Every company wants to launch a product or advertise a service with an innovative and creative way to captivate an audience.  However, some marketing campaigns do not captivate the audience’s attention the way the company had in mind.  Here are some of the most memorable marketing flops, follies and faux pas!

1. Groupon’s Super Bowl Commercial

Company: Groupon

Year: 2011

Goal: Create a hit commercial for the ultimate advertising stage: Superbowl 2011

Link: Groupon Super Bowl Ad

Result:
“Their very culture is in jeopardy, but they still whip up an amazing fish curry!” This pseudo service announcement/advertisement threw some people off while throwing others in hysterics over Goupon’s brazen attitude toward Tibetan culture. Unfortunately, the Groupon service being promoted took a back seat to post-Superbowl back-lash this advertisement created.

2. The White PSP Ads

Company: Sony

Year: 2006

Goal: Create a billboard promoting the new White PSP

Result:
The setting is an advertising meeting room in the Sony offices of Holland. Someone has the idea of a white PSP versus a black PSP. Something about this advertising brainstorm session just screams public relations nightmare.

3. New Coke

Company: Coca Cola

Year: 1985

Goal: Compete for consumer’s taste-buds with soft-drink rival Pepsi by releasing research proven better tasting “New Coke”

Result:
The only type of change Coke drinkers like is the kind in their pockets. This was proven when even the Jello man himself couldn’t convince old school consumers to drink the statistically tastier New Coke. Customers, like a bad episode of hoarders, were simply not ready to part with their old coke can or their old coke taste.

4. The Yesterday And Today Album

Company/Artist: The Beatles

Year: 1966

Goal: Release an album with a creative cover showing our artistic genius

Result:
Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away…then I made an album cover with raw meat and naked doll babies. For the album “Yesterday and Today” The Beatles decided to break away from their bowl haircuts and try something creative.  The cover took them on a magical mystery tour of disgust from fans and critics. The Butcher cover was quickly replaced and three years later, “Here Comes the Sun” was released having absolutely nothing to do with this incident.

5. Monterey Jack In-The-Box

Company: Jack in the Box

Year: 1980-1985

Goal: Attract a more grown-up customer base targeting families by changing name to “Monterey Jack’s”

Result:
For some, Jack-in-the-box triggers emotions of fear and terror while awaiting a tiny goblin/elf to explode up through a tiny box. For others, it triggers emotions of delicious hamburgers and fun.  Grown-ups didn’t care for the new grown-up name of the fast food chain “Monterey Jack’s” so execs decided to switch it back to good ol’ Jack in the Box, triggering happy emotions for all…except the guy who ordered 20,000 Monetary Jack business cards.

6. I’m Lovin’ It?

Company: McDonalds

Year: 2007

Goal: Use slang to target a young and in-tune culture of fast food eaters through online banner advertisements.

Result:
Slight slang misunderstanding. I’m lovin’ it McDonalds! Then again…what exactly is it that I’m lovin’? Love’s a pretty strong word and I’m cautious to just start throwing it around. I want to take things a bit slower, which is why I’m not sure if I’m ready for your new ad campaign.

7. Underage Calvin Klein Ads

Company: Calvin Klein

Year: 1990’s

Goal: Create a provocative advertisement appearing to be amateur porn actors and actresses being interviewed.

Commercial: Calvin Klein Removed Ad

Result:
The actors and actresses don’t look old enough to hold a driver’s license. Although many viewed these advertisement as strange and creepy, underwear sales among registered sex offenders spiked 15% after the launch of this campaign. Despite that last statistic being made up, the advertisements were pulled.

8. Cyanide & Tylenol

Company: Tylenol

Year: 1982

Goal: Without having anything to do with the company, one maniac’s goal was to poison people by replacing Tylenol with Cyanide tablets on store shelves.

Result:
As one can imagine, the Tylenol brand was scathed. After Tylenol public relations and corporate execs were finished pinching themselves to make sure it wasn’t a horrible nightmare, the company bounced back putting on a clinic of how to react to worst case scenarios in business.

