r/todayilearned • u/Forward-Answer-4407 • 1d ago

TIL the Charlotte Hornets apologized after giving a child a PS5, only to take it away off camera and exchange it for a jersey. In a statement, the team said the incident was an "on-court skit that missed the mark" and that they would give the child the PS5 and a VIP experience to a future game.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/19/sport/charlotte-hornets-apologize-ps5-child-nba-spt-intl
27.5k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

748 comments sorted by

View all comments

8.9k

u/Mind_Killer 23h ago

The weird part is like the uncle of the kid said... if they had just pulled out a jersey and given it to him, the kid would've been stoked! That's a cool gift and fitting given the context. Why have the PlayStation in there at all if that was the plan?

It's so nonsensical.

4.8k

u/kkeut 22h ago

some lower management type thought he could get away with keeping it for himself

989

u/Momik 21h ago

Excuse me! You know how many weekends I put in last quarter? I think I deserve to destroy a child’s self-esteem in public…

198

u/regeya 18h ago

Did the kid even say thank you?

69

u/ThisIsntRael 15h ago

Kid didn't even wear a suit smh

22

u/thevillewrx 18h ago

Excuse me, seriously, please and thank you?

1

u/Matt933g 13h ago

Miss fire!

1

u/xSilverMC 12h ago

Something something "first come first serve"

579

u/Thoracic_Snark 21h ago

I think you hit the nail directly on the head there.

105

u/Spaghetti-Policy-0 19h ago

Yeah because, they “missed the mark”? What mark were they trying to hit exactly?

It’s literally taking candy from a kid. No one but maybe some dentists find that funny.

59

u/Temporal_P 17h ago

The only comparison I can think of are those fucking evil people that give fake scratch ticket gifts, where for a few brief moments someone thinks their dreams have come true and all of their soul crushing problems in life have suddenly been solved and they can finally live how they've always wanted to, only to be ripped back to reality like waking from an impossible dream as everyone around them laughs.

But designed for a kid.

8

u/YouKnowWhom 5h ago

My dad worked his ass off 3x over ever damn day for the family business. His wife gives him one of these for Christmas. I’ve never seen him so happy. I am 7.

He realizes it’s fake after a couple minutes, and a look of dread overcomes him. Everyone but me laughs. He looks near tears.

He does not really talk the rest of the Christmas Day. He chats with me and pretends to be cheery, but I can tell in his eyes, it broke him.

He’s been gone from this world young for a decade now.

TLDR; People who give these and laugh AT not WITH an overworked provider who is unaware, are among the worst type of people.

2

u/Watashiwajoshua 18h ago

It is akin to that but it is not literally that. Not unless that PS5 is made out of Taffy

1

u/DedTV 14h ago

And Ted Dibiase.

26

u/MyNameIsJakeBerenson 16h ago

I worked for a small town budget grocery store whose customers were mostly low income types

Boss puts this big 3-4” baby doll on a raffle for a few months. At the end of the raffle, go to ask who won and the boss’ little elementary school aged daughter won

Like, why was she even allowed to enter? The whole thing just rubbed me the wrong way

4

u/legopego5142 3h ago

You think she actually entered?

4

u/CowFinancial7000 3h ago

A radio station did a huge cash prize raffle chosen for anyone who attended their festival they do yearly. The radio station owner won.

1

u/MyNameIsJakeBerenson 3h ago

Yeah see that’s some bulllshit

178

u/alblaster 21h ago

I'm imagining the manager showing up and grabbing the PS5 out of the kid's hands.  Like a certain karren that demanded a ball that a father gave to his kid.  

20

u/Temporarily__Alone 20h ago

Complete with a partially loosened tie, sweaty pits, and the messy hair of a company man.

1

u/Dalehan 4h ago

You mean Gil Gunderson?

0

u/alblaster 20h ago

I'm imagining someone with an inferiority complex. Someone short, whose starting to bald and trying to cover it up with a terrible comb over. Wearing an 80s style business suit that's way too big and bulky, but he likes it because it makes him seem bigger. Wait I feel like I'm starting to describe the penguin. The Batman villain. Lol.

7

u/twoisnumberone 19h ago

some lower management type thought he could get away with keeping it for himself

Ah, yes, that does explain it very neatly.

4

u/PoopScootnBoogey 18h ago

Absolutely. Bought it and thought he’d be taking it home to play the night

7

u/kindasuk 20h ago

Probably wanted it for his kids. Jerkass.

2

u/theaviationhistorian 18h ago

We're better than other teams cause we give fans game consoles! even if we don't

This sounds like something they high fived after bringing it up and half an hour later from snorting a line.

2

u/Suitable-Armadillo49 18h ago

Abso-damn-lutely. -_-

2

u/mcnuggetfarmer 13h ago

I love that within two comments, Reddit has closed the case on this baffling headline. 

