An Indonesian businessman sparked a scramble for cash when he dropped 100 million rupiah ($A11,200) in banknotes from an aircraft. An Indonesian businessman throwed 100 million rupiah ($10,740) from an airplane on Sunday as part of a marketing ploy for his second book, organizers said.
Tung Desem Waringin, author and motivational speaker whose first book was a bestseller, is known for his unorthodox marketing methods.
A spokesman for the organizers, Diki Sidik, said Jakarta police had refused to issue a permit for the event but Tung would go ahead with the plan outside the capital.
“Rather than spend a lot of money for unsuccessful marketing, better give the money to the people,” Sidik said.
Millions of Indonesians live on less than 2 dollars a day and the event comes at a time when the poor are still smarting from rising food and fuel prices.
A 13-year-old girl lost consciousness running after the notes and had to be rushed to a nearby hospital, the Detikcom online news service said.
Tung Desem Waringin, who is promoting his second business motivation book, got the aircraft to fly four times over a soccer stadium in Serang city, some 60km west of Jakarta.
He had wanted to release the money over Jakarta but was refused permission from police.
The money was released in bills of 1,000 and 5,000 rupiahs (11-53c).
Detikcom said that on the first and second run, the notes fell around 500 metres from the stadium, and on the latter runs mostly inside the grounds.
Rumours of the stunt had been circulating since yesterday, and many people were waiting in the open air for the plane to fly over.
Waringin has been quoted in his blog as saying he would rather share money earmarked for a conventional promotional campaign with people who needed it. (Reuter India and news.com.au)
