Radio Call-in Games: A Total Fraud

To be blunt…all those games are nothing more then just a marketing ruse, and cleverly manipulated. I´ll use an example to explain.

Guess the secret sound

A while ago one of our local radio stations had a telephone game where they would play a short, strange sound and ask people to tell what object makes that sound. Every time the sound was not guessed correctly some more money would go into the jackpot. Like many of those games it was sponsored by some company.

The ruse: The sound is never guessed correctly during the first try….or even during the first few tries. There seems to be a set number of minimum tries. Often the sound is of a type that it really can be multiple objects.

What´s really behind the games

If the games are not sponsored by a company then the radio station earns money by using expensive special rate phone lines for the game. After a certain amount of money is earned, they “let” someone win. If the game is sponsored by a company then the company chooses which type of listener it wants to win. Because of that the winner is almost always one of the following category:

• divorced mother with many children
• someone working a very poorly paying job
• “role model” family…wife, husband, two kids and a dog
• whatever the target group of the sponsoring company is

A lawyer is overseeing the game…. and its probably still manipulated

Sometimes its mentioned that a lawyer is overseeing the game. In some instances he´s even named and says a few words. Who guarantees that the guy speaking is really a lawyer and not just an actor?

Play…. but don´t expect to much

If you still think “its worth a try” then play, but if you don´t belong to one of the common target groups…don´t expect to win.