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.
Your response here is so thick.. I now think you're just putting us on. You can't be serious.
Grow up?
Maybe.
But she is going to win. Radio stations have made this mistake before, and lost.
I'm all for free speech, and even a little good natured leg pullin once in a while.
The station will lose.
Let's imagine you had a car to sell, and wanted $1,000.00 for it. You and I agree that I can buy the car... but I don't have the money with me, so I'll drive the car home and have a courier bring you the cash.
I drive away. An hour later, the courier shows up and hands you a package.
You open it up and find inside exactly one thousand brand new crisp Canadian Dollar bills.
You would be outraged and would win in court.
This will get settled out of court, because she has a right to demand a jury trial.
And a jury would give her the Hummer and emotional distress as well.
I've never understood the mentality, muchless humor, of setting someone up to be humiliated. Life offers plenty of opportunities for us to make fools of ourselves... why would a 'friend' want to do add to that??
I can't stand TV shows like Punk'd or Fired etc. that play jokes on folks. Why is deception supposed to be funny??
Oh well...guess Candid Camera is enough for this old timer.
Actually, a practical joke conducted for profit IS illegal. It's called fraud. Now, I doubt they'll face criminal charges. But they will face a civil suit. And they will be writing a big check.
There is precedent that upholds a station is obligated to produce what is being advertised in a contest.
A radio station pulls this, insults its listeners, and expects there to be a feeling of "good will"?
Very foolish PR move, IMHO.
Also most likely illegal.
Reply from Tempestous:April Fools is tradition in this country and I hate to see that practical jokes on that day become illegal because of some hypersensitive dumbasses can't take a joke.
Boo-hoo, you hurt my feelings. Give me a break and grow up. You sound like all the other idiots out there who are "offended" at everything.
And thus, ladies and gentlemen we have the classic case of the pot calling the kettle black... oh well.
If disagreement with someone's opinion is the equivalent of hurting that persons' feelings then let me be the next to hurt yours. The rules are there for a reason. The radio station does not have the right to take advantage of someone in order to benefit themselves, regardless of how gullible you think this woman was. The station is in the ratings and advertising business. This stunt was about obtaining listeners (and therefore, ratings and advertising dollars). I expect that an examination of the law will show this to be a "cut and dried" case.
Personally, I hope she enjoys her new vehicle.
Besides everything else, where is the humor in giving away a toy Hummer? That's funny somehow?
Looks like these guys are the stereotypical "witless moron" morning DJs.
The contest extended from some period before April 1 to April 1. The so-called "April Foods Day" is NO EXCUSE for a radio station violating the law.
I don't see what is practical about publicly humiliating someone. If these DJ's thought this was a joke, they did it wrong. If it was funny, everyone including the woman who supposedly won, would have been laughing.
Sorry to restate your position. I guess I was typing while you were posting.
Holy Cow! So if I bust your skull open w/ a baseball bat on 1-April, and shout "APRIL FOOLS" right after doing so, it's A-OK, right? Sheesh! How did you get your law degree... by drawing "Sparky" from the back of a matchbook cover?
Tell you what - I don't have much money to spare (married w/ children), but you go right ahead and track this case. If she doesn't get a settlement I'll send you $5 - real US currency, to buy you lunch at Micky-Ds or where ever - no joke - just send me the web location where the info is posted to prove the result. But if she does get the settlement you owe me nothing. How about that?
LOL - Boo Hoo! You hurt my feelings! - no worries
Just kidding!!! Gosh!!!! LOL
It's a forum - let's pile on!
You think anyone wants to mess w/ me when I'm wearing these pants?!?
And I hate to break the news to you, but the radio station in a case like this is held to very specific standards in terms of FCC regulations, advertising, consumer fraud, etc. After that infamous "toy Yoda" case a couple of years ago, I'm surprised a radio station is dumb enough to tolerate this kind of nonsense on the air.
This woman is going to walk away with $60,000 or a Hummer -- no question about it.
Allow me to quote from article:
He said the station indicated the H2 had 22-inch rims, suggesting the vehicle itself was full-sized.
So, it appears the radio station did indeed say something like, "The H2 has 22 inch rims." It's clear misrepresentation on the radio station's part.
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