Shopping Links
Written by Scot Meyer
SwitchYard Media, Inc. - email | website
Designed and produced by Kent Harris
Tin Can Rocket, Inc. - email | website
A production of SwitchYard Media, Inc.
Photo Courtesy of Rene Schwietzke
No Sales Acceleration
The "Oprah Winfrey Show" garnered lots of publicity -- and some enthusiastic new fans -- when it gave away new cars to all 276 members of its studio audience one day in September 2004.
The marketing stunt cost General Motors $7 million and generated a lot of buzz -- for Winfrey and here show. But it did not translate into sales for the car in question, the 2005 Pontiac G6.
The trade magazine Automotive News reported that sales of the car in the first five months of 2005 wer down compared to the car it replaced, the Pontiac Grand Am and overall Pontiac sales fell 22.8%25 in the first 2 months of that year.
Search for Cars: MSN Autos
Photo Courtesy of KFC
More Than They Bargained For
Sometimes a mention on Oprah's show can generate too much interest. That was the case with a coupon offer for KFC's grilled chicken.
The KFC offer on Oprah's May 4, 2009 show, promised two free pieces of grilled chicken, two sides and a biscuit to anyone who downloaded a coupon within a two day period. About 10.5 million coupons were downloaded and many of those were photocopied. KFC outlets were overwhelmed.
The company gave out only 4 million meals before it had to pull the plug on the deal, offering apologies and rain checks to millions more angry coupon bearers. Advertising Age called it a Kentucky Fried Fiasco and quoted marketing experts who predicted that the company's reputation would be damaged as a result of the botched promotion.
Website: KFC
Search for Coupons: Bing
Photo Courtesy of Gamerscore Blog
A Shot in the Dark
Critics say Oprah has lent support to the scientifically unsupported view that Autism is linked with the childhood vaccine for mumps, measeles and rubella.
Actress and former Playboy model Jenny McCarthy appeared on Winfrey's show to promote her view that preservative once used to prepare the vaccines helped cause an epidemic of Autism, and that her son is one of its victims. The media and medical establishment are hiding the truth, she charged.
During the show Oprah did read a statement from the Centers for Disease Control indicating that science has found no link between vaccines and Autism, but she supported McCarthy and gave here the last word on the show: "My science is named Evan, and he's at home. That's my science."
Jenny McCarthy on Bing: Search
Autism information: Search
Jenny McCarthy Bio MSN Movies
Photo Courtesy of susansomers.com
More Science Friction?
"The Oprah Winfrey Show" has been accused of promoting other scientifically dubious ideas. For example, Suzanne Somers promoted an anti-aging regimen on the show that includes hormone replacement in the form of daily vaginal injections.
Newsweek magazine stated that the bio-identical hormones Somers promoted have not been shown to be less risky than traditional hormone replacement therapy, which has been linked to increased rate of heart attacks, strokes and cancer.
The magazine also reported that Oprah's show has a history of giving a platform to questionable notions, such as the assertion that a cancer-causing sexually transmitted disease can be blocked by a healthy diet, or that thyroid dysfunction in women can be caused by a history of swallowing words one is aching to say.
Suzanne Somers MSN Movies
Photo Courtesy of http://www.represent.co.za/
Do the Right Thing
In January 2007 the talk show star established the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa. Oprah spent $40 million to open the school and personally chose the 152 students who would live there and study free of charge.
But by October, the school was embroiled by scandal, with at least six of the students identified as victims of indecent assault and criminal abuse.
Winfrey reacted quickly. She traveled to South Africa with a team of private detectives to investigate the allegations. Four days later a dormitory matron was suspended and here alleged misconduct was reported to the police. An editorial by Johannesburg the Times newspaper praised Winfrey's response.
Website: Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls
Photo Courtesy of Mary A
Fact or Fiction?
James Frey's "Million Little Pieces", billed as a memoir of his journey from drug addiction and crime to recovery, was written in 2003 and became a runaway best seller after Oprah made it a book club selection in the fall of 2005. Many of its fans said Frey's gritty tale helped them beat their own addictions.
But the drugs-to-riches story unravelled after the article "A Million Little Lies" appeared on a web site called The Smoking Gun, alleging that many of the incidents described in the book were made up.
Oprah initially stood behind the book, telling CNN's Larry King and his audience by phone that "the underlying message of redemption in James Frey's memoir still resonates wtih me." But she quickly reversed course after hearing from angry viewers, and told Frey on her show that he had betrayed her and his readers.
Oprah Book Club: Website
Book Club Search: Bing Search
Photo Courtesy of http://angelatthefence.com/
Memoir Fraud Redux
In 1996 Oprah had Herman Rosenblat and his wife on her show, and called the tale of their first meeeting at a Nazi concentration camp where she, disguised as a Christian farm girl, helped him survive by tossing apples to him over the fence, as "the single greatest love story she had ever encountered."
Rosenblat and his wife later made another appearance on Winfrey's show and New York based Berkley Books was set to publish his first memoir, "Angel at the Fence", in February 2009 with the book's subtitle:"The True Story of a Love that Survived." The story wasn't true, though, and the book publication was cancelled. But a novel based on the tale is due to be published by York House Press in September 2009.
Oprah Book Club: Website
Book Club Search: Bing Search
Photo Courtesy of http://australiamovie.com/
Books Yes. Movies? Not So Much.
Oprah's touch has proved golden when it comes to books. Her endorsement has launched scores of titles - including many that were previously obscure -- to the top of the best-seller's list. But with movies, her record is mixed.
Winfrey devoted special edition of her show to "Australia" and its stars before the film's debut in 2008 saying she "had not been this excited about a movie in years." But the movie opened No.5 in the U.S., and went to gross just $20 million in this country, although it worldwide.
Other movies promoted on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" have included box office hits like "Crash", "Brokeback Mountain", and misses like "Alexander" and "The Things We Lost in the Fire".
MSN Movies: Australia
MSN Movies: Brokeback Mountain
MSN Movies: Alexander
MSN Movies: Crash
MSN Movies: Things We Lost in the Fire
Photo Courtesy of Alfred Knopf, Touchstone Pictures
Not Beloved by Moviegoers
Winfrey did more then recommend "Beloved," a 1998 movie based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Toni Morrison, she produced and starred in it, describing her efforst as the ultimate labor of love.
Oprah acquired the film rights to the novel in 1987, and the movie was her first starring role since here Oscar-nominated performance in the 1985 film "The Color Purple".
But despite Winfrey's involvement in the project, and the fact that she devoted two episodes of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" to the film, "Beloved" did relatively poorly at the box office, with a gross of just $22.9 million. The film did a little better with critics, although its only Oscar nomination was for costume design.
MSN Movies: Beloved
Photo courtesy of Oprah.com
With Friends Like These
The “Oprah & Friends” channel debuted on XM Satellite Radio on Sept. 25, 2006.
The new channel was the result of a 3-year, $55 million deal the fledgling satellite radio service had signed with Winfrey in February 2006. XM expected Oprah to draw new listeners and advertisers to its service, and to some extent she did.
XM added nearly 1.7 million net new subscribers during the fiscal year that ended Dec. 31, 2006, and it credited Winfrey’s participation with contributing to that growth. That’s not bad, but in the previous fiscal year XM added 2.7 million net new subscribers. XM’s net loss also increased by 7.8%25 in fiscal 2006, to $718,872, and the company decided to merge with its chief competitor.
XM Radio: Website