No Hummer From Dirty Sanchez

JULY 12--A radio listener has gone to court claiming to have been snookered by a California station that awarded her a new Hummer H2 in an April 1 prize contest--and then instead presented a toy replica of the expensive SUV.

Shannon Castillo, 25, apparently did not recognize the possibility that KBDS, a Bakersfield hip-hop/R&B outlet, was perpetrating an April Fool's stunt when she went to the station to claim her vehicle. Castillo and another female listener thought they won the $60,000 wheels in a contest during the KBDS morning show hosted by deejays Chuey Boy and Dirty Sanchez.

In fact, the women were given small radio-controlled toys by Sanchez, who broadcast the presentation live via a cell phone.

Castillo, a mother of two who works in a sandwich shop, last month filed a breach of contract/fraud complaint against the radio station in Kern County Superior Court.

For its part, KBDS has not shied away from publicizing its Hummer hoax. On the front page of the station's web site is a link ("Win a Hummer H2!") to a page about the April 1 giveaway, complete with a photographic play-by-play of the stunt, including the above shot of Castillo, with Dirty Sanchez at her left shoulder, flipping the bird after being awarded the toy car. The web site notes, "Do you know how many people actually participated thinkin' we were gonna give away an actual hummer? Not on this day!!!"

Castillo's complaint was filed one day before a Kentucky woman sued a Lexington radio station over a contest in which she was awarded a Nestle's 100 Grand candy bar instead of the $100,000 prize she was expecting. (3 pages)