9. Woody Woodpecker The Spokesman

Company: Panasonic

Year: 90’s

Goal: Making the home computer seem awesome and entertaining to a younger demographic by choosing a cool spokesperson.

Result:
Woody Woodpecker. While nearly impossible to create the Woody Woodpecker sound via onomatopoeia, equally impossible is using said 200 year old pecker to target young and hip computer users.

10. Wang Computers

Company: Wang Computers

Year: Late 1970’s and 1980’s

Goal: How do you make the word Wang not sound like a joke?

Result:
Wang Cares. Really? Wang Cares? Sounds a bit like Wankers don’t you think? Soon after the release of their new advertising campaign, Wang Computers received an increase in orders from Mr. Seymore Butts, Ms. Ivana Tinkle, and Mr. Harry Armand Bach.

11. Anti-Drug Ads Increase Drug Usage

Company: National Drug Control Policy

Year: 1980’s-present

Goal: Decrease drug use among children and teens with a campaign budget of over 1 billion dollars.

Link: Anti- Drug PSA

Result:
Emerging studies show children were more likely to try illicit drugs after seeing anti-drug ads than if they had never seen an ad at all. ”Don’t give up, don’t ever give up.” -Coach Jim Valvano.  The War on Drugs campaign certainly listened to those all inspiring words.

-This is your brain on drugs, any questions?

-Yes, where do I get those drugs?

12. Atari Isolates Themselves

Company: Atari

Year: 1980’s

Goal: Take full control of the gaming business

Result:
After accusing Nintendo of dealing and selling Donkey Kong rights to Coleco, Nintendo was forever turned off by Atari. Nintendo launched themselves through the stratosphere of gaming on without the help of Atari. It was reported Atari executives were seen smashing and rolling giant barrels of bananas down corporate headquarter steps.

13. Type 1 Sets A Dangerous Example

Company: Levi’s

Year: 2007

Goal: Create exciting and clever commercial showing durability and moveability of new Type 1 Jeans.

Super Bowl Ad Type 1 Jeans

Result:
Certainly making the list for annoying songs in a commercial, on top of that, clever in this case turns out to be just plain confusing that includes a person riding on top of a moving vehicle.

-What’s the problem sir?

-Well my dome light flashes, the passenger side front wheel makes a funny sound when I turn left, and…oh, every now and then my car drives away on its own leading me, and my Type 1 Jeans, on a high speed chase through exotic cities.

14. IBM’s PCjr Launch

Company: IBM

Year: 1984

Goal: Compatibility combined with wireless keyboard and easy to add options

PCjr Commercial

Result:
Commercial failure. After selling a minor 30,000 units, the product was discontinued. The advertisements didn’t help either. Charlie Chaplin playing video games? Maybe. Gray living room throw rug?  Tasteless.

15. Pepsi Slims

Company: Pepsi

Year: 2011

Goal: During New York’s Fashion Week, create buzz by unveiling the new diet Pepsi skinny can.  “Our slim, attractive new can is the perfect complement to today’s most stylish looks.”  -Jill Geraud, CMO for PepsiCo.

Result:
Swift backlash from the National Eating Disorders Association.  Changing something to skinny doesn’t always work out as well as it did for jeans. Case in point: the Diet Pepsi can. While it’s still the exact same product, it was a change in packaging along with an unpopular coming out party combined for the ol’ one step forward, two steps back result.

16. Bait & Switch Phone Campaign

Company: Vespa

Year: 2006

Goal: Create a large stealth marketing campaign in which the company hired attractive actors and actresses to ride around on Vespa Scooters and hand out their phone numbers at bars and restaurants. Once dialed, the numbers lead to Vespa dealerships and customer service representatives happy to take your call!

Result:
Chalk it up to another failed marketing attempt. People were upset and rightfully so. Although come on. It’s happened to the best of us. You’re out, you get a number, you wait the appropriate amount of time to call and…”Hello Vespa dealership, how can we serve your transportation needs today?”