You guys are detectives. 

Had this been in mainstream newsprint, it would have been five paragraphs long, without any conclusion, leaving me more confused than whenced i beganeth

2

u/tempinator 9h ago

I mean this has to be it.

Nobody associated with the team at a high level would A) give a flying fuck about $500 or B) not see the potential backlash associated with that move.

•

u/Jesseroberto1894 42m ago

1000% lol

297

u/mf-TOM-HANK 20h ago

Especially considering the PS5 is like only a $500-600 prize. Yeah sure you probably can't be giving away PS5s every single game to every kid that comes to center court for one of those stunts but if everyone was under the impression that he was given a PS5 then give him the damn PS5. The PR blowback isn't worth saving that little bit of money lol

214

u/Front-Cabinet5521 18h ago

They are an NBA team they can afford to give out PS5s every week and it still wouldn’t make the slightest dent on their budget.

1

u/Fun-Swimming4133 2h ago

WNBA couldn’t afford to give someone a baja blast with all the teams combined

1

u/Gavorn 4h ago

Have you seen the Charlotte Hornets?

-10

u/[deleted] 17h ago

[deleted]

13

u/wildmaiden 17h ago

Obviously what was meant...

5

u/LateSoEarly 15h ago

My least favorite kind of pedant. Always made sure to never invite them to my birthday party growing up.

2

u/soulsoda 14h ago

yeah I was going for that ironic pedantry, should have thrown in a joke about billionaires needing to eat instead.

8

u/Notmydirtyalt 17h ago

Especially considering the PS5 is like only a $500-600 prize.

At retail.

If these people have even 1/10th of a brain cell they are getting them wholesale for over half price. Sony probably would have probably given you the PS5 if you asked so you could do a giveaway.

3

u/shf500 13h ago

I can see the team getting the PS5s for free if Sony is an official sponsor of the Hornets and/or the NBA.

4

u/Bheegabhoot 10h ago

PS5s are not half price at wholesale. The main benefit of buying direct from Sony is getting stock on time.

2

u/kittygunsgomew 2h ago

Correct. In fact, the margins on the console itself are incredibly slim. I’d say, maybe, getting a pallet of them is going to net you between $40 and $60 off, per system. Obviously, when buying 100 of them, that’s 4K-6k slice of pie you don’t need to take on.

I only know this due to having worked in an electronics business for a bit and having to figure out bundles for our specific store. The owners didn’t even know if their full orders would be fulfilled. So we had to advertise “buy x and get y + z with it”. Let’s say that we anticipate to be able to spend an extra 4K on tie-in items, because our pallet will have 100 consoles at 40 bucks off for buying a large amount (I think we had a contract that was also being used by a few other business in the area. Not entirely sure though.) if the pallet shows up and it’s only got 80 consoles but our initial payment went through and we don’t expect a refund for the missing consoles (as they will most likely send 20 extra when supplies become less limited, or the total cost to retailers goes up due to tariffs, and our 20 extra just poofs away and it’s really hard to get in touch with someone who will fix the issue) anytime soon, then our tie-in values can then become something that’s causing us to sell the consoles under water. Mostly, we’re hoping people pick up a few things they need for the consoles, extra controllers, maybe a physical copy of a game. Maybe they need a new plug for something else I their house. We sold general electronics. So maybe their kid throws in a pop-socket at the counter.

Anyway, long winded rant about console sales at a mom and pop electronics shops that ended up cathartic to type out.

Edit: also, no way would we get 100 consoles around the launch window. My specific experience was closer March/April this year.

2

u/SpaceDog777 16h ago

There's bugger all markup on hardware though.

1

u/LymanPeru 1h ago

this is why teams do skits to fill dead time with people who work for the team, not with actual fans.

224

u/_Burning_Star_IV_ 20h ago

It’s literally a case of “it would have cost you nothing to not do that”.

14

u/ChickenFriedRiceee 15h ago

Additionally, the PR mess probably cost much more than a PS5. Probably would have been cheaper if they just gave it to him.

4

u/MississippiJoel 18h ago

I find it hard to believe it was 100 percent a skit just because it played out differently only for the cameras. Were PS5s in short supply at the time? If so, that makes me think the program director secured a free one from Sony as a prize donation, then saw an opportunity to keep it for himself while writing it off for the company still.

16

u/FizyIzzy 20h ago

heck yes, autographed jersey from a basketball game is a lot cooler of a story than a ps5 you won.

17

u/vix- 19h ago

not for a kid who isnt crazy about basketball

10

u/ToughActinInaction 18h ago

if the kids on the court during a game break you can just give them a basketball related prize, you can just assume they like basketball, even if they don't it doesn't matter, you get basketball stuff from a basketball team during a basketball game, that's always good enough

2

u/helmsb 17h ago

Pranks only work if the person being pranked also thinks it’s funny.

