Posted on 09/13/2004 10:47:00 AM PDT by Feiny
Chat show queen Oprah Winfrey celebrated the opening of her 19th season on US TV today by surprising each of her 276 audience members with a new car.
We’re calling this our wildest dream season, because this year on the Oprah show, no dream is too wild, no surprise too impossible to pull off,” Winfrey said.
Making sure the audience was kept in suspense, Winfrey opened the show by calling 11 audience members onto the stage. She gave each of them a car – a Pontiac G6.
She then had gift boxes distributed to the rest of the audience and said one of the boxes contained keys to a twelfth car. But when the audience members opened the boxes, each had a set of keys.
“Everybody gets a car! Everybody gets a car! Everybody gets a car!” Winfrey yelled as she jumped up and down on the stage.
The audience members screamed, cried and hugged each other – then followed Winfrey out to the car parking of her Harpo Studios in Chicago to see their Pontiacs, all decorated with giant red bows.
The cars, which retail for £15,500, were donated by Pontiac.
“A little idea grew into a big idea,” said Mary Henige of Pontiac
Winfrey said the audience members were chosen because their friends or family had written to the show about their need for a new car. One woman’s young son said she drove a car that “looks like she got into a gunfight” another couple had almost 400,000 miles on their two vehicles.
In other segments on the show, Winfrey surprised a 20-year-old girl who had spent years in foster care and homeless shelters with a four-year college scholarship, a makeover and £6,000 in clothes. And a family with eight foster children who were going to be kicked out of their house were given £72,000 to buy and repair the home.
The Oprah Winfrey Show is syndicated to 212 domestic markets and 109 countries.
Tax write off ??
This is old news on Autopia.
I knew about it on Saturday.
See LINK:
http://www.autopia.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=43907
Do I know you?
What's even more interesting to see is all these so-called conservatives beating up on Oprah for contacting Pontiac about giving away 276 of their own cars while at the same time giving the Bush Administration a pass for promising to give away billions of taxpayer dollars to Mexican illegal aliens through the recently signed Social Security Totalization agreement.
Actually, Pontiac is covering the taxes also....
That's how I feel. Mrs TC thinks Oprah should be applauded.
$400 would be a monumental sacrifice for me...I am a single parent with 2 children trying to make it on my own!! It's not easy!! I would give many praises to God if I could afford to put out 400 on drinks for everyone! Or $400 on clothes for my babies for school!
Oh go get a life. Amazing how some will bitch about anything. I don't agree with all Oprah's views, but this was a cool thing to do, even if it was just for Pontiac's publicity and inventory reduction. Sheesh.
BTW, George W. Bush would not have been elected President if not for his appearance on Oprah, since the margin was so razor thin in Florida. Little things matter.
I have a life, thank you. I'm not sure why my comments make you so mad. I'm just revealing the truth underneath the package. Nothing changes the fact that a bunch of people who needed better transportation got just that. Pretty cool! But it is marketing and showmanship on the side of the givers. What Oprah did nor did not do for Bush, or what she does or does not promote ideologically speaking, is really irrelevant.
I will applaud Oprah for her personal charity, but the show giveaway is nothing more than a ratings ploy. I could care less about the tax ramifications to the prize recipients. This giveaway is no more generous on Oprah's part than Regis giving away a million bucks on Who wants to be a Millionaire. It is all provided by sponsors who pony up the prizes to get publicity. Nothing wrong with that. I have no opinion on Oprah one way or the other, I just am not so quick to applaud this particular giveaway as anything more than a ratings ploy for her show.
Oprah may be a good person. To me she is a media image. I don't know her personally. I am sure she lends her name and image to a lot of worthwhile charitable enterprises (i.e., through her Angel Network). There are others who do the same and don't advertise it to the world so they can beatified by the public.
As to giving to charity myself, I am not ashamed of my contributions over the years (especially where personal commitment and time are involved. I have to give the old way since I am not blessed with her checkbook). One thing I don't need is a TV camera crew nearby filming how wonderful I am for helping someone out. I know a lot of wonderful people who perform great works of charity. A true act of charity shouldn't require a pat on the back.
I've been thinking about that; good question for the whiz kigs.
Of course, I disagree with most of her apparent hand-wringing, liberal politics...but that's another subject.
What I do know...is the head line say's this "Oprah Gives Her Audience A New Car Each"...and she really didn't. Period. Santa Claus used to give my sister's and me...gifts too. But he really didn't either.....(vbg)
She may or may not be a very generous individual. But considering she's got publicists, and a PR firm working for her......color me doubtful that she gives more percentage wise than lot's of "plain folk".
Of course...I could be wrong.
>>Santa Claus used to give my sister's and me...gifts too. But he really didn't either.....(vbg)<<
Those who don't believe, get no gifts! ;-).
Just speculation but my wife watched the show and never picked up on the fact that anyone other than Okra, with her hard earned money, bought them. Might be a little spin involved.
Hate to be a downer but... :)
I watched the show because Drudge had a link to an article about it earlier today and
1. clothes - donated by Express
2. scholarship - footed by SBC Communications (an aside - it was to any university of her choice - can you imagine? If she can get in, she's good to go, wow)
Don't know about the house money, but Best Buy and Crate & Barrel & some other store I didn't know gave them a whole bunch of furniture, appliances and computer stuff.
Good show though, that kind of stuff is always fun.
Let me clear something up.
The cars retail for $28,000, not $15,500. The 15,5 numbers is in POUNDS, not DOLLARS.
Secondly, they won't have to pay tax. According to the Yahoo article, Pontiac is paying for all the taxes.
No they don't have to pay taxes. Pontiac is paying for all the taxes.
Okay...I give up.
I believe Oprah gave her audience cars. I believe Oprah gave her audience cars.I believe Oprah gave her audience cars.I believe Oprah gave her audience cars.I believe Oprah gave her audience cars.I believe Oprah gave her audience cars.
Do I get one? : )
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