On the season premiere, Gabe Okoye and Brittany Mayti lost $800,000 on a question that asked, "Which of these was sold in stores first?" The three possible answers were:
Macintosh computer,
Sony Walkman, and
Post-it Notes. Gabe placed the bulk of the team's money on the answer "Post-it notes." The correct answer was then revealed to be Sony Walkman. Later, viewers began to dispute the accuracy of the question because of information on the Internet that indicated Post-It Notes were "launched" or "introduced" under the name "Press 'N Peel" in four cities in 1977, based on an interview with the inventors of the Post-It Note published in the
Financial Times. On April 6, 1980, the product debuted in US stores as "Post-It Notes." The Sony Walkman went on sale in Japan on July 1, 1979, and was later introduced to the US in June 1980. On December 21, 2010,
Gawker published an article on this controversy, and the website was later contacted by a Fox representative. Jeff Apploff, the show's executive producer, initially issued the following statement: "The integrity of the questions and answers on our show are our No. 1 priority. In this case, our research team spoke directly with 3M, and they confirmed that although they had given out free samples in test markets in 1977 and 1978, it wasn't until 1980 that Post-Its were sold in stores.
Million Dollar Money Drop stands behind the answer that was revealed on the show." Two days later, Apploff issued another statement: "Unfortunately the information our research department originally obtained from 3M regarding when Post-it notes were first sold was incomplete... As a result of new information we have received from 3M, we feel it is only fair to give our contestants, Gabe and Brittany, another shot to play
Million Dollar Money Drop even though this question was not the deciding question in their game. The revised information regarding the Post-it is as follows: the product was originally tested for sale in four cities under the name 'Press 'N Peel' in 1977, sold as 'Post-its' in 1979 when the rollout introduction began and sold nationwide in 1980." On December 28, 2010, host Kevin Pollak said, "They never had a chance to win that money. Ever. No matter what," and added, "This story is a moot point." He provided further detail when he said, "They lost everything on the next question. It's a non-story." On September 25, 2012, BuzzerBlog reported that the next couple to play after Gabe and Brittany, Andrew and Patricia Murray, also planned to sue Fox and Endemol because they also had a question with a similar manner: "According to the data security firm IMPERVA, what's the most common computer password?" (The choices were "PASSWORD", "123456", and "ILOVEYOU"). They placed the $580,000 they had left on "PASSWORD"; however, during the show's broadcast, "123456" was the correct answer. In a statement from the Murrays, "IMPERVA did not conduct its own objective survey of computer users but rather supports its assertion that 123456 is the most common password based on analysis of
a hacking incident involving a website known as RockYou.com"; the couple maintained that had they known that the question was pertaining to that incident, they would have "hedged their bets and played differently". The couple sued the show for $580,000. ==Status==