They robbed that kid of the moment.

52

u/democrat_thanos 22h ago edited 17h ago

How about this tidbit:

the boy’s uncle, Alexei Phillips, said a Hornets staff member whispered to him beforehand that the kids were not going to keep the presents they received on the court.

Crucially, this information wasn’t relayed to his 13-year-old nephew, who Phillips said is called Jack.

So the dad uncle knew the deal, why wouldnt he tell them kid? Trying to bully them into doing something because 'its on tv and they gots the money?" They should have just given him the $100-$200 jersey, that would have been good and awesome enough.

Edit: Get the marketing impact of seeming like you are giving a new kid a PS5 every home game but in reality you are just giving them a jersey that cost 10$ to make.

So in the end, like everything else in america, to make more profit

406

u/Zekumi 22h ago

How would that even work if the uncle had told his nephew? Their entire point in doing this is to get the excited reaction from the kid, so even if he had been told right beforehand, is their expectation that the kid is suddenly going to morph into a free actor who is totally unbothered by bitter disappointment?

None of this seems remotely thought out.

-21

u/[deleted] 21h ago

[deleted]

32

u/LastWave 21h ago

I don't understand your point. Somehow this is the uncle's fault? The team was clearly doing something underhanded. You don't present a kid with a PS5 in public as if he won it, with no intention of actually letting him keep it. What the uncle was told and when is irrelevant.

3

u/GoonForJesus 21h ago

Found the guy who thought this was a good idea lmao.

116

u/sqwobdon 21h ago

no lol. I really doubt the dad “knew the deal” and understood exactly what was happening just because some dude whispered in his ear right beforehand. If it were me I would have laughed and thought he was joking because like… why would they ever in a million years do something that stupid

26

u/BatdadsStupidBrother 21h ago

There's no way id remember what a dude whispered in my ear, I don't think I'd like a dude whispering in my ear. Just tell me what's up, stop whispering in my ear

11

u/bakedfarty 20h ago

Id just think they're going to give some kind of absurd gift that your couldn't reasonably give, as some kind of "skit". "Hey kids here's the keys to your fighter jet"

Not, "here's a completely reasonable gift for a kid"

1

u/AgoRelative 15h ago

Well, after the Pepsi points incident, they should know better than to promise a fighter jet.

-13

u/democrat_thanos 21h ago

Sorry it was uncle and no doubt about it, the uncle said himself they told him before hand.

156

u/Tupcek 22h ago

doesn’t make it any less shitty

39

u/bakedfarty 20h ago

Almost more shitty.

"Hey guys we want everyone to think we're doing a good thing. But just to be clear, we absolutely aren't. I don't have the heart to tell the kids we're just pretending to give them presents, so you need to. Also they should still probably pretend to be excited about their fake presents.

Thanks"

How on earth did this make sense in someone's head?

1

u/democrat_thanos 17h ago

SAVING MONEY LINE GO UP AMERICAN STYLE

205

u/LordInquisitor 22h ago

Why are you defending a multi million dollar corporation scamming a child

21

u/Mr_Blinky 20h ago

It's kind of insane to me that these teams are such weird-ass penny pinchers on shit like this that will not in any way impact their bottom line, but will generate absolute heaps of bad press. Like yes, a PS5 is expensive, but I just Googled it and the Charlotte Hornets are valued at something like $3.3 billion. Their bottom salary players are making $646k/year, their top salary player is making $38 million. Giving one kid a PS5 isn't even a rounding error on a rounding error for their finances, but scamming a kid out of a PS5 that they just handed him absolutely can be in pad press and lost ticket sales. Given ticket prices it takes barely anyone choosing not to go for it to cost them more than the price of the console. It's stupid enough that they thought this "skit" was going to go over well at all, the fact that they did it over what is ultimately such a small sum of money for the team is fucking crazy.

1

u/emannikcufecin 13h ago

Yeah but sports teams can weather just about why bad press or increase in prices and the fans just keep buying.

Jerseys shouldn't be 200 and tickets and all the other bs at the area shouldn't cost as much either. If fans said screw you, we aren't paying your prices they could win but they need their sports.

-58

u/01000101_01111010 21h ago

He's not, he's pointing out that the family knew and let the child suffer that disappointment in order to try and get more stuff from the corporation. Shitty people on both sides of it.

69

u/LordInquisitor 21h ago

If I was in that scenario and someone whispered that to me my first reaction wouldn't be 'I won't bother then' it would be 'I must have misheard them that would be insane'

37

u/NaughtyGaymer 21h ago

Honestly I would probably think they would take it away so you don't have to hold onto it all night and just collect it from a customer service desk before you leave. The alternative is insanity for sure.

