Free Money Event Turns Violent

A promotion that included tossing envelopes of cash from a bus turned violent after thousands of people turned up and the event had to be canceled due to safety concerns.

Saturday in Paris a French marketing Web site called Mailorama.fr was hoping its "Bus of Fortune" would hand out envelopes containing between $7.50 to $750. The plan was for a double-decker London bus to drive around central Paris throwing cash from the windows, reported The New York Times . But after police saw about 7,000 people gathered near the Eiffel Tower (the BBC reported 5,000 people), the stunt was stopped before any money was handed out.

Some of the crowd were angered by the cancellation and turned violent, pelting windows with fruit and overturning a car. Ten people were arrested, according to the BBC .

The organizers were disappointed that the promotion did not go as planned. But one government official said he was horrified by the stunt.

"Just because they do this sort of thing in the United States, that's not a reason to do it in France," the budget minister, Eric Woerth, said in a radio interview. "It borders on the ludicrous."

The buzz around the free promotion grew when the media picked up the story. The stunt may not have gone as planned, but it did draw publicity.

In New York City in 2008, a mob of anxious people waiting for free money (that was attached to tomatoes) overran the organizers and took the cash before the promotion started. "I got pushed down and trampled, but instead of money, all I got were tomatoes," said one woman.