Johnson & Johnson: the Tylenol recall after seven deaths in Chicago
After cyanide killed seven people in Chicago in 1982, Johnson & Johnson withdrew about 31 million bottles of Tylenol and, by the end of…
Netflix: a 60% price rise, the Qwikster apology and 800,000 lost US subscribers
In 2011 Netflix raised prices by 60 per cent for members on both plans, then apologised and announced Qwikster in one message, and ended…
Burger King: the Whopper Detour, a one-cent burger that sold an app
In December 2018 Burger King sold Whoppers for one cent to app users standing near a McDonald's, and the app reportedly gained 1.5 million…
Gap: a new logo withdrawn after about a week of online protest
Gap launched a new logo on 6 October 2010 and announced a return to its blue box on 11 October, after thousands of online…
Tropicana: a new carton that shoppers rejected within weeks
Tropicana replaced the orange-and-straw carton on its Pure Premium juice in January 2009, saw unit sales fall 20 per cent by 22 February, and…
Patagonia: an advert telling people not to buy its jacket on Black Friday
On Black Friday 2011 Patagonia ran a full-page New York Times advert headed 'Don't Buy This Jacket', and the company's sales rose in the…
ALS Ice Bucket Challenge: a charity campaign that spread through its own donors
In summer 2014 the ALS Association received $100.9 million in a month, against $2.8 million a year earlier, from a game it did not…
Red Bull Stratos: a space jump turned into a live broadcast
Red Bull's 14 October 2012 jump from about 128,000 feet drew over eight million concurrent YouTube viewers, then a record, though the company never…
Intel Inside: how a chipmaker built a brand for a part nobody could see
Intel put up $250 million in 1991 to make a hidden chip a brand; by 1992 over 500 PC makers had joined and revenue…
De Beers: how advertising made the diamond ring the sign of an engagement
From 1938 N.W. Ayer's campaign for De Beers lifted the share of American engagement rings with a diamond from about 10 per cent to…
