Wheel of Fortune Prizes: Ranking the Worst Wheel of Fortune Prizes Ever Awarded!
Wheel of Fortune has given away some truly amazing prizes over the years: cash, cars, luxurious trips...but it hasn't always been smooth sailing! The show's history includes some real prize "misses" — baffling items that left contestants scratching their heads and viewers laughing along at home. We're taking a lighthearted look at some of the show's most memorable duds, highlighting exactly what went wrong for these game show prize moments. From impractical items to complete letdowns, get ready for a wild ride! You never know when one of these items shows up! Plus some articles discuss online forums that have more anecdotes to share too so these articles might be getting only some of these weird awards reported too.
What makes a prize a bad prize? It is always context specific for example some Reddit user discussed winning items such as appliances which they loved, yet suffered steep import duties since not residing within US for delivery of these awards! Such things like this matter because there’s such factors including taxes and logistics impacting those receiving certain prizes and awards. One recent Wheel Of Fortune video of this year showcases a more recent, very specific award in its own promotional segment for their South Dakota travel packages also that has another blooper! As several others reported - fans had issues relating to it too!
Worst Wheel of Fortune Prizes: A South Dakota Trip Takes the #10 Spot!
Imagine winning a trip, expecting a tropical getaway only to end up in South Dakota. Ouch! In Season 41, Tom Stadnicki solved a puzzle winning a trip to this midwest location as shown. However, what may have looked decent on paper caused lots of issues related to prize marketing too, like that one video including places that are technically NOT within those bounds (Devil's Tower's technically in Wyoming, but featured among the footage for South Dakota anyway).
Even the show's host, Pat Sajak, reportedly thought the prize was underwhelming! It highlights the unpredictability of even long established game show gifts - while most expect big-ticket items or a fun break there's clearly no "guarantee" either when relying solely on these larger established show gifts. Some view these prizes not really "bad", but more "unfortunate," emphasizing the occasional unpredictability these kinds of long running formats show! Other unexpected outcomes include what looks fancy but turns out problematic, which leads us towards some further rankings!
Questionable Wheel of Fortune Prizes: Atlantic City Vacation and Miami Hurricane Season Trips!
Coming in at #9 is a trip to Atlantic City – sounds okay-ish, but is this a dream vacation? Probably not. Not when other possibilities abound such as dream European or island vacations which game show contestants commonly associate more as great, high value wins in these formats. In Season 42, Cody Hunger won this trip from the show. In terms of other game prize discussion - a viral reddit post discussed how some users expected greater "value" around game prizes from some other recent episodes aired.
Then at #8 there's the Miami trip! Not even close! Miami is beautiful and exciting...but when you happen to be in hurricane season, this can certainly feel very, VERY off to fans and viewers and probably more concerning even to those participants especially in light of past weather events that have taken place in related geographic locales. Contestants Cathy Roth and Jane Schwartz took this prize. It makes some viewers think - maybe Wheel of Fortune should better prioritize what gets advertised to folks as this prize could become unexpectedly frustrating, or at minimum a hassle, given many possible outcomes given Florida’s volatile weather across the annual season changes that frequently disrupt life for its various seasonal occupants from tourist industry employees to normal Floridians alike who always have contingency plans during these yearly period and duration time shifts due to major earth based geographic regions that shift along similar solar based, atmospheric changes that relate more deeply even when seemingly unrelated too to some other global impacts or regions across Earth and its surrounding ecologies too! For context several recent events relating to Hurricane and related climate patterns from the previous summer across various Atlantic coastal region news feeds still caused impacts to certain regions like South Florida where various towns saw disruption. Some wonder if perhaps show staff isn’t vetting or otherwise handling things efficiently, so perhaps there might be other issues besides the prize given!
Impractical Wheel of Fortune Prizes: Household Appliances and a Ceramic Dalmatian Statue!
Coming in at #7 is that seemingly amazing household appliance prize bundle! Until, that is, you consider hefty shipping, taxes and other customs related fees as seen by some people - from certain Canadian provinces for instance. There were extra taxes! Who wants those kinds of headaches after finally winning on Wheel of Fortune? It does not seem worth it after taxes especially.
And don’t even get me started on #6's ceramic Dalmatian statue! While some consider this to be an "unofficial" mascot it does leave folks wanting something more exciting too - since its practicality as a household item definitely limits some use cases or enjoyment after it has actually been awarded since it may or may not appeal among everyone given taste variations for homes, décor and lifestyle choices overall! Clearly it creates both wins, losses and just plain quirky randomness for some.
Funny Wheel of Fortune Prizes: Cheesecakes and Programmable Tomy Robots!
At #5 we have cheesecakes – yummy, but really underwhelming compared to other huge wins! Winning cheesecakes after intense competition may just leave the feeling of having an underwhelming outcome. Winning is definitely better but something greater feels missing - which could help determine where viewers should draw lines. How could there not have been additional prizes? In several years previous to when that episode aired there is apparently different methods of providing such things during related parts during broadcasts and some recent updates in prizes for Wheel of Fortune as covered on online sources during this Fall.
Then at #4, there are those iconic 1980s Tomy robots! Cool at the time for that tech era...until you consider today's sleek, smarter toys. How clunky! They lacked basic intelligence despite claiming to be programmed in those time periods for some uses even and those robots could do basic moves - lifting, playing sounds/tapes! How slow their moves! Plus some additional comments note how plastic degrades quickly over time - given several generations now and years of chemical use on them such plastics yellowing over long periods like many long term owners experienced. Also remember how these toys were grouped and handled for viewers alongside the show itself. So how does it actually perform with handling - well there have been similar criticisms from those familiar with these models, even before.
Unexpected Wheel of Fortune Prizes: A Gucci Mini Calculator and French Accent Ceramic Canisters!
At #3 - it's a Gucci mini calculator. A designer calculator. Really?! A luxury brand and its name only implies little to how practicality exists or what financial impact such accessories add! In certain consumer groups though, luxury names like Gucci hold strong attraction for a particular target audience or consumer demographics so its use cases may vary, but even here the appeal limits such use or what added values its utility creates. Contestant Evangelina paid $85 for a branded but otherwise utilitarian device back in the day - after winning already a nice sum from solving the puzzle successfully! What was she even doing at the Tv room spending prize selection options at this moment anyways given several options existed already that likely generated more potential added values on its resale for someone - either among participants, game show staff, or perhaps even beyond that point.
Finally, we arrive at #1 and #2: At #2 are some French accent ceramic canisters from way back in 1979. A tad underwhelming too! Although practical there is again the issue of financial returns and other value generation from some household good prize rather than other choices where there's higher chance for significant gain either resale among audience segments and perhaps broader. Some consider these prizes more "practical," rather than "bad" to distinguish between these extremes - since clearly there's utility that persists in these contexts for several groups whether viewers, audiences and prize winners alike even among other non "winners". Finally for #1 some items aren't covered but this will continue based on various items found from online discussions such as about that infamous WD-40 lifetime supply! Even that might appear someday in future rankings!