17. Nike Gets Gory

Company: Nike

Year: 2000

Goal: Use elite runner Suzie Favor-Hamilton to show that running will make you live longer.

Link: Nike Running Commercial

Result:
The idea turned into Ms. Favor-Hamilton being chased in the woods by a chainsaw wielding psycho trying to kill her. “Why Sport?  You’ll live longer.” When it came time to decide whether or not to air this frightening maniacal commercial, Nike took their own advice and just did it.  Soon after, they had to just undo it.

18. Jones Brings The Farm To Your Fluid

Company: Jones Soda

Year: 2004

Goal: Create new flavors to attract a larger audience.

Result:
With new flavors such as ham, green bean casserole, and dirt, the soft drink consumers didn’t exactly drink this idea up. Rather than deciding on what their customers were thirsting for through expensive market research surveys, Jones Soda decided to find drink flavors at an unconventional location: farms.

19. Tasteless Bud Commercials Fall Flat

Company: Budweiser

Year: 2005

Goal: Fight back against negative advertising directed their way by Miller Brewing Company claiming Budweiser had no taste.

Result:
Through advertisements with Budweiser referees stealing back the stolen beer Miller Light referees had taken in their own commercials, Budweiser was playing right into the hands of Miller. The ads were a failure, and for some, proved that cheap beer really must have no flavor if Budweiser was willing to spend all of this money protecting their image. Bob Uecker in the movie Major League famously pipes through the radio microphone “Juuust a bit outside” on a fastball that flies 20 feet above the catchers head. Budweiser’s idea to fire back at Miller was juuuuust a bit outside of their ultimate goal.

20. The Gullible Pear Car

Company: Renault 14

Year: 1976

Goal: Create a small family car and marketing it as being the shape of a fruit, specifically a pear!

Result:
The Renault 14 was soon being called a rotten pair. The idea failed for more reasons than one, and it didn’t help that in France, “La Poire” is slang for “gullible.”

Three things I look for in a car.

1. It should have a 5 star safety ratings.

2.  I’d like it to have Consumer Report credibility, and

3.  It must be shaped like a fruit…preferably from the melon family, but if not I’ll take any fruit shape. It must also be difficult to start and easily corroded.

21. Molson’s Underage Party Picture Promo

Company:  Molson

Year: 2007

Goal: Get students on campuses around the world to send in their pictures of them partying to see which school is #1 in fun.   This would provide easy publicity through social media platforms while extending the brand into new target markets.

Result:
Getting your consumers to engage in social media with your company is a valuable experience for both parties, that is unless you’re a beer company and your consumer is 17. It isn’t good for either party when you’re promoting, well, underage partying.

Moral of the story is to double and triple check as even the best intentioned marketing message can go horrible off the track if not executed properly.

Entrepreneur.com – Industry Groups

Link: http://econnect.entrepreneur.com/browse_groups.php

What is it: Entrepreneur.com is a great forum that covers everything around entrepreneurship and business. The forums are even split up into industry-based groups ranging from construction professionals, to franchising, to sales and marketing to online business and young entrepreneurs.

Why you should read it: Entrepreneur.com has long been a trusted source for all kinds of entrepreneurs. Their forum allows people to connect with each other and share their experiences and knowledge. The starting a business section has nearly 1000 discussion topics!

Intuit Community

Link: http://community.intuit.com/start_and_grow

What is it: The Intuit Community splits its forums into two major sections – business forums and industry forums. The business forum encompasses all aspects of starting and running a business, while the industry forum is geared to connect those in the same industries.

Why you should read it: The Intuit Community has some really great information for all entrepreneurs. Their moderators are very active participants in the forum which is helpful to newcomers. One of the best features on this forum is being able to sort through answered and unanswered questions depending on your reason for visiting the forum.

Startup Nation

Link: http://www.startupnation.com/community/

What is it: Startup Nation is exactly what it’s name implies – a great forum for anyone interested in learning about start ups.

