A LESSON IN WHAT NOT TO DO
MARKETING HORROR STORIES
many women locked themselves in their homes. A few days later, another letter arrived, revealing the identity of the “secret admirer” as the new Fiat Cinquecento. Yes, the creepy letters were part of a marketing campaign by the Italian car company. Fiat apologized and ended the campaign after criticism from consumer protection groups, Social Minister Cristina Alberdi, and the 50,000 women who received the letters. KFC AND HOOVER CAN’T DO MATH A shocking number of companies hold giveaway promotions without calculating exactly how much they will cost. Here are a few examples. Back when “Oprah” was the biggest show on television, KFC ran an ad offering a free two-piece chicken meal with two sides and a biscuit for anyone who went to their website and downloaded a coupon. Over 10.5 million coupons were downloaded, and KFC had to give away $42 million in free food. •
• In the 1990s, Hoover Company in the United Kingdom offered two round-trip plane tickets with the purchase of a vacuum. Unfortunately, even in the ‘90s, most vacuums were still cheaper than plane tickets, and Hoover lost 50 million pounds in what remains the biggest promotional disaster ever. CARTOON NETWORK CAUSES A BOMB SCARE Guerrilla marketing can create valuable word of mouth — think about the success of the movie “It” last year. The marketing for the film included simple red balloons tied to storm drains. But Cartoon Network didn’t have quite the same luck in 2007 when they tried to promote their show “Aqua Teen Hunger Force.” When the network put electronic devices featuring a character from the show all over Boston, city residents thought the strange contraptions looked like bombs and called the police. This triggered a terrorist scare that ultimately cost the general manager of Cartoon Network his job.
Every marketing professional wants their campaign to be memorable. They want consumers to take notice — or take the bait — and make their company a big profit. But sometimes, things don’t go exactly as planned. The campaigns below certainly won the attention of consumers, but in each case, what started out as a marketing dream quickly turned into a nightmare. FIAT’S DIRECT MAIL DISASTER In 1992, women across Spain received anonymous letters inviting them to go on a “little adventure.” The letters stated, “We met again on the street yesterday, and I noticed how you glanced interestedly in my direction.” Fearing a stalker,
Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz openly claims that the American Dream is a complete myth. A huge portion of the population might be inclined to disagree, but a brief look at the spending statistics among different income levels across the country corroborates his claim. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, low-income Americans with a salary of $14,000 a year are forced to spend 182 percent of their annual income. Conversely, those in high-income brackets with a salary of $166,000 are only spending 61 percent of their total income. The harrowing reality of this data demonstrates that the U.S. has one of the highest levels of income inequality among its citizens and implies that we are among the worst at offering equal opportunities for advancement in the world. Now more than ever, a person’s economic mobility is dependent on factors outside their hourly wage. Those who tout the “Pull yourself up by your bootstraps” mentality tend to overlook the struggles associated with climbing the economic ladder in today’s society. Contrary to popular belief, poverty is not an equal opportunity experience. For example, the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that African- Americans were more than three times as likely to experience poverty as their white counterparts last year, and Latinos were more than twice as likely. While the median income for white Americans slightly grew over the past several How to Resuscitate the American Dream THE HIGH COST OF POVERTY
years, it has hit a plateau for people of color. Poverty pervades the fabric of our country, and recent social and political events have highlighted just how ingrained these issues still are. It’s hard to square these numbers with the boundless optimism of the American Dream we’ve been told to believe in. Those in the bottom 30 percent of the income scale spend more than they earn on basic needs like housing, food, and transportation. The end result is citizens racking up thousands in credit card debt in their attempt to sustain life’s necessities. Although outside factors continue to affect our financial system on a broad level, there are options to help individuals get out of debt — a crucial first step to finding financial freedom. Surf City Lawyers may not have a solution to the greater issues that plague the finances of millions, but we can help empower you to take control of what is within your reach. Let us show you how by setting up a bankruptcy consultation with Christine.
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