Hi, Treggers.
This is a hoot!!
> >GENERAL MOTORS INTRODUCES NEW INSTANT-WIN AIRBAGS
> >
> >DETROIT
> >
> >With third-quarter sales sluggish and its share of the domestic market
> >down 11 percent since 1993, General Motors unveiled a new instant-win
> >airbag contest Monday.
> >
> >The new airbags, which award fabulous prizes upon violent, high-speed
> >impact with another car or stationary object, will come standard in all
> >of the company's 1997 cars.
> >
> >"Auto accidents have never been so exciting," said GM vice-president of
> >marketing Roger Jenkins, who expects the contest to boost 1997 sales
> >significantly. "When you play the new GM Instant Win Airbag Game, your
> >next fatal collision could mean a trip for two to Super Bowl XXXI in
> >New Orleans. Or a year's worth of free Mobil gasoline."
> >
> >Feedback so far has been overwhelmingly positive.
> >
> >"As soon as my car started to skid out of control, I thought to myself,
> >'Oh, boy, this could be it - I could be a big winner!'" said
> >Martin Frelks, who lost his wife but won $50 on Sunday when the Buick
> >LeSabre they were driving hit an oil slick at 60 mph and slammed into
> >an oncoming truck. "When the car stopped rolling down the embankment, I
> >knew Ellen was dead, but all I could think about was getting the blood
> >and glass out of my eyes so I could read that airbag!"
> >
> >"It's really addictive," said Sacramento, CA, resident Marjorie Kamp,
> >speaking from her hospital bed, where she is listed in critical
> >condition with severe brain hemorrhaging and a punctured right lung.
> >"I've already crashed four cars trying to win those Super Bowl tickets,
> >but I still haven't won. I swear, I'm going to win those tickets-even
> >if it kills me!"
> >
> >Kamp said that as soon as she is well enough, she plans to buy a new
> >Pontiac Bonneville and drive it into a tree.
> >
> >GM officials are not surprised the airbag contest has been so well
> >received. "In the past, nobody really liked car wrecks, and that's
> >understandable. After all, they're scary and dangerous and, sometimes,
> >even fatal," GM CEO Paul Offerman said. "But now, when you drive a new
> >GM car or truck, your next serious crash could mean serious cash. Who
> >wouldn't like that?"
> >
> >Offerman added that in the event a motorist wins a prize but is killed,
> >that prize will be awarded to the next of kin.
> >
> >According to GM's official contest rules, odds of winning the grand
> >prize, a brand-new 1997 Cutlass Supreme, are 1 in 43,000,000.
> >Statistical experts, however, say the real chances of winning are
> >significantly worse. "If you factor in the odds of getting in a serious
> >car accident in the first place-approximately 1 in 720,000 - the actual
> >odds of winning a prize each time you step in your car are more like 1
> >in 31 trillion."
> >
> >Further, even if one is in an accident, there is no guarantee the
> >airbag will inflate. "I was recently broadsided by a drunk driver in my
> >new Chevy Cavalier," said Erie, PA, resident Jerry Polaner. "My car was
> >totaled, and because it was the side of my car that got hit, my airbag
> >didn't even inflate. But what really gets me is the fact that the drunk
> >driver, who rammed my side with the front of his 1997 Buick Regal, won
> >a $100 Office Depot gift certificate. That's just wrong."
>
