43 Big Business Blunders That Forever Tarnished A Company’s Image

Some self-inflicted wounds in the corporate world
43 Big Business Blunders That Forever Tarnished A Company’s Image

It’s devastating to realize that the thing you thought was helping your cause ended up being its demise. Take it from us. We passionately detailed our disdain for cats on a first date when she dropped the “I have four cats” bomb on our anti-cat tirade. It was impossible to retract any of those staunch opinions, so we just sat there in silence, watching our chances come to a complete halt. 

And like the patrons at the surrounding tables watching our date walk away, we’re sure that people will be whispering about these big business blunders for quite a while.

Donald Trump

Donald Trump's Exclusive Introduction worst TRUMP business idea STEAKS THE WORLD'S GREATEST STEAK ever (maybe). Trump Steaks were (for some reason) sold at the Sharper Image. Sharper Image CEO Jerry Levin called it a horrible business idea, saying, We literally sold almost no steaks. If we sold $50,000 worth of steaks in total, I'd be surprised. CRACKED

EA Sports

In 2009, EA shipped brass knuckles along with their upcoming game, The Godfather II to press members for promotional purposes. They soon learned The that the knuckles Godfatherll are classified as illegal weapons in many states, including California, where EA is based. NATURE LA PLAYSTATION 3 M EA It's against the law to be in possession of them, and it is also illegal to ship them. They had to plead with the recipients to send the knuckles back. The game received abyssmal reviews and prompted EA to let go of the franchise. CRACKED COM

Entrata

CORPORATE CRASH & BURN BLAMING COVID ON THE JEWS In 2022, David Bateman stepped down from his role as founder and chair of Entrata after sending an email to tech CEOs, Utah business people, and politicians. In the email, he said that the COVID-19 vaccine was part of a plan by the Jews to kill people. CRACKED

Pay By Touch

Turbine 14 PAY BY 167 To Hondensator TOUCH 2013 PAY BY TOUCH place center OF finger flat S sensor CU press and hold wait E for green light GRACKED.COM This company used biometrics for payments back in 2002. But the CEO was caught in a bunch of scandals (embezzling, drugs, domestic abuse), and the company went bust before smartphones were even invented.

Actionable Insights

CRACKED CORPORATE CRASH & BURN BEING RACIST IN A BAR Jason Wood, the CEO of Actionable Insights, stepped down from his job in July 2020 after a video of him making a racist comment in a Fresno bar spread around the internet.

Apple (Again)

CRACKED.COM The iPhone you almost had Two years before the launch of the iPhone, Apple launched an abortive iTunes phone produced by Motorola and called the ROKR (after the glitchy RAZR, get it?) cingular 2 6 S It had a 100-song limit, it couldn't buy music over the internet, it was hated by carriers, and its candybar shape looked like yo momma's phone. It almost killed any future phone plans for Apple

Yahoo!

CRACKED Weinerville - Netscape 5 x File Edit View Go Communicator Help My N Back Forward Reload Home Search Netscape Print Security Stop Bookmarks Location: http://www.geocilies. s.com/Heartland/Meadows/7322/ Welcome to Wienerville Where dachshunds will walk all over your heart YAHOO! Yahoo purchased Geocities in 1999 for over $4 billion, but the acquisition was ultimately unsuccessful and the site was shut down in 2009.

McDonald’s

M 94.668 RUSSIAN In 2006, McDonald's Japan ran a promotion in which 10,000 mp3 players would be awarded to lucky customers. The players contained a virus which stole data when connected to a computer. McDonald's had to provide the winners with an antivirus program and replace the players. GRAGKED.COM

Daimler

CRACKED DAIMLER DaimlerChrysler agreed to sell an 80% stake in its struggling U.S. brand Chrysler to Cerberus Capital Management for $7.4 billion, with Daimler expecting to pay out about $650 million to close the deal and take a $4-5.4 billion profit hit. The sale allowed Daimler to end its exposure to billions in ongoing losses and health care costs.

Apple

Before the iPhone, Apple had tried its hand in the game business by teaming up with Bandai to create the Pippin, a disc-based console with a trackball in the controller. OTMORK STREEK PowerPC The combination of a $600 price tag, barely any software support, and terrible management during Apple's years without Steve Jobs caused the Pippin to die within two years. GRACKED.COM

Samsung

CRACKED SAMSUNG Samsung Securities Co CEO Koo Sung-hoon resigned after the company was punished by South Korea's financial regulator for an employee's error that sparked a $105 billion ghost stock blunder. The company was handed a six month partial suspension of its operations and its chief was suspended for three months.

Doritos

CRACKED DORITOS' CHIPPY Doritos has released a new movie and campaign featuring Chippy, a comedian with a unique twist, to get Gen Zs to take action on their mental health. That's exactly what we wanted from our chips: mental health awareness.

Citibank

CRACKED CITIBANK Citibank made a mistake and accidentally sent $900 million to the wrong people, and the lenders refused to return the money. The lenders were taking advantage of the situation due to a longer running saga between them and Revlon, the company that borrowed the money.

