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This happened in Westfield Parramatta last night.
I know people are always after freebies but will never personally become part of such crazy huge gathering.
Will you go for it?
Shoppers Got Hurt While Looking for Freebies at Westfield Parramatta
Ash-Say on 24/12/2019 - 07:21
Last edited 24/12/2019 - 09:47 by 1 other user
Last edited 24/12/2019 - 09:47 by 1 other user
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It was probably some social experiment they were doing and filming
Someone will lose their crowd control license.
Not quite sure that Westfield management thought this one through. Will probably end up with several lawsuits as a result that will cost them significantly more than a few gift cards.
You can almost see the queue at Stacks Goodcamp.
Nah.. its Parramatta.. They will use Gerard Malouf & Partners no win no fee :p
Meh they'll just jack the rents up.
They’re probably already trying to buy off the people involved.
They didn't think to through
They should have dropped the balloons from up higher, like from the top floor. They would have spread out everywhere instead of being concentrated in a small area only 1 metre above a crushing crowd.
They could have used a few fans to blow the balloons around too. For a bit of randomness.
Most likely spit liability with event organisers / security Wilsons. I use to work for a security company that does guards and concierge. The have set limits for when crowd controls kick in. I.e. number of guards / barricades / flow controller etc. Looks like there weren't any here and one big trample pit
When I saw this promoted on prime time TV last night, I knew it wouldn't end well. Free parking, midnight Christmas rush, Parramatta (huge shopping centre) was a recipe for. And to think there was meant to be another one at 1:30AM. I guess that didn't go through. Good one, Westfield. Try it again next year.
Natural selection.
Twelve people were treated at the scene; five of them had to be taken to hospital for further treatment, including four men and one woman,
The main prizes wasn’t in the balloons. It’ll be from the personal compensation lawsuits that is about to start.
isn't westfield parramatta's fault, like any crowded places, if you get stamped on thats your problem. Especially since they are getting freebies for themselves.
The videos doesn’t show any crowd control. If that was the case then the organisers failed to implement basic crowd control measures.
When Santa got knocked over by the Xmas displays 2 seconds in the video.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/retail/christmas-sh…
some people will do anything for a 1 dollar freebie even put themselves in harms way what did the management expect ? a well behaved slow grab by intelligent creatures Ha
I'm sorry ppl got hurt but really, they should have known better
Thanks mtg, that was a good and long clip, not just snippets. A+
I came in thinking they would at least bounce the balloons around the crowd but the people in the middle pretty much kept popping them all, no sharing.
but the people in the middle pretty much kept popping them all, no sharing.
Sharing. What is this sharing? It's every man woman and child for themselves. It's not called the silly season for nothing.
Gronks
This is who people think you are when you tell them you like ozbargain.
A session of Hunger Games/Battle Royale to end the decade?
It's sad that we lost so many OZbargainers to this event just hours ago… RIP
However, year after year we all watch videos of the sale stampedes and wonder why? why? why?
Nearly as much people would have turned up if they were asked to pre-register and had to be there at the time of the draw to win a prize.Lest we forget cash rewards.
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
Free holiday to Hospital ED, winner!
Now that's being OzBargained.
will divorce my wife if she goes that such gatherings.
Getting crushed to death is cheaper than a divorce.
Yeah, Should've have txted my ex about that event ü
If you married a wife like that, you'd be there before her :)
Al Bundy?
I don't know what the event management team was thinking…
It's like those people who drop money from apartment buildings. They can get fined and jail time apparently. I don't see how this is any different. Maybe because the articles I read were related to an asian country?
e.g.
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/money-falls-from-sky-onto-…
Blame the idiots in a shopping (freeby) frenzy… not those making the offer.
Nope, it was poorly organised. Reminded me of the Hillsborough disaster (although nowhere near that deadly).
They should've limited numbers and just given out prizes in a controlled manner.
and just given out prizes in a controlled manner.
Nah, it should have been a Battle Royale. One big prize and a heap of hammers, axes, lumber and shotguns laying around…
Don't disagree it was poorly organised, but there are obviously people willing to "harm" others, or at best have complete disregard for someone obviously in distress/on the ground infront of you, all for some random bargain.
In others area of life blatant disregard for the welfare of others is punished (e.g. distracted by phone while driving) - why not here? People would think twice about shoving hard for a bargain if they knew there was a chance they'd get caught/fined for their behaviour.
Can you blame a handful of people though or is it most people in a situation like this?
When the conditions and euphoria take over, people behave like animals i.e. our natural instinct kicks in.
From the video it looked like it was a crowd rush rather than people shoving to get the prizes. At such a high crowd density, people lose the ability to control where they move and behave more like a fluid.
From the news piece: "People watching from the levels above could only watch in horror as the chaos unfolded." I'd replace "horror" with "disgust". Now imagine this world without police for a few months.
I don't think it's the police that prevents this type of behaviour.
Judging by this thread, most people with some common sense and "street smarts" would know to avoid this kind of thing.
I don't think it's the police that prevents this type of behaviour
Not directly, but there's always that small percentage of the population that only does the right thing if they think they might get caught and punished otherwise.
Everyone who voluntarily walked into that quagmire of people deserve what they get.
That is a huge risk for able bodied people let alone elderly.
Yes, but think of all the experience those people achieved. And they're now social media stars due to the dozens of bystanders videoing the chaos. Everybody wins.
Will you go for it?
Not at the moment. I think for these sorts of things, preparation is the key. If you were built like a mountain, wearing steel capped boots and a cup, and not afraid to smack anyone in your way.. this could be potentially profitable.
LOL
don't forget your helmet - probably most important
and maybe a face shield
On the third day of christmas, westfield paramatta gave to me,
a mid-night balloon freebie.
