maleficent

Woman sues over offer of 100 Grand candy bar

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- A woman who won a radio contest that promised the winner "100 grand" sued after the station gave her a candy bar -- a Nestle's 100 Grand -- instead of $100,000.

Norreasha Gill filed a complaint Wednesday in Fayette District Court against Atlanta-based Cumulus Media, which owns WLTO-FM in Lexington. Gill, 28, says the station and its parent company breached a contract to pay $100,000 to the contest winner.

Night host DJ Slick sponsored the station's contest to "win 100 grand," Gill said in the lawsuit. Gill won by listening to the radio show for several hours and being the 10th caller at a specified time.

She went to the radio station the next morning to pick up her prize, but was asked to return later. When she got home, she found that the station manager had left a message explaining she had won a 100 Grand candy bar, not money. 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."

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People have way too much entitlement. She thinks listening to a radio station for two hours entitles her to 100K - in dollars? Well, maybe if it w as a [c]rap radio station...

:shakes head:

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flat5

I think her case is stronger after the DJ offered her $5000.

canuckguy

Not sure I am a fan of the stupid trick that the station pulled, not sure she deserves the 100 grand (money not the bar) either, but after offering 5g's i think she may get more if she takes them to court.

Wait I have a kidney I would like to donate...........oh wait its only a kidney bean. yup, not funny to be teased with something like that.

Mephisto2

This reminds me of the story where a girl won a "free Toyota".

When she arrived at the radio station, they offered her a small toy of the Star Wars character Yoda. Toyota. Toy Yoda. Get it?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1463528.stm

She won in the end.

Americans are a bit overly litigious really. What is it with you guys?!


Mr Mephisto

MikeyChalupa

Similar to the stunt Pepsi pulled a few years ago... collect points to trade in for prizes. The commercial showed a Harrier jet for some ridiculous amount of points. Some kid and his buddies started collecting points to take a run at the jet until they were told it was just part of the advertising. I think they wound up settling out of court.

Without listening to the station and EXACTLY how the promo was advertised, I can't make a true decision whether this woman should have known better (was the word "dollars" ever used?) or deserves the money. It is a pretty cheap stunt though and the station deserves the bad publicity it's going to get.

-Mikey

Redlemon

I disagree. The article about this linked from FARK had a stronger ending:
ABC News: Woman Sues Over Getting Candy and Not Cash
That seems to be the same thing as they are trying to pull here. Pay up.

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dlish

well i have a hyperthetical one for yaz...

say the radio station didnt have the cash. do they go into liquidation just to pay her the extra $95,000?

i really do think shes being ungrateful. i dont think the station was deceptive, misleading or false. its all about what someone percieves or interprets the prize would be. shes at fault as much as anyone.

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spived2

I would take the candy bar, and eat it. It's still more then nothing.
I don't see how they mislead anyone, they offered 100 grand, and that's what she got. If they never said anything about actual cash or dollars, how can she sue for being mislead when they are honestly offering 100 grand. On the other hand, I'd be pretty pissed off if they gave me a candy bar when I showed up. I would probably shove it down the guys throat. Uppity DJs

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f6twister

This is the entire story off the msnbc.com website. I think this lady has a good case & I think I would file suit also.

Woman Sues Radio Station After Receiving Candy Bar As Prize In Contest

WLEX-TV(AP) -- A woman who won a radio contest has sued after the station tried to award her a candy bar instead of cash.

Norreasha Gill filed a complaint Wednesday in Fayette District Court against Atlanta-based Cumulus Media Inc., which owns WLTO-102.5 FM in Lexington. Gill says the station and its parent company breached a contract to pay $100,000 after a contest prize was revealed to be a Nestle's 100 Grand.

Gill said in the suit that night host DJ Slick sponsored a contest to "win 100 grand." Gill, 28, won the contest by listening to the radio show throughout the night and being the 10th caller.

Before the family went to bed, Gill promised her children - ages 1, 5 and 11 - that they'd have a minivan, a shopping spree, a savings account and a home with a back yard.

She went to the radio station the next morning to pick up her prize, but was asked to return later when DJ Slick would be in the office. When she got home, though, the station manager had left a message explaining that she had won a 100 Grand candy bar, not money. 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.

