Obviously New Coke has to be at/near top. One of my favorites is Blackberry CEO stating "we will never put cameras on our devices".
Anheuser-Busch changing design of Bud and Bud Light cans to go full camofauge... got me thinking about worst marketing blunders of all time...
- Thread starter EricStratton-RushChairman
- Start date
Pepsi's 1960s ad campaign: Come Alive; You're in the Pepsi Generation, was mistranslated in one of China's languages to read 'Pepsi makes your ancestors rise from the dead'. It may be urban legend. It may have happened. Not to be outdone, some Chinese shopkeepers translated 'Coca Cola' to mean 'bite the wax tadpole'. And I thought Latin was tough!
www.snopes.com
Pepsi Brings Back Ancestors
Was 'Come Alive With Pepsi' mistranslated in China as 'Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back from the Dead'?
www.snopes.com
Before there was New Coke, there was Schlitz.
Not necessarily marketing, but similar business blunders:
Kodak refusing to embrace digital cameras early.
Blockbuster turning down an offer to buy Netflix for $50mm.
Disney turning down an offer to buy Pixar for something like $20mm years before Toy Story (they’d later pay $7.6 billion for it).
Granted, Blockbuster and Disney probably would’ve ruined those companies before they became what they did. For an interesting read on a man saving, and then nearly destroying Disney, check out the book Disney War about the Eisner reign.
Pitt football marketing ploy reeked of desparation.
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Pitt football marketing ploy reeked of desparation.
Did it work? If they stayed, then it was effective.
Couldn't tell. The drinks came in yellow cans.Did it work? If they stayed, then it was effective.
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