On the second day of christmas westfield paramatta gave to me,
a shattered vertebrae injury
On the last day of christmas westifled paramatta gave to me,
an opportunity to speak to an attourneymerry christmas everyone in christmas related pain and trauma!
does anyone actually know what was in the balloons?
Gift cards
And offers from retailers probably along the lines of 20% off from x
Baby formulas
Probably vouchers for 10% off RRP.
Cashback offer
Pain and disappointment.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-24/westfield-parramatta-…
At the 24-second mark, take a look between the two christmas trees in the foreground… Santa is knocked back and falls over whilst an elf runs out of Santas garden… Santa then gets back up a few seconds later & possibly won't be delivering any presents this year due to the shenanigans.
_____________,--, | | | | | | |/ .-.\ HANG IN THERE |_|_|_|_|_|_/ / `. SANTA |_|__|__|_; | \ |___|__|_/| | .'`} |_|__|__/ | | .'.'`\ |__|__|/ ; ; / / \.-"-. ||__|_; \ \ || /`___. \ |_|___/\ /;.`,\\ {_'___.;{} |__|_/ `;`__|`-.;| |C` e e`\ |___`L \__|__|__| | `'-o-' } ||___|\__)___|__||__|\ ^ /`\ |__|__|__|__|__|_{___}'.__.`\_.'} ||___|__|__|__|__;\_)-'`\ {_.-; |__|__|__|__|__|/` (`\__/ '-' |_|___|__|__/` |
Impressive pic.
Thanks, I can't take the credit :) I Googled it :)
Merged from What Are The Prizes in Parramatta Balloons Drop?
Just read the horrible news about the the balloons drop incident in Parramatta Westfield. Am I the only one wondering what are the prizes in the balloons?
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-24/westfield-parramatta-…
Gift Cards
Lauren Borg, who was caught up in the stampede, said the prizes she scored were not worth the drama.
“This was not worth winning a free coffee and a day of valet parking but for all those concerned I’m safe,” she wrote on Facebook.
lol, what a disappointing let down. shame on westfield! what a bunch of tightwads …
Lol that's gold! Thought they were gift cards all over $100.
😂
I just hope some enterprising sonofagun was there taking bets on who got hurt…
"20:1 that the chick with the pram ends up in an induced coma? Gimme a tenner on that"That's horrible.
Some one (maybe more) in marketing is going to have a bad Christmas. #fired.
In 1992, a woman lost the tips of two fingers when her hand was caught in a roller door at Japanese department store Daimaru, in Melbourne Central.
Not the video of said event
Parramatta Westfield gift giveaway disaster | 7NEWS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51kha_drAK4
"an event!"Shoppers crushed at Westfield Parramatta during giveaway | Nine News Australia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU48DkVo7-E
Santa goes flying without his sleighi think as well as too many people crammed into too small a space
the other problem was for some reason the balloons were released way too low down.
the ambo in that video says 5 storys up like thats what he was told after he got there, and i bet that was the plan, but for some reason they are only a meter or few meters above the hands.
so they didn't distribute across the crowd
so the people on the outside pushed in, and the people on the left pushed forward towards the balloons sending all the people on the right flying back
especially santahey check it out
Westfield Parramatta 2016 Balloon Drop for Christmas Promotion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehdVb9AdoKsthe balloons are higher
but there's also almost no one down thereBack then not many migrants as they are now.
yeah, not much interest in empty balloons. add a free coffee voucher and look what happens …
are we witnessing the power of individual greed? or the power of crowds (contagious emotion, frenzy, mass hysteria, etc)?
Pretty sure it's both.
This was the Ozbargain birthday meet up in Parramatta
Trying to get the t shirts
They are sheeple.
I couldn't believe that children were hurt. Who takes children out at that hour to shop, and why on Earth would you bring them into that seething mass? Idiotic and negligent.
in the third video i posted above you see a girl being lifted above the fray at one point, she looks terrified
Its always amusing to see the lower class killing themselves for scraps.
There is a saying that people who don’t learn from history are destined to repeat it.
How desperate to you have to be to get a free coffee?
Have you seen the price of coffee these days?
I'm not looking for freebies
It's not their fault… they a sheep seeking enticements.
The fault lies in the organisers of the event who should be sued.
They should have known that raining balloons in a small area is going to result in people clamouring to be in that small area with hands and limbs flaying about, someone was bound to be hurt.This is human nature in a nutshell. Worsened by the fact it is Parramatta.
As the age all saying goes, gives everyone in the world $10million dollars each, eventually they will be in the exact same spot they are now.
Age-old
another correction "give everyone"
If you gave everyone in the world $10M each a loaf of bread would cost $50k tomorrow.
this is what i worry about proposals for universal basic income - wouldn't it quickly lead to massive inflation?
No because it's a standard wage. The science is out on whether it works at all though. I think cultural values/education will play a huge part.
@abuch47: The first thing we would do is to bump up the price of goods and services to profit from a UBI.
@whooah1979: our serving pollies would but they would also never allow a UBI so its a paradox.
the kurzgesagt video you posted says the opposite but goddamn do i love there videos
No because it's a standard wage.
there are a few different kinds of UBI proposals.
i think that is the kind where everyone gets the same amount whether they work or not or what kind of job they do?
with that kind i have to wonder how large an effect there would be of the inherent disincentive to work at all, and to do difficult or dangerous jobs, or jobs that take a long time and/or a lot of money to learn to doi've also seen proposals for a UBI as an addition to whatever wages anyone earns. that is the one where i worry about inflation. I think that is the kind andrew yang currently running for us president is proposing.
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Don't think standing there at midnight is for us. we are smart enough to judge time, effort and the value you may get out of there.