Dutch Kidney Donor Show was a hoax

According to French weekly LExpress, the Dutch reality program from BNN, "The Big Donor Show", which aired last night, whereby three ill contestants competed to win a kidney from a terminally ill cancer patient, was a hoax.

In the last minutes of the show, viewers were informed that the 37-year-old terminal patient with a brain tumor as well as the three contestants in need of a kidney transplant, were all actors.

All through the show, which lasted an hour and 20 minutes, viewers were sollicited to send text messages giving their opinion on which of the three contestants was best suited to receive the terminally ill patients kidney.

BNN always claimed the program was a serious attempt to highlight the scarcity of donor organs and to honour the memory of the broadcaster’s founder, Bart de Graaff, who died five years ago at the age of 35. Something they defniteley achieved, but by solliciiting text messages from spectators under false pretenses, is this not a case of fraud? Text messaging is a great source of revenue for TV channels.

Related:

-- Kidney Transplant TV Show Is a Hoax (AP)

-- EU condemns organ donor tv show

-- Dutch TV show has viewers voting on who should get donor organ

emily | 8:13 AM | SMS, Television and Radio |
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