Companies that spent millions of dollars on promotions and screwed up

Marketers know that we are attracted to bright colors, a pleasant voice announcing the start of a promotion, and, of course, discounts. It seems that everything in advertising is thought out to the smallest detail, but this is not so. Even large companies can screw up so badly that a mistake can cost them millions or even billions of dollars.

In 2014, Apple decided that people would definitely like the new album by U2, so the company signed a contract with the group and automatically downloaded the album to all Apple devices. After all, everyone loves free things, Apple thought.

Except people love free stuff if they need it (even just a little). The album took up a lot of memory space and could not be deleted, which, accordingly, few people liked. But the bigger problem was that the album wasn't free for Apple. They spent $100 million on marketing alone, plus they paid U2 the same. Later, Apple did allow the songs to be removed from devices.

In 2010, the British company Walkers Crisp (we know them as Lay's) decided to run an unusual promotion: if a person bought a bag of crisps for 40 pence (about 65 cents), they could go to the website and try to predict when it would rain. If the prediction came true, the buyer won ten pounds (about $16).

However, the problem was that the competition took place in England (where it is often cloudy) and in the fall. Therefore, it soon turned out to be such a rainy week that every prediction came true. Walkers lost over a million pounds this week alone and was still losing money. But there is also a positive side: the advertising was a success and people remembered the brand name forever.

On September 27, 1986, the American company United Way decided to break the record and launch 1.5 million balloons, thereby making a statement. In the city of Cleveland (USA), in a large hangar, 2,500 people inflated thousands of balloons with helium, and then the roof was opened and the balloons were released. It was a wonderful sight, but only for a few minutes.

No one took into account the rain that began to fall at the time of launch. The balls instantly washed to the ground and were blown throughout the city by the wind. As a result, all city transport stopped and the runway and pier were closed.

It also led to the death of two boaters, who could not be found due to the fact that the entire local lake was strewn with balls. The wife of one of the victims sued the company for three million dollars. The company also paid out millions to the city to pay damages.

In 1981, American Airlines decided to give wealthy customers the opportunity to buy unlimited flights. For $250 thousand, the client received the right to an unlimited number of free tickets in first class. And for an additional 150 thousand you could buy a subscription for your friend.

Marketers thought that only large companies would use the pass to transport their top managers, but everyone started buying passes. So, one guy flew to London 16 times in one month. Why not? You can fly at least every day.

As a result, the company was forced to carry thousands of passengers for free and lost five million dollars in a week. The subscriptions were immediately cancelled, and the money was returned to the cardholders.

In 2005, Snapple (the company that produces Dr Pepper drinks) decided to expand its product line and produce ice cream. They came up with a grandiose advertising campaign: to make the world's largest ice cream and enter the Guinness Book of Records.

The 17.5-ton popsicle was frozen at the factory and was scheduled to be shipped to New York. Huge ice cream in the hottest season of the year in the middle of hot asphalt. What could go wrong?

When the ice cream was delivered to the very center of the city and the truck was opened, waves of strawberry syrup poured out, covering everything in its path. As a result, the streets were closed for two days, and the company spent millions of dollars on repairs and cleaning the streets.

In 2011, the British supermarket chain Tesco started a price war with rival ASDA. Tesco said: "If you find the same item cheaper at ASDA, we'll refund you the difference." So if you bought wine at Tesco for $20 and then found the same wine at ASDA for $18, then Tesco will give you back two dollars.

The company assumed that customers would buy only the things they needed. But resourceful people bought up whatever was cheaper at ASDA, got the difference, and then gave the items back. As a result, they received more than they spent. During the promotion, Tesco lost a colossal amount, which was never disclosed.

In 2009, KFC decided to promote its new dish by giving it away for free. Wanting to remain discreet, KFC announced its offer to the little-known (the company thought) artist Oprah Winfrey on the show. But Oprah's audience and television underestimated.

So when viewers learned they could print out a voucher for a free meal at KFC, 16 million people did so. And they came to KFC all over the country. The lunches ended in a few hours, and before the end of the promotion the company lost 40 million dollars and paid the same crazy amount to Oprah for advertising.

In 1984, the USA was chosen to host the Olympic Games. In honor of this event, McDonald's launched a promotion with the slogan "If the USA wins, you win!" For every medal the Americans won, visitors were given free meals. For a bronze medal - a glass of cola, for a silver - French fries, for a gold - a Big Mac.

But the unexpected happened. That year (the main competitor of the USA) boycotted the Olympics. The Americans received 83 gold medals, 61 silver and 30 bronze. This is much more than expected. As a result, the “Olympic” event almost bankrupted McDonald's, since everyone ate for free.

In 1992, Pepsi was far behind Coca-Cola in Southeast Asia. Therefore, Pepsi Philippines decided to launch a promotion called “Number Fever”. The plan was simple: under the lids of Pepsi drinks there was a code and the winning amount - from a thousand to a million pesos (40 thousand dollars at that time).

You could only get money if at the end of the promotion it was announced that your number was the winning one. When Pepsi announced the million-peso winner, it made a mistake. Number 349 was chosen as the winner, but it was not supposed to be the winning number because it was printed on 800 thousand caps. That is, 800 thousand people won one million each (for a total of 800 billion pesos).

The company could not pay such an amount, so it cited a computer failure, but this did not help. Riots began in the capital of the country, trucks and Pepsi factories were burned. As a result, three company employees were killed. Soon Pepsi had to give away 250 million pesos - all of its income for the previous two years and the duration of the promotion.