Oprah Winfrey is an American television host and producer. On September 13, 2004, she gave every member of her studio audience a Pontiac G6, permanently raising the stakes of checking under a chair.[1]
Car giveaway
Audience members opened boxes containing keys. The reveal became a television shorthand for giving the same thing to everybody in the room.
Subsequent usage
The format is now available to anyone distributing office tasks, parking tickets, or leftover containers. Delivery matters more than the object.
Influence
For years afterward, the underside of a studio chair retained a speculative value well above its actual value.