Why you should read it: With over 83,000 users, you can bet the Startup Nation forum has information on just about ANY ISSUE that entrepreneurs face when starting up a business. There is quite a bit of basic information but there are also some good discussions around planning and marketing.

Warrior Forum

Link: http://www.warriorforum.com/

What is it: The warrior forum mainly covers internet marketing but is a useful resource for entrepreneurs looking to start an internet-based business. While the forums are free, they do offer a premium forum for a onetime fee of $37.

Why you should read it: Referring to each other as warriors, the users on this forum are all about helping each other and sharing stories about their internet marketing and online business successes as well as failures. Be sure to check out “The war room” with it’s valuable articles and access to a few well known internet marketers.

Young Entrepreneur Forum

Link: http://www.youngentrepreneur.com/forum/

What is it: The Young Entrepreneur forum is a place for young entrepreneurs to discuss a wide range of topics and connect with other young entrepreneurs from all over the world. They also offer two levels of premium membership. Gold members ($29.95 for 1 year, $39.95 for 2 years) receive exclusive monthly premium members-only competitions, access to premium members-only forums, exclusive premium members-only contests as well as the ability to engage in private messaging with other members. Platinum members ($199.95 for 1 year, 299 for 2 years) receive access to a free webinar coaching webinar, website review from experts, invitations to events hosted by the founders of YoungEntrepreneur.com and all of the benefits of being a gold member.

Why you should read it: Young Entrepreneurs are quickly making their mark on the business world. With nearly 65,000 users and 270,000 posts this forum is certainly one of the most popular forums for young entrepreneurs everywhere.

Startups

Link: http://www.startups.co.uk

What is it: Startups is a UK based community with over 10 different forums. Asides from the general discussion forum which has 35,000 posts, the Rate My Website forum is the next most popular forum in the community and can provide you with candid feedback on your site.

Why you should read it: Based in the UK, this forum a great place to help connect with entrepreneurs from all over the world as well as get different perspectives on issues entrepreneurs may face. This is especially helpful for those looking to do business around the world.

The Fast Lane to Millions

Link: http://www.thefastlanetomillions.com/

What is it: The Fast Lane to Millions is a forum designed for entrepreneurs to share their experiences in growing their businesses, as well as a place for them to document their successes and failures.

Why you should read it: Many participants in the Fast Lane to Millions are eager to get/share ideas and stories about money making strategies. Forum topics are dominated by building online businesses and discussions about real estate so if you are looking to make money through real estate, this may be a good place to check out.

Retire at 21

Link: http://www.retireat21.com/forums/

What is it: The Retire at 21 forums gives young entrepreneurs a chance to share stories about how they became online entrepreneurs as well as an open community to ask and answers questions about their experiences.

Why you should read it: The forums at Retire at 21 are saturated with valuable information related to website critique (90% of the post volume is in the website critique portion of the forum). This is a great place to go if you are starting an online business or if you are debating making changes to an existing online business.

What other forums do you visit to get and share ideas?

In fact, the Twitter accounts of other startups and founders are often treasure troves of relevant, applicable insight. After all, these are folks who have overcome the obstacles you are facing and achieved the goals you are striving for. Who better to learn from? The key to using Twitter productively, of course, is avoiding idle banter and following only those offering concrete, actionable advice. To that end, Grasshopper scoured Twitter for fourteen accounts that any startup founder would be well-served to follow.

Startup Digest

Startup Digest is an awesome service for getting plugged in with your local startup community. They also have a great Twitter list setup for you to follow to filter out some of the noise in your Twitter stream once in awhile and focus on valuable insights from leading tech blogs and entrepreneurs.

Make a Startup

While not itself a startup, Make a Startup‘s Twitter feed is a veritable compendium of startup-specific knowledge. A glance through a typical day’s Tweets turns up such gems as “business models behind the Internet startup” and “3 New Startup Pitfalls to be Aware of.” The ideal person to follow, Make a Startup is someone who wants to understand the deep mechanics of how Internet business and the startup life work. As venture capitalist Paul Graham is fond of saying, “you don’t need to understand physics to be a pitcher, but it never hurts.” That being said, even the “big picture” lessons dispensed on Make a Startup’s Twitter are focused on action, not armchair theorizing.

