BREWSTER, N.Y. -- The D'Onofrios keep their telephones out of the reach of 21-month-old Billy, since he likes to push the buttons and make random calls. There's tape over the television controls to keep him from changing the channel.
But the boy's inquisitive nature is no longer considered a problem since he opened the battery compartment on the television remote and uncovered a purple battery worth $100,000.
The AAA Duracell was one of 12 labeled "winner" that the manufacturer had slipped into packages as part of a promotional campaign. The D'Onofrios had put it into the remote -- a replacement for one Billy had accidentally thrown into the trash -- without noticing that it was special.
On Jan. 20, Billy managed to open the remote and shake the battery onto the floor, where his mother, Lisa, finally noticed it.
She assumed it would get her a coupon.
"I would have been happy with a year's worth of batteries," she told The Journal News.
But Duracell told her the prize was $100,000
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2004/03/18/batterybaby.DTL
But the boy's inquisitive nature is no longer considered a problem since he opened the battery compartment on the television remote and uncovered a purple battery worth $100,000.
The AAA Duracell was one of 12 labeled "winner" that the manufacturer had slipped into packages as part of a promotional campaign. The D'Onofrios had put it into the remote -- a replacement for one Billy had accidentally thrown into the trash -- without noticing that it was special.
On Jan. 20, Billy managed to open the remote and shake the battery onto the floor, where his mother, Lisa, finally noticed it.
She assumed it would get her a coupon.
"I would have been happy with a year's worth of batteries," she told The Journal News.
But Duracell told her the prize was $100,000
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2004/03/18/batterybaby.DTL
