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Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly

S2E14 - Famous Marketing Blunders

Season 2, Ep. 14

 Along with the most famous marketing blunder of all time - the Edsel - we’ll look at what caused Coke to make the mistake of changing their fabled formula, how a company went actually out of business by promising a product improvement, how a fashion house tweeted inappropriately and had an immediate PR disaster, and how a fast food company made a big mistake betting on the U.S. Olympic team.


They are all great stories. Just be glad they didn’t happen to you.


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