Wheel of Fortune is a relatively simple game, which is why it has likely been on television in one form or another since 1975. Originally emerging from creator Merv Griffin on the road’s Hangman games as a child, it is a word guessing game broken down into individual letters. What matters most in Wheel of Fortuneapart from good turns, extrapolates whole words and sentences from a few scattered letters.
At least that’s what the candidate Charlene Rubush thought. Rubush had made it through the first few rounds of the competition, in which three contestants tried to spell words against each other. Rubush got through it without a hitch and entered the bonus round with $ 16,500.
In the bonus round, competition is eliminated and the rules change. While the history of these changes is quite thorough on the Wheel of Fortune History Fan Wiki
And yet that didn’t happen.
Rubush’s somewhat meta-category was “What are you doing?” that’s a bit like Danger! have a category called “answer in the form of a question”. She quickly grabbed “Choose the right one” and only left her with the last word “-__ rd”. After choosing “Card” first, she said the first half of the sentence and paused. And then, just before the time ran out, she put it all together. Mr. Policeman gave her all the pointers.
“Word!” she blurted out just before her buzzer sounded after the 10-second clock ran out.
The right sentence. But what turned out to be a surprise for Wheel of Fortune Spectators, that wasn’t all Rubush needed to win.
“This is difficult because you said all the right words, including the word ‘word’, but as you know it has to be more or less continuous,” said Pat Sajak, the host of Wheel of Fortune since 1981. “We’re going to take a little break, but not four or five seconds. I’m sorry. You did it well, but we can’t give you the price and it was the Audi. ”
To be more precise, an Audi Q3, which has a starting price of $ 39,500 and is described by Car and driver with “sharp styling, numerous technical functions, [and] cheeky driving behavior. “
It’s a bold stance Rubush will never see, much to the indignation of game show fans on Twitter. A search for #Wheel of Fortune mostly arouses anger at the moment, complaints about Rubush’s hiatus. In what world, did many think, is four or five seconds a long pause?
Alex Jacobs, a former Danger! Champion, started sending messages to both of them wheel‘s and Audi’s respective Twitter accounts, and the German auto company responded by stating that it was “reviewing this situation internally”.
Some have defended the show, noting that this is a rule that Sajak has enforced in the past. Robert Santoli, who is a candidate at. was Wheel of Fortune 2016 noted that Sajak has in the past encouraged contestants to say the full sentence to get the win, even though he didn’t at Rubush.
But even if it is a consistently applied rule, it does not seem fair to many: To get so close, to pronounce the right sentence and to be rejected because of a rule that seems secondary to the actual challenge. Perhaps, in the spirit of the holidays and a swarm of free advertising that would never have existed if Rubush had won the car in the first place, the company will give her the SUV.
Update (December 23rd): It seems Audi is okay with the rest of the internet – the auto company wants to give Rubush the award that many believe was stolen from them.
On December 22nd, Audi USA retweeted a complaint from Alex Jacob, a Danger! All-star. “Come on @WheelofFortune,” Jacob wrote on Twitter. “The woman literally chose the right word. Give her the car. “
Audi echoed Jacob’s opinion, saying Rubush deserved an award. The company later tweeted itself and confirmed that the “Audi Community” had helped her track her down. Audi’s use of the word “price” leaves some leeway for the company’s plans to give out Rubush, but both tweets include the hashtag # GiveHerTheQ3 and give viewers hope that Audi is right Wheel of Fortune‘It is wrong.
Update 2 (December 23rd): Rubush will actually receive a silver Audi Q3 2021 direct from Audi, Polygon confirmed on Thursday.
“In the spirit of the holiday season, we’re excited to give Charlene a brand new Audi Q3,” said Tara Rush, Audi of America’s chief marketing officer, in a statement. “After all, it’s the season of giving and whether it’s technical or not, we always strive to share a little Audi magic and to cheer!”