Perry Marshall

As the world’s premier Google AdWords authority, Perry Marshall works as a marketing consultant to dozens of startups and small to medium sized businesses. The main reason his Twitter is worth following is that he impresses upon readers a constant focus on bottom-line results. While it’s easy to get caught up in fuzzy metrics like “buzz” and “mind share”, Perry’s tweets serve as persistent reminders to focus on whether what you are doing is making money.

His advice on e-mail marketing, split testing and conversion tracking is essential to anyone involved in a startup. Furthermore, his insights on Internet marketing are vital to anyone concerned with bringing more customers into the fray (which, believe it or not, often gets moved to the back burner by startups.)

Startup Report

Startup Report‘s Twitter feed is slightly different than most of the ones we mention, but is eminently worth following nonetheless. Essentially, Startup Report is an up to the minute aggregation of startup news reports – who’s gotten funding, who’s been bought out, who’s gone under, etc. It’s a way for any business owner to take the pulse of what’s going on in the startup world and look for patterns of market activity that ought to influence their decisions. While investors have stock tickers and the Wall Street Journal, those immersed in the startup world have Startup Report.

EntrepreneurUS

EntrepreneurUS is another Twitter account deserving of any founder’s attention. In terms of immediately applicable tips and strategies, it’s tough to beat tweets such as “Watch 25 Entrepreneurs Try To Launch 6 Startups From A Bus In Just 48 Hours.”

EntrepreneurUS also tweets material that is useful to early stage founders, such as how to generate startup ideas if you do not currently have one. And that’s just a sampling of the material submitted on their Twitter on a daily basis. Tune in once in a while and your search for useful business insight will be richly rewarded.

Cool Startups

Described as “a magnet for all the buzz on hot new startups”, Cool Startups is a Twitter feed that is positively packed with valuable how-to information and educational anecdotes on business success. Indicative of the content you will find on Cool Startups are tweets such as “Lessons From Start-Ups on Improving Sales Productivity” and “Startup Professionals Musings: For an Entrepreneur, an MBA is not King.” With such useful advice, it’s no wonder over 2,400 people have decided to follow Cool Startups to date!

Venture Beat

Venture Beat is the Twitter account for those eager to keep up with the latest musings and recommendations of the venture capital industry. While it’s certainly important to absorb all the perspective and wisdom from other founders that you can, it also helps to understand startups as seen from an investor’s point of view. Typical tweets include “an angel investor’s advice for startups” and “Norwest’s Tim Chang wants to invest in the “game-ification” of life.” Perhaps the most useful benefit of following Venture Beat is staying abreast of what types of businesses investors want to invest in.

OfficeDivvy

OfficeDivvy, a startup focused on virtual office solutions, maintains a Twitter feed that offers useful, daily guidance to founders. With tweets such as “Why Business Plans Are a Waste of Time For Startups” and “When to do it yourself, and when to outsource some of your tasks”, founders are sure to find a fresh perspective on the many challenges they face on a regular basis. At time of writing, over 20,000 people have decided that following OfficeDivvy is a worthwhile use of their time.

2BProductive

Some of the more common problems startup founders grapple with are their own mental and habitual roadblocks. No matter how many books or seminars you devour on business strategy, you will never take your business to the next level until you master your own habits as regards time management, goal setting and execution. That’s why 2BProductive is a Twitter feed all of us need to be following.

Every day, 2BProductive dispenses valuable nuggets of insight, including podcasts on action-based agendas, what we can learn from the Olympics for business productivity and more. If you feel that your overall strategy is sound but aren’t sure how to correct unproductive habits, 2BProductive is well worth tuning into.

Daytimer Page

Another Twitter account aimed at providing time management and personal productivity tips is Daytimer Page. While its follower count isn’t astronomical (just over 300 at time of writing) Daytimer Page is a rock-solid resource for anyone looking to improve their own personal effectiveness in the workplace.