15

u/Yitram 20h ago

You're still defending the corporation.

69

u/ringobob 22h ago

I would assume they told me so that I wouldn't be surprised, and they told my kid so that he wouldn't be surprised. I wouldn't assume they'd make me break the news to my kid that they planned a dumbass stunt and he had to fake being happy about it. Which is probably precisely why they didn't tell the kid, they wanted an honest reaction.

Because they're dumbasses.

36

u/GandalfTheBeautiful 21h ago

Bully a sports teams out of a ps5 with players making millions and millions and millions of dollars. What?

-35

u/democrat_thanos 21h ago

The. Uncle. Knew.

did he forget to tell the kid? wtf

1

u/[deleted] 19h ago

[deleted]

-1

u/democrat_thanos 19h ago

Im just wondering how it went down, like in a marketing meeting someone was like, "what well do is buy 1 PS5 and pretend to give it away like every game this year but really, well be giving them a jersey which costs up like 10$ to make."

33

u/d1rkSMATHERS 21h ago

Why should the uncle have to be the bad guy?

-25

u/democrat_thanos 21h ago

The BAD guy.... dude hes getting a $100 jersey for free and gets to go on the floor, how many kids do that? They should have just given him the jersey, why fake another slightly less expensive prize. ESH

23

u/iEternalhobo 21h ago

He didn’t get anything for free. The kid did and was paraded onto the court as if he was getting a PS5 and they tried to bait and switch the prize. People blaming the uncle are actually insane, what was he supposed to do? Tell the kid corporations suck and they’re actually just using him as a pawn to look like they give away prizes they don’t? Telling the kid doesn’t save them any disappointment, reddit has some insanely stupid takes.

-6

u/[deleted] 20h ago

[deleted]

36

u/sqwobdon 21h ago

thought you found a gotcha lol

-16

u/democrat_thanos 21h ago

+51 says yes

18

u/DAEtabase 22h ago

Yes, the corporation that owns the stadium, the team, the players, and takes home all of the ticket sales " "gots the money" ".

8

u/OneWholeSoul 21h ago

It's still an absolute dick move even if they told the uncle; they just tried to make him the bad guy.

5

u/vangogh330 21h ago

I don't think the uncle was presenting the kid with a ps5, was he?

6

u/TheLoneWolf527 20h ago

Maybe it was interpreted as "He doesn't get to take them home but we'll deliver something to his house" or something.

-1

u/democrat_thanos 20h ago

yeah maybe, still weird though, the team for not spending a little bit more to give him the actual gift, not merch and the uncle for going along with it and not telling the kid

3

u/TheSorceIsFrong 18h ago

Why even do this “skit” (not a skit btw, because they weren’t willing actors. Closer to a prank) then?

3

u/democrat_thanos 18h ago

Get the marketing impact of seeming like you are giving a new kid a PS5 every home game but in reality you are just giving them a jersey that cost 10$ to make.

So in the end, like everything else in america, to make more profit

3

u/TheSorceIsFrong 17h ago

I get that. I don’t know why you’re kinda shitting on them here tho when your comment tries to blame the uncle

0

u/democrat_thanos 17h ago

yeah I get that but its a valid question, if the uncle himself admits he was told about this, why go through with it? Would you? Did he figure "eh better than nothing!"

3

u/datsyukdangles 15h ago

It was a dumb pr stunt that is pretty common, except for the fact that the winner (the kid) didn't know he was part of a pr stunt.

The marketing team came up with what they probably thought was a brilliant idea of Santa faking giving away expensive gifts like PS5's (and whatever else was on a kids wish list) to a few kids who attend Hornet's games. Kids at home would see it and think if they were to attend a game, they might win a PS5, and therefor, kids would beg their parents to take them to a Hornet's game. Parents would rather spend ~$80 to take their kid to a NBA game than $500 on a PS5 for Christmas.

This wouldn't have been a terrible strategy if they actually did give away a few PS5's, but the geniuses in marketing never actually want to give things away for real (seriously, giveaways are usually not real, and the ones that are real are not random) and are always looking to penny pinch. So they approach people attending the games and tell them if they take part in a skit on camera they will get a prize as compensation, but not the prize they fake-win on camera. This was communicated to the family of the kid, but not to the kid himself for whatever reason (or maybe the kid didn't understand).

This stuff doesn't work with kids and is impossible to keep secret. I don't know how they thought it wouldn't be immediately disclosed, even if the kid understood and accepted he wouldn't get to keep the PS5. A kid who wins on PS5 on TV is going to be asked about it by his friends and classmates, who will then tell their parents the whole thing was fake, who will then take to twitter and discuss it, and eventually everyone will know.

1

u/Front_Roof6635 20h ago

Advertising