Oprah And Her Cars

[Audrey]

Oprah Winfrey gives away 275 Volkswagen New Beetles - Nov. 22, 2010

I'd receive the car, turn-around and sell it. (: I don't watch talkshows, but it's pretty crazy when people are dying in Haiti, Africa, India, America, China, everywhere, but some rich few can afford to give away 275 cars.

[Krnac#15]

so you really dont like slug bugs???me neither.....

[MGREEN11]

The most ridiculous promotion! Oprah has the money, why didn't she pay for them. Other than free advertising, what's VW thinking? 275 cars at roughly $25K each (maybe with taxes) comes to $6.8 M!! Yes, I agree, the money could be better spent.

[Audrey]

Originally Posted by Krnac#15

so you really dont like slug bugs???me neither.....

I like when other people have them, so my urge to punch people while driving can be fully embraced.

[HanlonsRazor]

Originally Posted by MGREEN11

The most ridiculous promotion! Oprah has the money, why didn't she pay for them. Other than free advertising, what's VW thinking? 275 cars at roughly $25K each (maybe with taxes) comes to $6.8 M!! Yes, I agree, the money could be better spent.

I'm sure VW knows the value of the advertising, they've sponsored other car give-aways on Oprah's show before. I think they gave away Routans last year (heh, that's probably the only way they could get rid of them! I'd be ashamed to drive it home!) so they should have worked out the value of the exposure by now. Six years ago Oprah gave away 276 Pontiacs, and Pontiac dealers saw a significant bump
in the number of people coming through the doors. Didn't save Pontiac, though.

[Casca]

I wish I could be rich enough one day that people will complain about how I choose to spend my money on a forum.

I donate money to certain charities, monthly allotted out of my pay before I even see it as well as the occasional personal handout, but I still keep enough money for myself to buy frivilous things. A week ago, I ordered spoiler extensions for $300 including shipping!@! It's weird and kinda sad that I can afford to spend $300 on something pointless to anyone else and only serves to make me happy when there are people in Haitai, Africa, India, many other places and even in the USA that could have used my money to survive. However, I work for my money and I am pretty sure it is my money. I donate what I think I should and don't feel guilty if someone thinks I could have donated more.

Oprah probably has donated more $$$ to everything listed here and then some then most of us will ever make in a life time. I doubt her action to "give away" cars was frivilous and will probably serve to make her and her network more $$ then before. And she even helped a few "regular" people while she was at it.

[Audrey]

Casca, Interesting perspective. I don't follow Oprah's personal finances well enough to know about her direct charitable contributions, but I do know she's done a lot of charity in Africa for education as a start. I don't think people should abandon all luxury in order to rain money on the underprivileged, but monetary frivolity should have its limits.

People can choose to do whatever they want with their money, but it's a funny world. The idea a talkshow/magazine personality can be so absurdly wealthy while [physically] hard working people remain impoverished around the world is boggling. The issue is way more complex than this forum, Oprah, an individual government, or even a collection of governments can address. I'm not suggesting communism or socialism either; rather, I am characterizing the extremes of humanity through this topic.

Volkswagen donated the cars, yay for those people, but what if the funds (perhaps pooled with the funds for other gifts like the diamond earrings given out on the show) had been used to put in some lightrail or other mass transit for a growing city. Wouldn't that have helped the common person, encouraged eco-friendly transport, and possibly served the business community for that city? There are other ways to do good for the common person.

[HanlonsRazor]

Originally Posted by Audrey

People can choose to do whatever they want with their money, but it's a funny world. The idea a talkshow/magazine personality can be so absurdly wealthy while [physically] hard working people remain impoverished around the world is boggling. The issue is way more complex than this forum, Oprah, an individual government, or even a collection of governments can address. I'm not suggesting communism or socialism either; rather, I am characterizing the extremes of humanity through this topic.

Sure, it is amazing how one person can amass such wealth while others work hard and struggle to feed themselves, but that's the way our world works. At least (unlike some of the world's wealthiest) Oprah amassed her wealth herself during her lifetime, and she didn't commit crimes to get it. She also gives it away: (From Forbes, 2009) "Her foundation has funded 55 new schools in 12 countries, and she has donated millions of her personal fortune, earning her the top spot in Forbes' list of most generous celebrities."

Originally Posted by Audrey

Volkswagen donated the cars, yay for those people, but what if the funds (perhaps pooled with the funds for other gifts like the diamond earrings given out on the show) had been used to put in some lightrail or other mass transit for a growing city. Wouldn't that have helped the common person, encouraged eco-friendly transport, and possibly served the business community for that city? There are other ways to do good for the common person.

I imagine that Volkswagon is a fine company that participates in many philanthropic activities, but I suspect that their donations of cars to Oprah's "Favorite Things" was primarily a marketing activity. Donating money for lightrail or mass transit would have the effect of making cars less necessary for some segment of the population... and even when Volkswagon wants to be philanthropic, I doubt they want to discourage car ownership!

[MGREEN11]

Bravo

Originally Posted by Audrey

Casca, Interesting perspective. I don't follow Oprah's personal finances well enough to know about her direct charitable contributions, but I do know she's done a lot of charity in Africa for education as a start. I don't think people should abandon all luxury in order to rain money on the underprivileged, but monetary frivolity should have its limits.

People can choose to do whatever they want with their money, but it's a funny world. The idea a talkshow/magazine personality can be so absurdly wealthy while [physically] hard working people remain impoverished around the world is boggling. The issue is way more complex than this forum, Oprah, an individual government, or even a collection of governments can address. I'm not suggesting communism or socialism either; rather, I am characterizing the extremes of humanity through this topic.

Volkswagen donated the cars, yay for those people, but what if the funds (perhaps pooled with the funds for other gifts like the diamond earrings given out on the show) had been used to put in some lightrail or other mass transit for a growing city. Wouldn't that have helped the common person, encouraged eco-friendly transport, and possibly served the business community for that city? There are other ways to do good for the common person.

Bravo.