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Someone tampered with the new CAPSULE form of Tylenol and INSERTED cyanide into random bottles for a deviant purpose….people died….BUT J&J had nothing to do with that….
The after-effect was that Tylenol was recalled because there was no way to tell how many other bottles might have been tampered with
That incident was the reason for the foil secure mouths on OTC and other products—
To prevent other psychos from tampering with product safety….
I thought the same thing. However, I read the subject of the thread literally. It speaks of "marketing" disasters. I don't think the Edsel was a marketing disaster. The problem was the product itself not the way it was sold.
Many marketing course give the Edsel as a marketing disaster, of how not to do it. The product was OKish. They were trying to market a car with downmarket brand image as an upmarket product. They were hyping the car up as special for months pre-launch, when there was zero technically special about it. Also many other massive mistakes in the campaign and product placement. The car nearly brought down Ford.
Push button soda cans? I can't even imagine how that looked.
Really not that different from current drink cans in concept, except that instead of having a built-in lever device to break the can seal, you were expected to do so with your fingertip - just be careful not to slice your finger in the process - kinda hard to do on the smaller "venting" hole, but easily done on the larger "drinking" hole, since a finger could easily fit inside it, with not much extra space
Really not that different from current drink cans in concept, except that instead of having a built-in lever device to break the can seal, you were expected to do so with your fingertip - just be careful not to slice your finger in the process - kinda hard to do on the smaller "venting" hole, but easily done on the larger "drinking" hole, since a finger could easily fit inside it, with not much extra space
Oh I see. Interesting. Thanks! Yeah definitely looks like something I would cut my finger on. LOL
Although widely regarded as "tacky", the shops and their wares were nevertheless extremely popular with the public, until Ratner made a speech addressing a conference of the Institute of Directors at the Royal Albert Hall on 23 April 1991. During the speech, he commented:
We also do cut-glass sherry decanters complete with six glasses on a silver-plated tray that your butler can serve you drinks on, all for £4.95. People say, "How can you sell this for such a low price?", I say, "because it's total crap."
He compounded this by going on to remark that one of the sets of earrings was "cheaper than a prawn sandwich from Marks & Spencer's, but I have to say the sandwich will probably last longer than the earrings".
Ratner made a guest appearance on UK television's BBC1 talk show Wogan, the following day after his speech, to apologise and explain his joking remark the previous day that some of his company's products are "total crap", a decision he would later regret.
Ratner's comments have become textbook examples of why CEOs should choose their words carefully. In the furore that ensued, customers stayed away from Ratner shops. After the speech, the value of the Ratner group plummeted by around £500 million, which very nearly resulted in the firm's collapse.
Ratner hired a chairman in an attempt to stabilise the situation, but was subsequently fired by the new company leader in November 1992. The group then changed its name to Signet Group in September 1993.
Today, Ratner's speech is still famous in the corporate world as an example of the value of branding and image over quality. Such gaffes are now sometimes called "doing a Ratner",and Ratner himself has acquired the sobriquet "The Sultan of Bling".
Ratner has said in his defence that his remarks were not meant to be taken seriously. He also largely blamed the aggressiveness and deliberately wrongful interpretation of several media outlets for the severe consumer reaction.
Cigarette marketing in general and when doctors encouraged pregnant moms to smoke.
Considering how many people still smoke to this day I don't think I'd call cigarette marketing a disaster. Pretty darn successful actually, when I consider that I see cigarettes have made a comeback as props in movies.
Does the East India Company's attempt in 1773 to market tea to the British Colonies in North America count?
IIRC, it didn't turn out so well...
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