Promo Gone Wild: NFL Shutout Costs Car Dealership $420K

It started out with good intentions.

A Seattle-area car dealership promised to give 12 lucky customers $35,000 apiece if the local Seahawks NFL team shut out the New York Giants on Sunday afternoon. The game was in New York, where the most recent Giants shutout occurred on Sept. 4, 1995

Lo and behold, however, the Seahawks decimated the Giants by a score of 23-0, and Jet Chevrolet Federal Way was left with a $420,000 promise to fulfill

The dealership told customers that they would hold a raffle for a dozen $35,000 prizes if the Seahawks held the Giants scoreless. Anyone who bought a car (reportedly some 20 people) in the four days preceding the game was awarded 100 raffle spots, while walk-ins who bought nothing could register for one spot apiece. The 12 prizes reference Seattle's "12th Man" fan section, which set a Guinness World Record for loudest sports crowd in history earlier this season Read more...