Peloton's "The Gift That Gives Back" Campaign A Journey into the Past, or Just Tone-Deaf Marketing? Ah, Christmas 2019. A time when the world was cosying up to their Christmas trees, tucking into som mince pies, and watching in awe as Peloton gifted us a marketing disaster that will echo through the halls of advertising

McDonald's "I'd Hit It" Campaign The Double Cheeseburger Disaster In 2005, McDonald's decided to roll out a new ad for their Double Cheeseburger, thinking they had something sizzling. The ad featured a young man ogling the cheeseburger with a simple, bold caption: "I’d hit it." Now, for anyone unfamiliar with early 2000s slang, this phrase

New Coke A Deliciously Disastrous Debacle or Secret Marketing Genius? 1985. The birth of yours truly, "The MAMBA". There was big hair, neon clothes, Dire Straights published "Brothers in Arms" and… Coca Cola launched New Coke!? It was the year Coca-Cola decided to do the unthinkable: mess with a formula that hadn’t been touched since

KFC "Mouthfull" Advert Finger Lickin' Bad or Just a Bit of Fun? Let’s set the stage. It’s 2005, and KFC, the fast-food giant known for its bucket of chicken, decides to release an advert in the UK that would go down in history – not for being groundbreaking or revolutionary, but for being an etiquette

The “Wrigley’s Xcite Dog Breath” Ad A Howl of Car Crash Marketing or Just a Breath of Fresh Air? Remember the early 2000s? Flip phones, MySpace, and adverts so bizarre they made you question reality? Well, here’s a blast from the past that checks all the boxes: the Wrigley’s Xcite Dog Breath advert. Yes, Dog.

The Pot Noodle Horn A Case Study in Not-So-Car Crash Marketing In the world of advertising, there are those rare moments when a brand takes a wild, unpredictable swing, and somehow—against all odds—hits the mark. In my humble opinion, the 2005 Pot Noodle "Horn" advert is one such peculiar gem. Sure, it’s crude, absurd, and

Pepsi’s Kendall Jenner AdA Masterclass in Car Crash MarketingThere are some marketing mishaps that go down in history. Some just miss the mark; others are so bewilderingly tone-deaf that they leave you asking, "How did no one in the room raise their hand and say 'Wait, what?'" The infamous 2017 Pepsi ad starring Kendall Jenner

Nestlé’s Breast Milk Scandal A Car Crash of Corporate Greed and Deception When the name Nestlé comes to mind, one might think of chocolate bars or instant coffee. However, behind its glossy corporate facade lies one of the most harrowing scandals in modern business history: the Nestlé breast milk scandal, also known as the Nestlé

Operation Berkshire Big Tobacco's Deceitful Dance with Death – A Case Study in Car Crash Marketing In the annals of corporate deception, few stories rival the chilling subterfuge that was "Operation Berkshire." Conceived in secret boardrooms by some of the largest tobacco companies on the planet, this conspiracy stands as a testament to the darkest

Dieselgate: A Case Study in Car Crash Marketing Few scandals in modern business history have left as indelible a stain on a company’s reputation as "Dieselgate", the diesel emissions debacle primarily involving Volkswagen (and others). While the technical details of the scandal revolved around emissions cheating, Dieselgate also stands as a cautionary tale of what