"What hurts me is they were going to get me in front of my children, all dressed up, and hand me a candy bar, after all those promises I made to them. You just don't do that to people," she told the Lexington Herald-Leader.

DJ Slick, who was not named in the lawsuit, did not return an e-mail from the newspaper. WLTO and Cumulus declined to comment, identify the DJ by his given name or say whether anybody was fired because of the incident. The host said on his Web site that he had left his job at the radio station.

Experts said Gill's case will rely on state contract law but the radio station also could face actions by the Federal Communications Commission, which licenses radio stations.

FCC regulations say contest descriptions can't be false, misleading or deceptive 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.

In November, another Cumulus-owned station pulled a hoax that flooded county government offices with calls. The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council threatened to file an FCC complaint, but did not after the morning show hosts apologized and were temporarily suspended.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8330609/


It is deceptive and misleading if someone can assume they have won $100,000 instead of a 55 cent candy bar (depending on where you live). Can you explain why she is ungrateful and at fault? Companies have been put out of business by lawsuits before so I don't see why this is any different. They tried to punk this lady. If I were her I would try to double my winnings.

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ratbastid

I think I remember this episode. Bart chose the elephant so in the end, KBBL had to cough up an elephant. I sure hope good ol' Stampy is doing okay on that wildlife preserve.

tooth

To bad you can't be an asshole without getting sued anymore.

StephenSa

The thing is it appears the station made the promotion look like the winner would get 100 grand which in common parlance would translate to one hundred thousand dollars. I'm sure the jock really hyped the contest as well. The reason laws are in place to prevent this is to provide a fair ground of competition with other stations. Lets say you own station WSUX and you are in an important ratings period. You are running a close second to station WBAM. You promote a contest where you appear to be giving away a LARGE sum of money. You draw listeners away from WBAM with your big money promotion and get the higer ratings. You can raise your advertising rates an your station is the big winner in the market. The only thing is you never had one hundred thousand dollars to give away. You used deceitful practices to compete in the marketplace and artificially increased ratings with resources you never had. This will not do. The station should be fined and the complaintant should get a substantial settlement.

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MikeyChalupa

Why would you want to?

-Mikey

tooth

Sorry forgot the sarcasm tags

Gilda

This kind of thing happens a lot. I remember a tv show, 20/20 or one of those John Stossel specials that featured a bit on radio station pranks. One had "Britney Spears" coming to the radio station, advertised for a couple of weeks. Fans showed up in droves, especially pre-teen girls. One girl was injured when the limo carrying "Britney Spears" showed up and the crowd rushed to get to see her get out. It was a Britney Spears doll.

A second promotion covered was a radio station that advertised they would be throwing "hundred dollar bills" off the roof of the station. A crowd gathered prepared to get their free money only to have invoices requesting payment of $100 thrown instead of money.

While the duration of the contest here was much too short and the contest much too easy to win to merit that size prize, the intent was clearly to decieve listeners into believing that the prize was $100,000, regardless of the actual wording. I'd even say that the wording would have to be a lie of omission--100 grand instead of a hundred grand bar--for the ruse to be effective.

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Marvelous Marv

Sounds like it depends on what the definition of "is" is.

Or the definition of "sex," since the woman got screwed.

laconic1

Maybe I'm just cynical but I would have expected the candy bar. It seems like every other time I go to my bank some loan officer or whoever is giving me a 100 grand bar with their business card so I'm conditioned to equating 100 grand with candy. Especially knowing what obnoxious jackasses the average radio personality is anymore, and I wouldn't have expected the money.

kutulu

How can anyone honestly say the whole purpose of this contest was not to decieve the audience and make the winner feel stupid? Check out The Smoking Gun. There is a screencap of a blog posting by DJ Slick containing the following:

Since only 7 of you will actually be tuned in tonight and the rest of the nation's eyeballs glued to the IDOL finale, Hot 102 is showing our appreciation to our loyal listeners with a change to win 100 GRAND!!! It's sitting in a bad to my left ready for someone to take off with like the Runaway bride! Here's how it's going to work: Right BEFORE Mr. Seacrest announces the Winner (or before he teases the audience with another annoying "After the break" bit be caller 10 280-1025 and you'll be 100 GRAND RICHER!!!


