Popped Too Soon

A chance to get something for nothing can appear out of thin air.

To celebrate its fifth anniversary, the Hungarian airline Wizz Air was set to release 1,000 balloons at a recent celebration. But the attempt popped too soon after the public saw what freebie was attached.

Before the balloons could be released in the air over Budapest, people spied free coupons for the airline valued at $49 U-S dollars attached to the strings, and started a free for all pop and grab.

Wizz Air communications director Natasha Kazmer said one person popped a balloon to snatch the attached coupon, and then as if on cue the entire crowd attacked the net holding the balloons. Potential passengers were scrambling to pop as many balloons as possible with one woman laying in the gutter picking coupons out of the sewer.

Kazmer says the idea was for the balloons to spread far and wide so they decided not to put a limit on how many coupons one person could use. But given the chance to grab a good deal out of thin air, most of the coupons were gone before the welcoming speech even started….a speech apparently given without a lot of hot air.