Everything from the efficient use of planners to brain dumps to color-coordinated calendars is discussed on a daily basis, resulting in a buffet of tips, advice and strategies for sharp startup founders to choose from. If you feel like time is managing you instead of the other way around, it’s time to follow Daytimer Page and take its advice to heart.

FocusSmallBiz

Focus Small Biz is the ultimate Twitter feed for those seeking hard-nosed answers to practical, immediate questions – such as “what is the best marketing technique for small businesses that budget $50/month?” Other questions tackled by Focus’ daily Twitter feed include “Why don’t banks and traditional lenders provide funds to startups?” and “How to Select a Good Business Webcam.” Why more startups don’t get funding is another frequently addressed topic. Whenever you find yourself struggling to answer a very direct question, it’s a safe bet that perusing the archives of Focus Small Biz will point you in the right direction.

Brand Strategic

For most startups, a social media presence has gone from being “nice to have” to being a baseline necessity. Unfortunately, much of the educational material on doing social media correctly contains more hype and platitudes than actionable advice. A refreshing departure into social media practicality is Brand Strategic, a Twitter feed that dispenses daily tidbits including “11 Free Tools for Social Media Optimization” and “Five insights into the behaviors of social media users.” An occasional glance at Brand Strategic’s updates will leave you feeling confident and ready to implement what you have learned, rather than endlessly searching for answers.

Social Media Solutions

Another excellent Twitter feed to follow with regard to practical social media strategies is Social Media Solutions. Whereas BrandStrategic focuses more on tutorials and resources for using social media for immediate impact, Social Media Solutions tweets examples of major or growing brands using social media in their own activities, allowing you to discern patterns and effective strategies that are working for other businesses.

At time of writing, for instance, readers can learn about Connecticut governor Jodi Rell using social media to release state news, or DirecTV using it in ad campaigns. Those seeking to learn by example from the successful social media pioneering of others need look no further.

VisionQuest MT

VisionQuest MT is a Twitter feed focused on accounting, bookkeeping, and measuring productivity in quantitative terms. Readers will find tweets covering an expansive territory of business topics, ranging from tax breaks to measuring employee productivity to the trade-offs of working at home versus the office. As has been the case with all of the feeds we’ve mentioned, readers can expect a firm focus on actionable tips and wisdom. Most of VisionQuest’s tweets pertain to things you are already doing and have the potential to make an immediate difference for the better.

As a small business it is often hard to track exactly where your customers are coming from; Television, radio, web, partners, etc, etc. While analytics have certainly made it easier to track web traffic, offline efforts aren’t as clear cut.

A great way to track offline marketing efforts and determine ROI is to use multiple phone numbers. Using separate phone numbers for separate campaigns can help you track where your visitor came from and give you insight into which campaign is working the best.

Using Multiple Phone Numbers to Track ROI:

• Place a phone number on your website that is found no where else. This will allow you to track conversions from people visiting the site and then picking up the phone and buying. You can even create use separate numbers for your pay-per-click ads.
• Use a specific phone number in your television or print ad. This can be as easy as creating a new extension for your toll free number or using a completely separate phone number. Perhaps you want a local number for your television ad but an 800 number for your print ad since it will be less geo-targeted.

The more accurately a business is able to track marketing efforts, the more efficient they will be and the more money they will save.

Remember, with Grasshopper, additional phone numbers are only $5 each and additional extensions are FREE! Start tracking your marketing efforts now!

“How do I dial a vanity number on my Blackberry?”

If you don’t know what a vanity number is, it is a custom phone number (toll free or local) that spells out a particular word. Here are a few examples:

• 1-800-Flowers
• 1-800-Contacts
• 1-888-BestBuy

So, how exactly do you go about dialing a vanity number on your Blackberry?

Well you could try to figure out what letter corresponds to what number, or you could simply hold down the ALT key. That’s it!

By holding down the ALT key, you can dial every letter on the keyboard, spelling out any number you need, including your Grasshopper vanity number!