Radio Stunt Goes Bad

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Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 5:51 am

Anyone hear about this....Water Entoxication, I didn't think it was possible!

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A Sacramento radio station fired 10 employees Tuesday, including its three morning disc jockeys, after a mother of three died following an on-air water-drinking contest last week at the station's studios.

http://www.nbc11.com/news/10762819/detail.html

Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 11:32 am

I have never heard of such a contest.
It is horrible! Sad

Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 11:59 am

There was a case in the UK a few years ago, where a girl died after panicking after taking ecstasy. As her friends had heard that you should drink plenty of water when you are on E's, they gave her her loads of the stuff with similar (fatal) results.

Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 12:01 pm

Holy CRAP!!! Shocked

Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 12:19 pm

http://www.urban75.com/Drugs/drugxtc1.html

Quote:

Dr John Henry, director of the National Poisons Unit at Guy's Hospital, said "I am not aware of anyone who has died as a result of an acute allergic reaction to Ecstasy. Her low plasma sodium level makes her death much more explicable. She drank a lot of water but with a lack of understanding of why she needed to drink water. Water is not an antidote to Ecstasy, it is an antidote to dancing."

Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 2:12 pm

I've heard of this too. I even think that CSI had an episode once where they covered this.

Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 2:16 pm

yep.water intoxication is not a very nice way to go at all.supposedly a very painful death. i learnt about it in a couple of science lessons a few years ago.

Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 2:47 pm

Life is cheap. Very sad indeed that somebody has to die unnecessarily in pursuit of a 'prize' worth a paltry US$250.

Methinks it's going to cost somebody a lot more than that if, and when, it comes to court.

My thoughts are with her family.

Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 2:53 pm

I remember this being posted a while ago here about a radio contest/prize/gimmick/scam/whatever.

http://forum.419eater.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=391548

(old thread, please don't necro)

Baiting Guru Joined: 08 Jul 2004 Posts: 11857 Location: UK

^^^^^ There was a similar one to that quite a few years ago, a radio station had a competition to win the keys to a Porsche sports car, not the car, you just won the keys, of course the radio station were having a laugh by doing this, someone duly won the competition and were given a set of Porsche car keys, they were not impressed, thinking they had won a Porsche, and sued the radio staion, I am not positive, but I think they may have won the case.

Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 7:45 pm

This is tragic. I don't think I'd feel right keeping a prize won under these circumstances.

^^^^^SP, your post reminded me of the "Pepsi Points" promotion about 10 years back. They ran a commercial showing all the stuff you could get with enough points from Pepsi products, and the final prize was a Harrier jet. It was a joke, but some guy figured out that the cost of X million Pepsi Points was a whole lot less than a real jet, and he actually accumulated enough. He didn't get the jet but I'm sure he got a settlement from Pepsi.

Baiting Guru Joined: 08 Feb 2005 Posts: 2301

For a Nintendo of all things. I could see killing yourself for an "All Night Extravaganza" at the Mustang Ranch, but not for a game system. Rolling Eyes

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 12:20 am

Local paper reported today she ingested two gallons. About 8 liters. But the sad thing was that it was to get something to give to her kids.

Not quite a Newb Joined: 10 Jun 2005 Posts: 54

Scam Patroller wrote:

^^^^^ There was a similar one to that quite a few years ago, a radio station had a competition to win the keys to a Porsche sports car, not the car, you just won the keys, of course the radio station were having a laugh by doing this, someone duly won the competition and were given a set of Porsche car keys, they were not impressed, thinking they had won a Porsche, and sued the radio staion, I am not positive, but I think they may have won the case.

I am not familiar with this case, but a Hooters restaurant had a competition for the waitress who sold the most beer to win 'a new Toyota!' and the person who won was given a new 'Toy Yoda' being a Star Wars action figure of the jedi master Yoda. Hooters was sued, and the contestant (a waitress at the store) settled the case on undisclosed terms.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/05/09/toy-yoda.htm

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 5:05 pm

I heard the audio on the radio this morning. It is really sad, because most people would never think you can die from drinking too much water.

There were people who warned those running the show about it. They just made a joke and went on. I feel bad for the hosts, because I am sure they never dreamed it to come to this. But I can definitely say those releases that the people signed are not worth the paper on which they are written.

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 5:34 pm

A trunkbox to whomever can get their lad to drink 8 litres from Lekki Lagoon. Shocked

http://www.lagoswater.com/

** SUSPENDED ** Joined: 26 Mar 2005 Posts: 1267

I read this thread but did not comment, however, last night I saw a thing about it on dateline. The woman who won was on it, she said that she had a "major headache" the next morning, she was very lucky.

Baiting Guru Joined: 04 Dec 2005 Posts: 3551

Today in the U.S. we hear that the woman AND the radio idiots were warned about the risk. Supposedly the family will sue, and there is a backlash against the family. It seems to me that she and the radio folks were equally to blame. I feel really sad for her little children.

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 10:07 pm

I heard about this from my dentist years ago - one of her patients had had really bad toothache and found that sipping water eased it somewhat, and had drunk about a gallon overnight. She warned him about the risks, and he was so shocked he forgot he was in pain still. Shocked

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 10:11 pm

Even more sad, the fact that it could have all been averted by using Gatorade or some other electrolyte sports drink instead. It's not the excess water that kills you, it's the fact that you wash away all the sodium in your system and throw off your electrolyte balance. Of course, that's not to say I would play or run this contest with Gatorade...

This problem first came to light in the fraternities, where kids were dying from alcohol poisoning, so they replaced it with water to simulate drinking games, with nasty and deadly results (since they could "safely" drink so much more water than alcohol).

Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 1:31 am

Morning USA radio show contests deserve a mention in miscellaneous scams. Because a lot of them are nothing but that. Sometime with horrific results, all for a laugh. Sick. Mad