MetalPSI Posted February 11, 2017 Author Share Posted February 11, 2017 9 hours ago, Doohickamabob said: I thought this had to be a joke, but nope -- it's a real story from 2002. Wow.... And good for her. She got a settlement that was allegedly "enough for her to go to a Toyota dealership and pick out anything she wants." According to the Hooters manager, the whole thing was an April Fools joke. USA Today article: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/05/09/toy-yoda.htm Pretty disgusting that she won the case if you ask me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doohickamabob Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 On 2/10/2017 at 8:12 PM, MetalPSI™ said: Pretty disgusting that she won the case if you ask me. Depends on how the situation played out. If they really had the employees thinking they could win a Toyota, and if the employees were doubling up their sales efforts over a period of time with the idea they would win something substantial, then the management was negligent or guilty of fraud. I have worked at companies that have run contests, and there are very strict, legal rules for how contests are conducted, whether it's internal for employees or external for customers. I can see how if it was a casual, lunch-time party and they said "We're having a contest to win a new Toyota," and 15 minutes later they unveiled the "new toy Yoda," then sure, they wouldn't deserve to be successfully sued. I'd like to read more on this case to find out what really happened. The USA Today story is frustratingly brief. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doohickamabob Posted February 14, 2017 Share Posted February 14, 2017 (edited) I looked up that case of the "New Toyota" contest that was actually a "new toy Yoda." It turns out that it was a month-long contest and the employee had asked questions along the lines of "this is for real -- I can really win an automobile if I sell the most?" and the management told her "Yes, it's really a contest for an automobile" types of answers. She worked extra hard for a month, upselling meals and so on, and she was the best-performing employee in not just her restaurant but her entire region. In other words, Hooters' management misled one of its best-performing employees and then humiliated her. She had a very good case, and won. I can't imagine why anybody would think the management did nothing wrong here, or that the employee should have just laughed it off. I was reading about similar cases and they're all pretty amusing, though obviously not for the people on the receiving end of the "prank": -- A radio show held a contest where they offered the 10th phone caller "a 100 grand." The 10th caller was told, on air, "come on in and claim your 100 grand first thing tomorrow." The caller believed she had legitimately won $100,000 from a radio station, and she began making plans for how she was going to use the money, including buying nice stuff for her children. She was ecstatic, told everybody in her family, and it was a really big, life-changing moment for her. The next day she woke up early, made arrangements for her children to get babysitting, and made the long drive to the location of the radio station so she could show up to claim her prize money. At that time, she was led in to a room and handed a "100 Grand" candy bar. I do not know how the case played out, but obviously she was heartbroken. I think the station offered her $5,000 as a consolation prize, but she opted to sue the radio station. -- In another misleading contest, which I think was also on a radio show, people were told the winner would be "given the keys to a brand-new luxury car!" After the contest ended and somebody was declared the winner, the winner showed up to claim the prize, and was given.....a set of keys of the type that are used for a new car. There was no car, just the keys. The contest organizer said, "We didn't promise you an actual car, just the keys that would go to a car. Sorry!" Again, I don't know the outcome -- if the contest organizers were sued or what. Edited February 14, 2017 by Doohickamabob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetalPSI Posted March 7, 2017 Author Share Posted March 7, 2017 Miss me? Of course you did Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doohickamabob Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 1 hour ago, Scott_From_Canada said: I heard Opie and Anthony do this live on 107.3 WAAF 10 years before it happened to this lady. It would be a funny "pun" gag if there weren't people believing it and getting worked up thinking they'd won, etc. I believe a good prank shouldn't hurt somebody (and I am a big fan of pranks....one of my favorite RE/Search books is the one about pranks...). The weird thing about the Opie & Anthony show is the entire prank is on the level of "dad humor" in terms of how pun-based it is. These are 20-something or 30-something guys doing 55-year-old man humor... (No offense to 55-year-olds.) Anyway, it's relatively harmless compared to some other stories of contests gone wrong. The worst story I've heard was the woman who participated in the "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" competition. The contestants came to the radio studio and whoever could drink the most water without peeing would win a game system. This woman participated and was determined to win the game console for her kids. She drank something like a gallon-and-a-half of water in under an hour. Neither she nor the radio hosts knew that there is such a thing as water poisoning, where you overwhelm your fluids so they don't have enough electrolytes (salt) to conduct electricity in your neurons -- which is how your brain is able to function etc. She died. On the less tragic side, but also pushing one's body to the limit, when I lived in Texas there was a yearly competition called Hands on a Hard Body, done at a truck dealership in my city. People had to keep their hand touching the truck longer than any of the other contestants, also touching the truck. They were allowed pee breaks but otherwise had to stay awake and standing (I think they ate food with the other hand). The winner was standing there with his hand on the truck for something like 3+ days straight. I knew the guy -- he tried to parlay his success into a book called "How I Won" or something, and I built him a little website to try to sell it. I don't think he made the New York Times bestseller list, but he did have a really nice truck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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ADAMANTIUM Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 All that be crazy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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MetalPSI Posted March 10, 2017 Author Share Posted March 10, 2017 25 minutes ago, ADAMANTIUM said: All that be crazy You've missed the really good stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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