In the hyperactive, celebrity-obsessed culture we live in, good marketing skills are a requisite for success among the famous. Nobody has mastered this skill as much as billionaire Oprah Winfrey; she might as well call herself Midas since her book-club selections have become instant best-sellers and because of her Dr. Phil McGraw is now set for life.
The most vital aspect of her glowing image is the perception that she is a generous, selfless philanthropist. Millions of fiercely loyal viewers give her credit never seen by Mother Teresa, while in reality she is little more than a profit-seeking businesswoman.
Her recent publicity stunt with Pontiac highlights the contradiction of this image. According to The Wall Street Journal, Pontiac G6 automobiles were given to each of the 276 audience members for the season opener of her show, at a price of $28,500 each. In this episode, Winfrey throws her arms in the air and exclaims, “Everybody gets a car!” When asked by People magazine why she decided to donate a car to everyone in the audience, she replied, “Just because we can,” implying she personally incurred the $7.8 million expense.
However, according to Advertising Age, the cars were donated by Pontiac as part of a deal that will earn Pontiac an estimated $20 million in free publicity. The G6 will be the only corporate sponsor on Oprah’s official Web site, www.oprah.com for 90 days. A link on the Web site for the Pontiac contest generated “250,000 unique visitors to www.pontiac.com Sept. 13, an all-time record for the site,” according to Advertising Age.
In addition to misrepresenting the donation, Winfrey did not pay the gift tax placed on her guests. According to USA Today, Winfrey’s staff was told to select audience members “who desperately need cars.” Fortunately for these fans, their desperate need was filled in the form of a Pontiac G6. However, according to The Wall Street Journal, they also received an extra tax burden that averages out to roughly $6,000 per guest and $1.6 million overall. Brenda Schafer, a manager tax analysis and advice support at H & R Block said that even if the cars are sold, “there is no escaping the tax consequences of first owning it.” And for those who qualify for tax credits such as the earned income tax credit, the individual “will lose over $4,000 in refundable tax benefits plus have a tax due of $1,170,” Schafer said.
The Pontiac incident is by no means a unique occurrence. According to USA Today, Winfrey also arranged a series of donations for a needy fan, which included a college scholarship from SBC Communications, a Pontiac and clothing from Express. When Winfrey was asked about the motivation behind the new direction of her show during a USA Today interview, she stated, “I am … a person who understands what it means to give back … I really wanted for … the audience to feel the intention of the giving.”
The problem I have with Oprah is the disconnect that exists between the way she presents herself and the reality of what she does. Though she has amassed a fortune of more than $1 billion, most of her “charitable” actions do not come out of pocket. Rather than performing acts of true charity, she merely brokers gifts for her guests. Just as she did not purchase the cars for her fans, SBC and Express donated the scholarship and clothing. If she were truly the benevolent saint she portrays herself as, she would have never left her fans to pay the tax on the cars she had donated from Pontiac.
Although Oprah should be commended for her tremendous success and great marketing skills, she must also be held accountable for essentially lying to her fans about who she really is: a wealthy businesswoman whose primary concern is amassing more wealth.
-Jonathan Sullivan is a finance junior.
-This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Daily Aztec. Send e-mail to letters@thedailyaztec.com. Anonymous letters will not be printed – include your full name, major and year in school.
