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On September 13, 2004, the host of a television talk show Oprah Winfrey gave away a new Pontiac G-6 sedan, valued at $28,500, to everyone who attended his studio, a total of 276 cars in all.
Oprah had told her producers to pack the crowd with people who cars “desperately needed”, and when he announced the award, jumping up and down, waving a giant keychain and yelling “Everyone has a car! Everyone has a car!” Chaos, crying, screaming, delirium, fainting, erupted around her.
It was, as one media expert told a reporter, “one of the great promotional stunts in television history.”
Unfortunately, the scandal was not far behind. On the one hand, the gift wasn’t really from Oprah at all.
Pontiac had donated the cars, paying the hefty price out of its advertising budget, because the company hoped the gift would spark some buzz about its new G-6 lineup.
The auto company also paid state sales tax on each of the cars it donated. However, that left new car recipients with a huge bill for their supposedly free vehicles: federal and state income taxes added up to about $6,000 for most winners.
Some people paid taxes by taking car loans; others traded in their new Pontiacs for cheaper, less-improved cars. “Not really a free car”said a winner. “It’s more of a 75% car, of course, that’s still not a bad deal.”
Two months later, Oprah hosted another giveaway episode, this one for teachers across the country. His gifts were worth about $13,000 and included a $2,249 television, a $2,000 laptop, a $2,189 washer/dryer, $38 sets of champagne glasses and a $495 leather duffel bag.
This time, the show’s producers had learned their lesson: They also gave each audience member a check for $2,500, which they hoped would cover the tax bill for all the loot.
Unfortunatelyit didn’t work at all: Most of the audience owed the Internal Revenue Service between $4,500 and $6,000, but the PR stunt worked: Oprah’s gifts garnered some of the highest ratings in the show’s history.
The Oprah Winfrey Show it was on the air for 24 consecutive seasons; ended in May 2011.
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