Posted on 07/14/2005 4:10:52 AM PDT by Cowman
Woman Sues Over Radio Station's Toy Hummer April Fools' Prank
Last Updated: 07-13-05 at 2:58PM
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A listener is suing a radio station she said promised her a new Hummer H2 and instead gave her a remote-controlled model as an April Fools' Day prank.
Shannon Castillo, 25, sued Taft radio station KBDS "The Play" 103.9 after it presented her the toy car for winning a weeklong "contest" in which listeners were supposed to track the number of miles two H2s traveled around town. DJs at the station gave regular updates on the vehicles' supposed travels.
She said she hired a baby sitter for her two children so she could arrive at the station at 6 a.m. on the day of the giveaway, April 1. After she waited for two hours, she said, a DJ pulled up in the back of a truck and handed her and another listener remote-controlled toy cars.
"They put us on the radio all week long, just portraying how they couldn't believe that we believed they were actually giving away real cars," said Castillo, a Bakersfield housewife. "I just couldn't believe that they would actually humiliate someone like that."
The station did not return a call for comment Wednesday.
A series of photos on the station's Web site shows Castillo being presented the toy. In the last photo in the series, she signals her displeasure with an obscene gesture.
"On April 1st (Fool's) we ran a contest...'Win A Hummer'. Do you know how many people actually participated thinkin' we were gonna give away an actual hummer? Not on this day!!!" the Web site says.
Castillo's lawyer, Scott Perlman, said the station's misrepresentation of the prizes being offered violated state law and Federal Communications Commission regulations. The lawsuit, filed June 21, seeks $60,000, about the cost of a real H2.
"Any time you conduct a contest you have to be brutally honest about how you're conducting the contest and what you're giving away," Perlman said.
He said the station indicated the H2 had 22-inch rims, suggesting the vehicle itself was full-sized.
The case recalls one from 2002 in which a Florida Hooters restaurant waitress sued over a contest in which she thought she won a Toyota for selling the most beer to customers but was presented a toy Yoda doll, one of the "Star Wars" characters. The restaurant said the contest was an April Fools' joke. The waitress received an undisclosed settlement.
Perlman said he believed the restaurant in that case had actually been more honest than the radio station.
"A play on words like that you can get away with," he said.
I think they should give her a real H2 and then watch her whine when she can't afford the taxes on it.
Lets say I run a hardware business and I hold a contest (even on April 1) that states for the 100th customer of a purchase of 20 dollars or more will get a new riding lawnmower. I include in this advertisement the name/model of this mower and even throw in the seat dimensions. Whooohooo... you are the winner with pictures and all. However, I present you with only a 3 dollar model of said mower and post your pic on my website portraying you as an idiot.
Do you think you should have received an actual riding mower?
"They'll be buying her a Hummer, all right."
Don't bet on it.
I'll bet you a million dollars.
That is bait and switch.
And when you pay me in Monopoly money, I'll know you were just kidding.
The lady should win the case. Just because one is on the radio doesn't mean they should be able to run false promotions on the public airwaves without making it clear that it is false. Promotions are for gaining listeners which benefits the station through profits from advertisers. I remember when a Hooters restaurant ran a false promotion over a Toyota which turned out to be a toy yoda. I personally believe companies should be held to higher standards when it comes to promotions and to advertising. I also believe that consumers should be more savy but companies that make money off the public should be required to be reasonably honest in selling their wares or peddling their products.
http://www.heferito.com/toyyoda.asp
If the contest runs on April 1st, I'd be very skeptical.
Furthermore, in the case we are talking about...there was no exchange of money as a condition for recieving the prize.
I am with ya 100%.
Thanks Nina :)
"Because they BROKE THE LAW."
There is no law that I know of that forbids practical jokes on April Fools Day.
Would it be ok if I saved the bus fare and just walked across the street to the Breadbox and bought a couple Hundred Grand? ;)
LOL...that was hysterical.
Even if there was no money, just the 100th customer, I would still have to pony up a real lawnmower.
You really didn't read the article very carefully, did you? It ran ALL WEEK, and they contestants had to keep track of the mileage of the real Hummers as they drove around town. This woman dedicated her time to getting the perfect score.
This station is SO screwed, but they did it themselves. If they don't pony up a real Hummer, they could well lose their license.
It's called fraud.
I guarantee, that unless some facts are being omitted from the article.. That she has a open-shut case guaranteed of victory.
However, there are plenty of advertisement laws. I have yet to read one that states "except on April fools day".
The contest ran all week before April 1st, with the punchline on April 1st.
I'm sorry not everybody on the planet knows that it's National Union Jokesters Week or whatever the hell the other mini-brain was pissing on about.
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