This isn't some case about some asshat spilling coffe on himself and then expecting to get rich. They advertised this contest with the knowledge that the only way people would tune in is if they thought they could win a ton of money. They knew that the winner would have to drive across town for a prize that isn't even as valuable as the gas they used to get there. They never gave any hints that it was a 100 Grand bar instead of $100,000 that might tip off people quick enough to get the joke.

You know that this lady had to have gone nuts when they told her she won. They KNEW what she thought she won. Did they bother to put her on hold and let her know about the joke? Fuck no, they let her show up and the studio and then they were too chicken shit to tell her the truth at that time. Instead they leave a phone message.

Maybe you think it's ok to intentionally fuck with people's lives, hopes, and dreams and then humiliate them in front of their families for cheap radio gimicks. I have respect for people and I'm not cool with that. I hope she wins a ton of money from them for this.

Redlemon

Well said, kutulu.

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kramus

I tend to react rather strongly when someone uses abject humiliation of others for their own gain. To publicly jerk someone around for a cheap chuckle and publicity, especially when they deliberately hooked someone - they gave her the false world view of finally getting the chance to get her family ahead of the steamroller instead of under the fucking thing . . . I sincerely hope the station gets liquidated. Management that created an atmosphere where on-air personalities pulled this crap as an expression of station policy should get fined big time, and hopefully fired as well. I hope the lady a) gets her 100 thousand dollars b) a settlement for quite a bit more than that, and c) an opportunity to take a stand for all the folks that get fucked over by corporate fat cats bent on their own idle amusement.

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sixate

Before the family went to bed, Gill promised her children - ages 1, 5 and 11 - that they'd have a minivan, a shopping spree, a savings account and a home with a back yard.

First of, she couldn't do all that will $100,000. after taxes she'd be lucky to have $67,000. Half of that gone on a minivan. After a shopping spree that wouldn't leave much of a savings, and certainly not enough for a home with a back yard after she blows it all. She's obviously a dumb bitch, and deserved to be treated as such.

She got her 100 Grand. Now go home and shut the fuck up.
I really hate how people think they deserve things to be handed out and not have to work for it. He's a better thing. Tell her to get off her lazy ass and do some work instead of listening to the radio all day. What a tough life this idiot has...... And I'm supposed to feel sorry for her? I think not. I wish I were the guy that handed her the candybar. They said you'd win 100 grand. And that's what she got. There was nothing misleading about it if they never mentioned anything about winning money.

So you think it's fair that this idiot puts a radio station out of business and probably leaves at least 15 people jobless and unable to support their families? Can you explain how that makes sense? She can still provide for her family, the radio station didn't take that ability away from her.

kutulu

Thanks for tearing her apart like all the assholes on fark the other day. Jesus, why don't you rip her for being a single mother too or accusing her of living on welfare while you are at it? Maybe then you could get in a jab about how she must be a crackwhore too.

At least you did call her lazy and accuse her of sitting on her ass listening to the radio all day. If you RTFA, you'd see that the contest was between 8 and 10 PM, outside of 'normal' working hours. Obviously you must know quite a bit about her to make these judgements about her.

I guess you've also never heard of such things like used cars, down payments, or mortgages. The hardest thing to do when buying a house is getting a down payment together. Maybe a shopping spree to them would be 'blowing' $500 at Target on all new clothes for the kids.

The facts are simple and cannot be denied:

The radio station knew without a doubt that their stunt would only work if they knew that people would believe it was 100k, not a candy bar.

The FCC clearly outlawed contests that are misleading.

kutulu

Ask 100 people what "100 grand" is. I'd bet that at least 90 of them would say $100,000 not a candy bar. Where the fuck do you think the name of the candy bar came from.

TM875

::sigh::

I agree with Maleficient here that this is just a case where people are too obsessed with their sense of entitlement. This woman was just plain stupid and/or ignorant to believe that she actually won one-hundred thousand dollars.

It's not deception. They said that she won 100 Grand. She recieved 100 Grand. End of story. Now, if they gave her a 3 Muskateers, that'd be something different

Personally, if I were the radio station, I'd sue her for slander. She recieved what they told her she would recieve. It was only in her own mind that she derived the meaning of "100 Grand" to be money. Never in their promotion was the word "money", "cash", "dollars", etc. mentioned.

Exactly.

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kutulu

If you want to disect what they said and that their description should not lead people to believe that it was cash instead of candy then why say you'll be '100 grand richer' instead of 'a 100 grand bar richer?

