One for the casebooks: Promised a 100 Grand, gets a candy bar

Link via Fark.com.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=874653

A lady listens to a radio station for two hours, wins first prize by being the tenth caller, and then when she comes in to claim her "100 grand" she is first turned away, then later told that the prize was not $100,000 U.S., but a candy bar, approximate value $1 (my estimate). Maybe $2.

Now, the wording quoted in the abc news story,

a contest to "win 100 grand."

is entirely consistent with the possibility that she was actually lied to, not misled.

My favorite quote of the story, though, is this:

Later, he offered her $5,000, Gill said.

"I said I wanted $95,000 more," she said. "Nobody would watch and listen for two hours for a candy bar.

Ah, but someone would listen for two hours for $5,000. In fact, that's right gracious of him, if he didn't owe her anything (a matter for the parties and/or a court and/or a jury to decide).

I notice the story says stations have been fined for "false, misleading or deceptive" contests and prizes "and that stations must conduct contests as advertised. Stations in two other states have been fined for contests that told listeners they'd won cash prizes without specifying they were in Italian or Turkish lira, not U.S. dollars."

So it's good that someone is paying attention to this dastardly fleecing of America- oh, wait, no, by this dastardly advertising stunt that harms practically no-one.

The harm in this case: the woman had promised her children, 1, 5, and 11 that they'd get a minivan, a house with a yard, etc. etc. Her dreams were dashed. But at least she had dreams of winning having won $100k for essentially nothing, for almost a day.