Here are a few of the stranger things companies have done!
9 - Everyone gets a Million
You get a million!
YOU get a million!
Everyone gets a million!!!!
Back in 1992, Pepsi had accidentally announced the wrong winning number in the Philippines
to their “Number Fever” contest to win a million Pesos.
Instead of a single 1-million-peso winner, or roughly 40 thousand US dollars back then,
get this, up to EIGHT HUNDRED THOUSAND bottle caps marked with the winning number of “349”
were printed!
Tens of thousands of Filipinos thought that they had won a million pesos, and they soon
began demanding billions of dollars that Pepsi refused to pay.
When mobs rioted after the bottle-cap error was announced, frightened executives decided
to offer a roughly $20 dollars worth of pesos to anyone with a 349 cap.
Obviously, the winners weren’t having it.
Pepsi records show that at least 32 delivery trucks were vandalized.
Armed men had also vandalized Pepsi plants and offices.
Criminal and civil claims were also filed against Pepsi all across the Philippines.
Pepsi, which budgeted only $2 million for prizes, instead paid out $10 million more
for what it calls a "goodwill gesture."
Pepsi had came up with the Pepsi Fever game as an attempt to pump up sales.
Sales of Pepsi and its other brands went up almost 40 percent after the start of the contest.
8 - Sneakers on Lock Ahhh fashion.
Ever heard of it?!
Sometimes certain things are too ridiculous even for the fashion world and that’s certainly
the case here.
Back In 2012, Adidas had to withdraw its plans to sell a controversial sneaker that featured
rubber shackles.
Really, who wants to look like a prisoner?
Adidas caught plenty of flak after showing off the shoe on its Facebook page.
The sneakers were called the JS Roundhouse Mids.
"Got a sneaker game so hot you lock your kicks to your ankles?" was the caption below the
photo of the shoes on Facebook.
The shoe was designed by renowned fashion designer Jeremy Scott.
Adidas dismissed the criticism in a written statement saying that the shoe was meant to
be a unique take on fashion.
Scott said that his work has always been inspired by cartoons, toys, and his childhood."
He attached a photo of for the inspiration of the shoe, a "My Pet Monster", which is
a bright, plush character with its wrists shackled.
Yeah, anything in fashion involving shackles is gonna create a controversy, no matter what
the inspiration!
7 - Toothpaste Entrees When we think of Colgate, we think of a clean,
fresh mouth.
We don’t think of yummy dinners.
And that's pretty much the biggest reason why Colgate's line of frozen dinners totally
flopped.
So why on earth would Colgate want to enter the frozen dinner section?
Well, in the late 1970s and into the 1980s, microwave ovens had become a huge seller throughout
the US.
As a result, companies began making products to cook in the microwave.
Colgate wanted another product line, so they came up with “Colgate Kitchen Entrees.”
The meals came in lots of different varieties but were pretty similar to what the competition
offered.
Although, if they came up with food that’d actually clean our teeth at the same time,
that’d be a different story!
But of course, Colgate didn’t do that.
Apparently they believed they could out-market their competition.
The company invested huge amounts of money on TV, radio, and print ads, and gave out
large amounts of coupons.
But it still wasn’t enough for their frozen dinners to catch on.
The “Colgate” brand scared off consumers who, understandably, couldn’t get past the
idea of their dinner tasting like toothpaste.
Why didn’t Colgate just come up with another brand name?
Colgate Kitchen Entrees quickly disappeared from the freezer section, never to be seen
again.
And Colgate probably prefers it that way.
When a curator of marketing failures wanted to include Colgate in his collection of “Museum
of Failures,” Colgate declined to provide an exhibit.
6 - Begging in Style Whenever people ask for money, usually they
try to look the part of needing money.
Back during the recession of 2008, the CEOs of the Big Three auto companies for some reason
decided to fly their private jets to Washington to request taxpayer bailout money.
The Ford, Chrysler and GM CEOs were seeking support for a $25 billion loan package Representative
Gary Ackerman of New York, told the CEOs that flying to beg for money in luxury private
jets is almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in a top hat and tuxedo.
We’re gonna agree, just like we probably wouldn’t ask for money from our friends
while wearing a gucci outfit! Ackerman added that they could’ve at least downgraded to
flying first class on a regular flight.
$20,000 dollars is a ballpark figure for a round trip corporate jet flight between Detroit
and Washington DC.
When asked whether they planned on changing their travel policies as part of the restructuring
needed to shore up their finances back then, none of them answered directly, and they said
flying in a private jet is obligatory because of security concerns.
Ehhh…..maybe?
5 - Dove Troubles Is it just us or does Dove manage to keep
hiring marketing firms that just wants to troll the brand?
Back in 2017, Dove had to apologize for yet another ad that that created outcry over an
ad that’s basically just inexplicable.
