That Time Oprah Gave 276 People 'Free' Cars That Actually Cost Them $6,000 In Taxes

It’s the 15th anniversary of one of the greatest publicity stunts in all of television—the day Oprah Winfrey surprised an audience of hundreds of people in need of reliable transportation with brand-new Pontiac G6 sedans, but then left them on the hook for the thousands in taxes that came with them.

The episode started with Oprah pulling 11 people seemingly at random from the audience and announcing what they all had in common—they all needed a brand new car, so Oprah gave each of them one. The audience, suffice it to say, began to go crazy.

Then a little box was handed out to every audience member, and Oprah informed them that inside just one of the boxes was the key to a brand new Pontiac G6. One more person in the audience would join the 11 others in Oprah’s grand giveaway. It was expertly crafted to throw everybody off the scent.

When Oprah finally let everyone open their boxes, everybody found a key, and everybody lost their mind. It was incredible television.

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The problem for everybody who got a car, though, was that neither Oprah, the TV network, nor Pontiac accounted for all of the taxes the new vehicle owners would have to pay the government—a tax on the full $28,500 (in 2004 dollars) price of the car.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/that-time-oprah-gave-276-people-free-cars-that-actually-cost-them-dollar6000-in-taxes/ar-AAHgdSS?li=BBnb7Kz

Sometimes good intentions have unintended consequences.