Giveaway Game: Rent a Car, Get a Koala

Rent a car, get a koala

Hertz Chairman Frank Olson calls the practice "stupid and destructive," but his company is doing it. National Car Rental President Bemiss Rolfs admits that the strategy is "idiotic," but his firm is going along too. Both Hertz, the No. 1 rental-car company, and National, No. 3, have been "dragged kicking and screaming," as Olson puts it, into a gigantic giveaway game started by No. 2, Avis, last September. The giants of the rental-car business are courting customers with a growing array of gifts, from toy koala bears to vacations at resort hotels. This costly contest comes...

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