Twenty-five grand a year for 40 years might add up to a mil', but it hardly seems like a worthy prize for a guy who succeeded against incredible odds in a "kick for a million" contest. When I watched this on tv I was pretty jacked for the guy. The rules said he couldn't practice at all until the day before, and even then it was only one half-hour session with Prefontaine. He was under unbelievable pressure and he pulled it off, but I dunno, after reading about how the million dollars is given out over 40 yrs, I'm not too impressed with Wendy's. I know that in reality they never expected him to make the kick (and u could tell they weren't prepared to give the money away, cuz they made TSN go to commericial to "ice" his leg) but I thnk it's completely misleading to the guy and to the public, to give him a novelty check of $1million dollars so they can take photos of him with it and gain all this publicity, and then basically screw him over by not allowing him to collect the full amount until he's 65. I'd be pretty choked if I were him.
On a side note, he gets to try out next year for a team, I think for Winnepeg, wouldn't it be insane if he actually made it?
TORONTO (CP) - It was meant to be a fun way to promote its business, but Wendy's Kick for a Million contest may be turning into a public-relations nightmare.
The fast-food giant found itself in the middle of a minor boycott Friday after a halftime contest during Thursday night's Toronto-Hamilton CFL game made 25-year-old Brian Diesbourg a millionaire. The Belle River, Ont., mechanical engineer made a 50-yard kick and secured the grand prize - but he'll be 65 by the time he's done collecting it.
Wendy's insurance structure is set up as such that the $1 million will be paid out in yearly $25,000 instalments for 40 years.
Spectators said Friday they were disappointed with the outcome and are feeling misled by the company's contest.
"I can't believe that they're giving it out that way. What if you were 50, 55 years old and you won it? You'll be dead in 40 years," said Steve Goodman, 50, who was at the game with his nephew and heard promoters say Diesbourg would get a million dollars, tax-free, if he made the 50-yard kick.
"We were yelling things like, 'No more 99-cent burgers at Wendy's anymore! The prices just went up!' "
But Diesbourg says he has no issue with his prize, and was just happy to be getting the money.
"For me to win a million dollars straight up, I'd have a hard time not to blow it that in, like, a year," he said. "It's a way for me to manage my money and I think it's all right. That's the competition I won, that's they way they wrote it up."
Wendy's maintained that all potential contestants were asked to read the rules and agree to them before being allowed to participate, and that the company spoke with Diesbourg "numerous times . . . to make sure that everything was crystal clear and transparent" once he was selected.
"There are people who will say that they're not happy with the way Brian's receiving his money," said spokesman Desmond Edwards.
"I guess the only thing I can say is we care about what everyone says - but in this case, it's important that Brian is happy and he's thrilled."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/cpress/20051..._of_lifetime_1
Not Quite A Million Dollar Kick
University student .... and definetly not majoring in anything remotely related to arts
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