You honestly think that people would listed for hours and then drive to the station to pick up a prize that is worth less than a dollar?

The law has routinely sided with the plaintiff in these matters. Look at the Toy Yoda case or the Turkish Millionaire for examples.

maleficent

People who honestly think they can get something for nothing -- get what they deserve.. She wants 100K -- work for it -Set an example for her children. Teach them that hard work gets you somewhere in life - not listening to the radio - and not suing and whining when something doesn't go her way.

She didn't do anything for that 100K - except listen to an dj named slick - (that should have told her something) that's not worth 100K - that's maybe worth a candy bar...

It's not like she had the 100K to begin with - so there for she didn't lose anything.. Hopes and dreams - :eyeroll:

I have so little patience with people w ho think that they can get something for nothing- and that are so litigious when things dont go there way...

Yes, i am a heartless bitch...

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kramus

As kutulu said, and quoted here, the station has created a problem for itself. If the resolution of that problem involves destroying itself to rebalance the situation - well, shit happens.

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kutulu

It was a contest, she won and the prize was not as she was led to believe it was. It is painfully obvious that the station wanted people to believe it was $100k and that they knew she expected 100k. Unless there were official details available stating the prize was a candy bar they were intentionally misleading. THE LAW SAYS YOU CAN'T DO THAT. Therefore it has nothing to do with your opinions about getting 'something for nothing.'

They probably didn't tell her the catch when she was at the station because those are the situations where people freak out and grab the gun in their car.

Would it be fine for a store to raffle off a 'new car' and then the winner finds out it's an RC car if the contest rules never described the prize as an RC car?

maleficent

Yes -- as long as the raffle tickets were free -- yes...

it's getting someting for nothing - -no cash expended -- Winning is a state of mind... She won a candy bar -- get over herself...

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Vincentt

I am very suprised at the people defending the radio station here.

They clearly lied.

Can you tell me they didn't make this contest just to have people beleave it was 100,000 and not a candy bar.

That is misleading, and that is illegal.

Case closed.

I hope she gets her money and then some.

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maleficent

Never assume anything... The woman assumed it was 100K dollars - did the station ever say that she would see 100K in cash? Caveat Emptor...

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ironman

I'd love you to come down with that excuse to a gambler... I bet a a broken knee later you would think different... That's the exact point behind all contests, to win something the easy way goddamit!
Fuck The Radio!

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maleficent

I work too damn hard for my money to ever gamble - I KNOW that I cannot get something for nothing.. I KNOW the odds favor the house. COMMON SENSE says this...

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ironman

I do work my ass off day and night as well, but hey, a 100 Grand for doing "nothing" wouldn't hurt me at all.

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Hardknock

We Americans want to get rich quick! The only to do that these days is to sue!!

I hear you guys over there are picking up our habits anyway. Take my advice....

Don't.

Marvelous Marv

Maybe this comment belongs in politics, but the above is exactly the way I feel about public assistance. And affirmative action.

Funny thing is, I'm on the woman's side. I don't see how anyone can say with a straight face that the DJs didn't make any misleading statements.

I guess it's because the radio station has a choice about whether to give money away, and the taxpayer doesn't.

/threadjack

maleficent

Misleading statements do not entitle her to something she did not earn..

She won a candy bar... Give her the candy bar...

Let the radio station face crimimal charges, I really don't care all that much, but this woman is not entitled to one red cent... She's entitled to a candy bar..

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Latch

Maybe they mislead her, but she doesn't deserve $100,000 for that.

She should have taken the FREE $5,000 and left before going this far and becoming one of those sue-happy assholes. $5,000 had to be worth listening to the radio for 2 hours. $2500/hr job.. I wouldn't mind that

QuasiMojo

Now THAT

is how they get ya!!!!

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Xell101

They intentionally phrased it so as to give you the impression that you would win $100,000 cash, and it turned out to merely be a candy bar, and that's not something to sue for 100Gs. That's grounds for a fine from the FCC but not a lawsuit basically summed up with, "The japery related to that candy bar titled '100 Grand' led me to believe I was to recieve $100,000, I am therefore entitled to $100,000." That's a dumbass sense of entitlement. I would've taken the five thousand and been quite happy knowing they just basically paid five grand and one candy bar to get fined.