Radio Candy Stunt Not So Sweet (Woman sues when "100 Grand" prize turns out to be chocolate bar)

The Smoking Gun ^ | 06-23-05 | The Smoking Gun

[rawhide]

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."

[melbell]

"Where's my Toy Yoda!"

You owe my employer a new keyboard.

[DCPatriot]

I read years back where a consumer went to court and won....forcing an autombile dealership to sell the car as advertised..."only 5,000 clams" (or bananas).

[judgeandjury]

This person should be ashamed of filing this lawsuit and should be billed for ALL court costs.

It's obviously a joke and she has absolutely no legal claims to the remuneration.

Using your reasoning, any company can run a promotion, contest, or sweepstakes, and then get out of giving away the actual grand prize by substituting it with a gag or fake prize. What if you won the lottery in your state and when you go down to pick up the $5 million in real money that you thought you had won, they hand you $5 million in Monopoly money and tell you that the lottery was just a joke. I guess you'd just have to laugh it off, right? Or what if you won a contest in which the grand prize was promoted as being a brand new Ferrari. When you go down to pick up your new car, they hand you a Hot Wheels toy instead and tell you that the contest was just a joke. I guess you'd just have to laugh it off, right?

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

I heard this stunt on a local radio station up here in the Boston area years ago. The caller was a very upset guy. The DJs were very pleaed with the result.

[Military family member]

I believe that's called Bait & Switch and is illegal as well.

[I Drive Too Fast]

Yoo hoo, see this?

[I Drive Too Fast]

This stunt hastened the radio stations decision to get rid of this DJ.

[Keith in Iowa]

>>>Did they ever mention "dollars?"

Did they ever mention chocolate before the fact? Or was it just after...

[Calvin Locke]

Boston too. The Rolling Stones were coming to town, and a rock station DJ was offering "Dinner with the Stones".

The winner, a young girl, was hyperventilating, and the DJ made the phone call "Hello? Is this the Stones'
residence?" "Yes, Dr. and Mrs. Stone..."

You could hear the poor girl realizing she had been had.

[Nebr FAL owner]

No not yet but with the "lady" in the story I'll bet you won't have to wait very long.

[utahagen]

For once, I sympathize with the person doing the suing. I think this stunt is cruel. Radio stations often do give out cash prizes and I understand why the woman thought she'd be getting $100,000. Why is dashing peoples' (reasonable) hopes amusing?

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Toy Yoda, believer out of me you have made...

Well, now that the DJ made a fool out of Hershey's gonna sue the station for all they're worth.

[lOKKI]

Mears v. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co.:

Court held that "joke" contest awards of "his and hers Mercedes" must be paid out because sufficient objective evidence existed that the contest announcement amounted to an offer.

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

Does anyone know what the required IQ is to become a radio DJ? Is it over 100? I doubt it.

[txredhead]

The DJ was fired because of this incident, but she shouldn't win the case. She got a 100 Grand in chocolate - no one (not even the idiot DJ Slick) promised her 100 Grand in cash. People should stop thinking that other people "owe" them something because they "expected" it. Can I sue my congressmen/women because I "expect" competent representation? They sure as heck don't keep their campaign promises!

It was a joke. If she needs to sue for anything, it's to get her sense of humor back from whoever stole it!

[adam_az]

I disagree - "grand" is colloquial for $1000, and it was a "joke" only because of a purposeful misrepresentation.

"Can I sue my congressmen/women because I "expect" competent representation? They sure as heck don't keep their campaign promises!"

It's worth a shot!

[adam_az]

If you read other posts, you will see that there is precedent for my statement.

[txredhead]

I did read all the posts and I also work in the industry, but I am not a DJ. If you read case law, you'll know that you can find precedent for either side. I don't condone the DJ's actions, but I also don't support what has become an overly litigious society. Since when did people start becoming so naive as to think that they really could get something for nothing? Has ANY radio station in the HISTORY of radio EVER given away $100,000 in CASH just because you were the 10th caller on no particular night without it being some HUGE weeks long, way over-promoted contest? $100 maybe, but never $100,000. At some point people have to learn to use their own brains and stop depending on our courts to compensate them for being incompetent when it comes to being able to think for themselves.

The whole point of those giant give aways is to get listeners over very large periods of time (generally weeks or months) so that they can sell major amounts of advertising (usually during "sweeps" periods which is when advertising rates are set). And often huge give aways like those are nationwide. I don't think being stupid, naiver or unable to take a joke entitles you to collect punitive damages because you were the butt of said joke.

Ever seen those fake lottery tickets? Has anyone ever successfully sued the manufacturer of those novelty items or the person that gave them one as a "joke"? How about a successful lawsuit against someone who video taped an enthusiastic reaction to what the dupe thought was a winning ticket only to find out it was a cruel joke and then to find themselves further humiliated on national television when the videotape aired on America's Funniest Home Videos? How is this radio incident any different?