15 Contests and Public Votes That Backfired Big Time

It’s like that new saying we just made up… Absolute power corrupts absolutely. From the looks of it, that’s what most of these contests and polls learned right away. These companies thought they had it all figured out. You can picture them in their boardrooms now. Tossing around bright ideas like, “What if we get the public involved by letting them name the product?” 

We get it, coming up with a name for yet another Mountain Dew flavor is hard. You might want to outsource that brainpower to the public, but don’t be surprised if their choice involves Hitler. Now it’s on you to either use it (which we’re guessing you won’t), or scrap the whole campaign and admit that you just straight up lost to the internet. 4chan is out there, just waiting to prey on your precious little online polls. So let these 15 contests and public votes serve as cautionary tales for any future promotional campaigns.