Gerald Ratner

CRACKED CORPORATE CRASH & BURN SAYING THE QUIET PART OUT LOUD Gerald Ratner, the CEO of a jewelry group, made a speech in 1991 that included the musing: People say, 'how can you sell this for such a low price?' I say 'because it's total crap. His careless words are now known as doing a Ratner, and cost his company a whooping £500 million.

PacketSled

CORPORATE CRASH & BURN THREATENING TO KILL THE PRESIDENT Matt Harrigan stepped down from his role as CEO of PacketSled after he wrote a Facebook post where he threatened to kill Donald Trump. Не admitted that his words were really stupid, and that he only had himself to blame. CRACKED

Kim Kardashian

Kim Kardashian spammed social media with useless diet lollipops. Marketing sugar-filled lollipops with unproven secret ingredients as a weight loss tool may seem incongruous, but what's even less rational is posting an Instagram advertisement for such a product during Mental Health Awareness Week. kimkardashian Follow kimkardashian #ad You guys... FLATTUMMY @flattummyco just dropped a new LOLLIPOPS product. They're Appetite Suppressant LO Lollipops and they're literally unreal. Appetite Suppressont They're giving the first 500 people on their website 15% OFF so if you want to get your hands on some... you need to do it quick! #suckit Load more comments Which

Overstock.com

CORPORATE CRASH & BURN CATCHING THE IRE OF THE DEEP STATE Patrick Byrne, the CEO of Overstock, stepped down in 2019 after he said weird stuff about the Deep State, which caused the company's stock to fall by 36%. Coincidence? CRACKED

The Argos

Accidental domestic abuse endorsement HOME OPENER-JULY 23 1% Waminog a 4pm TORONTO ARGONAUTS HOME IS WHERE ALL H RONA A THE HEART IS. NISSAN IT'S ALSO WHERE WE ON DE 95 Hurt people. ALL НА CRACKED.COM Football has a long-running continued issue with family violence, which makes this poorly-worded ad for the Toronto Argonauts even worse.

World of Warcraft

At some point, the world's biggest WORLD video game got WARCRAFT desperate enough to seek endorsement from Chuck Norris in an ad made of his already dying memes. CRACKED COM

Pepsi

Pepsi commercializes Black Lives Matter PEPSI CRACKED.COM In the 2017 commercial, millionaire Kendall Jenner walks through a crowd of protestors to give a can of soda to a cop, and everyone cheers as systemic inequality is solved!

Yardley Cosmetics

Yardley Cosmetics put Helena Bonham Carter in their ads. Until she announced that she's not really into makeup. Specifically, she told an interviewer, I don't know why Yardley chose me; I don't wear much makeup. Her contract was terminated soon after. CRACKED.COM http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/not-a-very-good-endorsement-8592.html

Nivea (Again)

Nivea made another racist ad. PETURE THE Important DI / KOREA C - - MUS - WT ... MADE - NIVEA - - - - - HIVEA 1 - - morning - - I - - I I FBC أ - - - - - - - - - KOREA and - - - NG ..... - - - - - - the - the IN - which - - - - and - - THE THE en - - HOT NET parts THE No THE - - em No MIDE - RE-CIVILIZE YOURSELF KIVEA - KIVEA KINGA CRACKED.COM The

DiGiorno

DiGiorno jumped on a domestic abuse hashtag DIGIORNO DiGiorno Pizza @DiGiornoPizza #WhyIStayed You had pizza. 9/8/14, 11:11 PM GRAGKED.COM The social media person or DiGiorno clearly didn't do their research before tweeting out a joke on a trending hashtag. The hashtag was in defense of domestic abuse victims.

Groupon

Groupon cashes out on Free Tibet GROUPON CRACKED.COM In Groupon's confusing 2011 Super Bowl ad, they begin to address the plight of the Tibetan people but instead end on a quip about how you can get Tibetan curry for a deal.

BiC (Yep, Again)

The Bictator pokes fun at Kim Jong-il BIC PENS CRACKED.COM There's a time and place for humorous social commentary about the death penalty and dictatorships, but a BIC back-to-school advertisement is far from it.

Mighty Mix Dog Food

Charity stunt sends dog food to starving children MIGHTY MIX DOG FOOD Urban / Rural Delivery Natural Ingredients Cost Effective Premium Nutrition NZ Made CRACKED.COM The New Zealand founder of a dog food company offered to send 6,000 packs of dehydrated dog food to Kenyan children in need. The government rejected the insulting offer.

American Apparel

In 2014 American Apparel celebrated the 4th of July by reblogging this photo on its corporate Tumblr account CRAUN americanapparel plzstic Source:.tru

Pop Chips

After licking its wounds from accusations of racism in a previous campaign, Popchips decided to go another route: COMPARING THEIR SNACKS TO KATY PERRY

Timothy’s World Coffee

In 2011, Timothy's World Coffee ran a campaign asking people to Like their Facebook page and receive four boxes of their single-serve coffee (which

Vera Bradley

In 2016 quilted purse giant Vera Bradley launched their #itsgoodtobeagirl campaign with user submitted social media posts describing the perks of bein

Just for Feet

In 1999, Just for Feet scored a Super Bowl ad. So they went with all of the racism. The ad features a team of white hunters in a Hummer, chasing a bar

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