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Oprah’s 9 Craziest Giveaways

Cars, clothes ... herb rub?

By Evann Gastaldo, Newser Staff

Posted May 25, 2011 11:35 AM CDT

(Newser) – Oprah Winfrey is famous for giving gifts to her audience, and those gifts have ranged from the extravagant (diamonds, cars) to the just plain bizarre (glitter Uggs?!). Slate lists her nine most memorable gifts:

Spanx, 2000: The slimming undergarments might seem ubiquitous now, but they were new and still experimental 11 years ago. Oprah’s endorsement definitely helped Spanx along, and the product made $100 million dollars over the next decade.
Pontiac G6, 2004: The first time Winfrey gave every single member of her audience a car, all 276 people flipped out. Then they flipped out again, in a less pleasant way, when they learned they each owed $7,000 in taxes on the vehicles.

Sparkle Uggs, 2010: The glittery footwear led some to question Oprah’s fashion sense.
Volkswagen Beetle, 2010: With this car giveaway, Oprah learned from the G6 incident and covered the taxes.
Herb rub, 2011: Julia Roberts was asked to share one of her favorite things with Oprah’s audience … and she chose herb rub. Typical Twitter reaction: “Julia Roberts is such a cheap-ass. I can’t believe the crap she gave away on Oprah.”

Click for the complete list, or watch a hilarious remix of Oprah’s G6 giveaway (“You get a car! You get a car!” It never gets old.).

On the final 'Oprah's Favorite Things,' Volkswagen revealed the design silhouette of its all-new 2012 Volkswagen Beetle – and then shocked her audience by giving each of them a 2012 Volkswagen Beetle. (PRNewsFoto/Volkswagen of America, Inc., George Burns)

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Oprah’s 9 Craziest Giveaways

Cars, clothes ... herb rub?

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