Pepsi Number Fever: How Bottle Cap 349 Sparked Riots in the Philippines

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

In February 1992, Pepsi Philippines began printing three digit numbers inside the caps of Pepsi, 7-Up, Mountain Dew, and Mirinda bottles. Most prizes were around 100 pesos, but the grand prize was one million pesos, about 40,000 US dollars and 611 times the average monthly salary. Winning numbers were read on television every night, market share jumped from 19.4 percent to 24.9 percent, and executives extended the campaign by five weeks. That extension set up one of the costliest printing errors in marketing history.

On May 25, 1992, the evening news announced the winning number: 349. Only two caps carried that number with the matching security code, but 800,000 ordinary caps had been printed with it too, a theoretical liability of 32 billion dollars. This episode follows what came next: crowds at the bottling plants, a 500 peso goodwill offer, the 349 Alliance, burned trucks, deadly bombings, and a legal fight that reached the Philippine Supreme Court.

The promotion was never a true game of chance. Winning caps were made in fixed quantities, each with a unique security code needed to claim the cash.
Nearly half a million people accepted 500 pesos, about 18 dollars, costing Pepsi roughly 8.9 million dollars against an original prize budget of 2 million.
Protesters stoned, overturned, or burned 37 delivery trucks, and at least five people died, including a school teacher and a five-year-old killed by a bomb in Manila.
About 22,000 people took legal action, and in 2006 the Supreme Court ruled Pepsi was not liable for the amounts printed on the error caps.
Pepsi received the 1993 Ig Nobel Peace Prize, and to be 349'd entered local slang as a term for being duped.

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(16184)

The Art of Adult Friendship: Why Quality Matters More Than Quantity

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore how our understanding of friendship changes as we grow old...

9 Marras 18min

Summer Explained: The Science, History, and Traditions of the Warmest Season

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore summer, the season most closely associated with sunshine, ...

7 Marras 18min

Sir Patrick Stewart: From Shakespeare to Star Trek, the Life and Legacy of a Legend

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore the extraordinary life of Sir Patrick Stewart, the acclaim...

7 Marras 49min

Larry David: The Genius of Social Awkwardness, Seinfeld, and Curb Your Enthusiasm

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore the life and career of Larry David, the comedian, writer, ...

6 Marras 38min

Why Australian Shepherds Aren't From Australia

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore the history of the Australian Shepherd, an intelligent, en...

5 Marras 45min

Labrador Retriever: From Newfoundland Fishing Dogs to Modern-Day Heroes

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore the remarkable history of the Labrador Retriever, one of t...

4 Marras 53min

Discovering Ireland: A Journey Through History, Culture, and the Wild Atlantic Way

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore Ireland through the philosophy of slow travel: go slower, ...

3 Marras 48min

Willie Hutch: An Overnight I'll Be There Lyric and The Mack's Soundtrack

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!William McKinley Hutchins was born in Los Angeles in December 1944 and raised in Dallas, where h...

2 Marras 21min