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Oprah's Famous Car Giveaway: 6 Things You Probably Didn't Know

Today is the 14th anniversary of Oprah's infamous act of kindness.

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1. Red bows on the cars

Oprah made her producers replace the red bows on all 276 cars the night before the giveaway; she thought they were too small. These appear to be the bows they ended up going with, despite Oprah recalling in the podcast that she told her producers “the bows should cover the whole hood of the car.”

2. The keys were taped down in the boxes

The keys placed inside boxes and handed out to each audience member were secured with tape so they wouldn’t rattle inside the box if shaken. Had audience members knew a key was inside, the surprise would've been ruined.

3. Many audience members were hand-picked

Most of the people in the audience were identified by producers beforehand as being in need of a new car and chosen to attend. The producers asked them questions like how they got to work and how old their car was.

4. The original plan included only 25 cars for the giveaway

The idea for the car giveaway came from Oprah’s friend Gayle King, who sat next to someone from Pontiac on a flight and struck up a conversation. The show had originally asked Pontiac for 25 cars to give out, but kept asking the automaker for more until the total number reached 276. The value of the cars to Pontiac was about $7.7 million.

5. Paramedics were on-hand to treat people for shock

Paramedics were in the studio that day in case anyone in the audience suffered a medical emergency from the shock of the giveaway. We couldn’t find any reports of them having to spring into action, but the audience was reportedly screaming so loudly that Oprah wasn’t sure if they heard her explanation of what was happening. That’s why today we have the wonderful meme of her screaming “You get a car! And you get a car!”

6. Most expenses were paid by the show, but not all

The Oprah Winfrey Show paid the sales tax and registration for each car, but not the gift tax, which could be up to $7,000 for some audience members. While the show did offer a cash prize for those who didn’t want to or couldn’t pay the gift tax, some audience members complained to the press, which devastated the producers.

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Sep 13, 2018 at 11:48am ET

John Neff

By: John Neff

Do you remember where you were when Oprah gave her entire studio audience a free Pontiac G6? It occurred 14 years ago today on the season premiere of The Oprah Winfrey Show to celebrate the talk show's 19th season.

On that day, Oprah gave all 276 members of her studio audience a brand new Pontiac G6, and the annals of pop culture got a new phrase: “You get a car!”

Here are 6 things you probably didn’t about Oprah’s famous car giveaway.

Celebrities and their cars:

Sources: Making Oprah, OWN Channel - YouTube, Autoblog

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