunt. She gave away a Pontiac G6 to every member of the audience in her studio. The cars were sponsored by Pontiac and was a win-win for everyone. Oprah & GM got phenomenal publicity, although some of it was negative as there was a tax implication on the free car.

Not a fan of the lady, but you just have to watch the drama here. She is a born showwoman - link to video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CAscBCdaQg

September 13 marks the 10-year anniversary of the memorable event, which caught everyone, including audience members, by surprise. In a masterful display of showmanship, Oprah dialed up the suspense to match the enormity – and cost – of the event. First she gave away 11 cars, which would have been a landmark TV promotion by itself. But then she coyly announced: "I've got a little twist."

Models circulated throughout the audience carrying silver platters loaded with white boxes wrapped in red ribbon. One contained a set of keys, Oprah implied, for another audience member to win the final car. "Do not open it. Do not shake it," she commanded the crowd. Finally, with the suspense built to a fevered pitch, everyone opened their box. They all had keys.

"You get a car! You get a car! You get a car! You get a car! Everybody gets a car!" Oprah exclaimed. "Everybody gets a car! Everybody gets a car!"

Autoblog.com. And one more article with some interesting data ("Most of the people in the audience were identified by producers beforehand as being in need of a new car and hand-selected to attend. The producers asked them questions like how they got to work and how old their car was").

Stunt was repeated with the VW Beetle (although owners saw the car much after):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gf5sU4SBKVs

[Vid6639]

I saw this show on TV and was flabbergasted. The reactions were crazy. Sadly the car bombed big time.

I had a rental G6 in US in 2007 and it was quite decent to drive. I kind of liked the way it looks.

[ariesonu]

ELLEN DEGENERES has also done it few times but of course NOT for every audience member. One worth mentioning is ELLEN's FAVORITE WAITRESS. Search it up on YOUTUBE.

In fact Ellen took over, exactly from where Oprah left the stage.

Regards-Sonu

[Technocrat]

Pretty Crazy Indeed

Originally Posted by ariesonu

ELLEN DEGENERES has also done it few times but of course NOT for every audience member. One worth mentioning is ELLEN's FAVORITE WAITRESS. Search it up on YOUTUBE.

In fact Ellen took over, exactly from where Oprah left the stage.

Regards-Sonu

Don't know how much Oprah gave on regular basis but Ellen does give out a lot of stuff for free to various people including her audience very often. That Waitress story is one of many such.

[Ithaca]

I remember watching this episode on the news and then when that episode was shown on Star TV later.
There was an episode of David Letterman immediately after the Oprah car giveaway episode and he gave each member of his audience a car freshener.

But a few months later, her car giveaway was bearing the brunt of bad news because it was not made clear to the audience members that they would have to pay the federal and state income taxes on the value of their new vehicle. This is mentioned somewhere below in the Autoblog.com article that Member GTO has linked to.

Even though it was a publicity stunt by GM who owned Pontiac at that time, there is no taking away from the fact that such an event was never ever tried out anywhere in the world before.

Linking to a few articles below about the episode and its aftermath.

Forbes

CNN Money

[samaspire]

Originally Posted by GTO

In 2004, Oprah pulled off a crazy stunt. She gave away a Pontiac G6 to every member of the audience in her studio. The cars were sponsored by Pontiac and was a win-win for everyone. Oprah & GM got phenomenal publicity, although some of it was negative as there was a tax implication on the free car.

Not a fan of the lady, but you just have to watch the drama here. She is a born showwoman.

We are taking about a future president of the United States you know

I saw this particular episode on Star World when it was first aired - was a regular viewer and a big fan of Oprah's. That woman has got the gift of the gab and she can captivate audiences with words. She's made a star out of Dr. Phil and a president out of Barrack Obama.

Originally Posted by Technocrat

Don't know how much Oprah gave on regular basis...

She did it regularly too, but Ellen's taken it a few steps ahead. This one is not even the biggest giveaway - in the final season, every audience member was gifted an all expense paid 8-day trip to Australia.

[ach1lles]

Man, Oprah was cute ~15 years ago. I never thought I'd say that, and I was equally surprised when I saw pictures of Hillary Clinton when she was younger.
Oprah cornered her audience, and created her niche very smartly. Good on her.

[amitoj]

She got Lance Armstrong to admit to doping on television! That lady has charisma.
And her "You get a car! You get a car! You get a car! You get a car! Everybody gets a car!" has spawned numerous funny memes