We’re still trying to figure out what they’re trying to represent with their ad here!
The ad was a quick three second GIF that promoted Dove’s body wash.
The GIF showed a black woman peeling off a dark shirt and transforming into a white woman
in a beige shirt, and then the white woman peels off her shirt to reveal another white
woman.
What do you guys think the ad supposed to mean?!
Do you guys think that it’s supposed to mean once you use the bodywash you’re supposed
to feel like a new person?
Or is Dove actually trying to be racist?!
Or it’s supposed to mean something else?
Make sure to place your vote in our poll!
The response on social media wasn’t pleasant, with many people questioning why Dove would
feature the black woman first.
Dove issued a separate statement saying that the ad didn’t represent the diversity of
real beauty, something that Dove had been trying to portray over the years.
Many people just like us were wondering just how the ad even got the go-ahead in the first
place, much less actually made!
4 - Some Friendly Suggestions
When companies lay off employees, they usually just let the employees go annnnd that’s
it.
Well, for Northwest Airlines, now merged into Delta, they felt REALLY bad about having to
let go of a part of their workforce.
So they decided to pass along some money saving tips to their newly laid off ex-employees!
Yeah, that didn’t go over so well.
They had to apologize to workers offended by company suggestions on how to save money.
Some of the suggestions on the list included buying auto parts at junkyards, and taking
shorter showers!
The list, was titled "101 Ways to Save Money," and was part of a booklet for laid off employees.
Northwest gave out 60 of the booklets before angry employees start complaining.
The 165-page booklet was created for Northwest by an employee-assistance company called NEAS.
Part of the booklet dealt with coping with job loss, options for job transfers within
Northwest and relocation advice.
But the other half is where allllll the life wisdom was.
Some more suggestions on the money-saving idea list included giving homemade cards and
gifts, asking doctors for prescription drug samples, and borrowing clothes for a big night
out.
Our favorite suggestion?
"Don't be shy about pulling something you like out of the trash".
Maybe just a quick reminder on not spending money would have been more than enough!
3 - Melting Snapple
In life, timing is everything.
Trying to make the world’s largest popsicle?
Definitely here too!
Whoever attempts it probably doesn’t want to do it during the summer.
Back In 2005, Snapple wanted to break the world record for the world’s largest popsicle
to celebrate its newest flavor, kiwi strawberry.
Snapple mixed and froze a giant icy doppelganger of its new flavor.
The frozen popsicle was then hauled by a freezer truck from New Jersey to New York City.
But...of course…..it started melting.
Snapple officials first started to worry when pink liquid began to flow freely onto East
17th Street.
They feared that cyclists and automobiles would slip in the ooze.
Shortly after, fire trucks were called in and the police closed off a few streets to
contain the melting popsicle.
Snapple officials decided to stop raising the popsicle after getting it to a 25-degree
angle.
Doing it in the middle of winter probably would have gotten Snapple the record.
But then again, if they were planning on serving the popsicle afterwards, who would want a
popsicle in the middle of winter?!
2 - That’s Ice Cold
When we think of Japan, one of the things that pop into our head is fish.
Fish that’s cold, and preferably really cold, because come on, that’s how we like
our sashimi!
Well, a Japanese theme park decided to take that concept one step fur her when they froze
5,000 sea animals INTO the floor of an ice rink because uh…...they thought it’d be
cool?
At Japan’s Space World theme park, fish, crab, and other shellfish were embedded in
the ice as part of a special winter attraction called "Freezing Port”.
The park advertised it as a world first and posted images of the fish on its official
Facebook site, alongside with captions that basically made fun of the fish freezing.
Predictably, the reaction on social media was bad.
Apparently, the theme park managers were shocked to hear that people weren’t happy with freezing
a bunch of fish to the floor, because c’mon, who really takes PETA’s side anyways, especially
after they went after Steve Irwin?!
The ice skate rink had been very popular since it opened, but after the public backlash,
they decided to close the attraction.
The park unfreezed the skating rink to remove the fish and promised to hold an appropriate
religious service for the fish.
Well, at least the fish were purchased at a local fish market, where they had already
met their fate!
1 - A different Whopper
In 2018, Burger King decided to run a whopper promotion in Russia.
Not just any whopper promotion, but a short-lived promotion that offered money and a lifetime
of free Whoppers to women who uh….got the whopper from World Cup stars!
And by that we meant getting a bun in the oven.
We think you know what we mean.
Seriously, there was a room full of executives that reviewed this campaign and they voted
yes.
Just how?!?!
The promo promised an award of 3 million Russian rubles, or roughly 46 thousand bucks, and
a lifetime supply of Whoppers, to any woman who was able to get the task done.
According to the ad, that would lay the foundation for the Russian team’s own success several
generations ahead.
Yeah, Burger King Russia REALLY wanted Russia to win the World Cup!
Here’s what’s next!