"Lost Weekend" documentary on MTv contest winners and the Bad turns that lead to
I heard this on one of those stupid morning radio shows. Looks interesting.
When MTV enlisted John Cougar Mellencamp to give away a Bloomington, Ind., house — with the stipulation that the winner had to paint it pink, in honor of the star’s hit “Little Pink Houses” — in 1984, the network should’ve done a little more research.
It turned out “the place we bought was across the street from a toxic waste dump,” remembered former MTV executive John Sykes. “We ended up having to buy another house [for the winner]. That [first] one stayed on our books for five years before we wrote it off.” The second house was indeed painted and the winner reportedly moved in — for two days, before selling it.
Meanwhile, Patrick McLynn won tax woes and a Batmobile in the summer of 1989.
A prop from the “Batman” movie starring Michael Keaton, the superhero cruiser lacked an engine but was cool nevertheless. So cool that the fabricators who had provided it to MTV angled to get it back.
“They told me they were willing to get the publicity and then buy the car back. They offered to throw in a Corvette.” He declined, because “it felt like something out of ‘American Hustle.’?”
Not long after, McLynn wished he had taken the deal. The contest attracted attention via publications, including People magazine, and some reported that the Batmobile was said to be worth around $300,000.
Then the IRS took notice.
More here
https://pagesix.com/2019/04/20/sex-cocaine-and-van-halen-inside-mtvs-wild-80s-contests/
= new reply since forum marked as read
But hey he had a Batmobile to go to and party with his friends 
