Inglés - C1.3 - Pepsi's Number Fever

Study Notes

In 1992, Pepsi ran a promotion in the Philippines called Number Fever, where bottle tops had lottery numbers printed on them.
The grand prize was one million pesos, equivalent to about $40,000 in American dollars.
However, Pepsi made a mistake and printed 800,000 bottle tops with the winning number 349, meaning that many people had the winning number and were entitled to the grand prize.
Pepsi was on the hook for at least $15 billion, which was about half the Philippines' entire annual income.
Pepsi offered a goodwill payment of $20 to those who had the winning number, which was not life-changing.
Pepsi's reputation in the country was trashed, and people were threatening physical violence against Pepsi employees.
The Supreme Court in the Philippines ruled that Pepsi did not have to pay the grand prize.
Companies intentionally try to increase breakage rates by making it hard for the customer to follow through on offers.
Hoover offered free transatlantic flights with any Hoover appliance in the UK in the 1990s, but the flights were deliberately inconvenient, and people had to fill in multiple forms to claim them.
The reputational risk and cost of keeping a promise are factors that companies must consider when running promotions.
Tim Harford discusses a story from his podcast "Cautionary Tales" on THE INDICATOR.
The story is about a man who was promised a large sum of money but only received a small payment.
The man believed he was being cheated and sought legal action.
The legal process was lengthy and expensive.
The man eventually realized he had misunderstood the terms of the agreement and had actually received the correct payment.
The man's perception of the situation was influenced by his emotions and biases.
The story highlights the importance of understanding agreements and avoiding knee-jerk reactions.
THE INDICATOR is a podcast produced by NPR.
The episode was produced by Emma Peaslee and Brittany Cronin with help from Gilly Moon.
The episode was fact-checked by Sam Cai and edited by Kate Concannon.

Inglés - C1.3 - Pepsi's Number Fever

Podcast Beta

Questions and Answers

True or false:Pepsi's Number Fever promotion in the Philippines was a huge success for the company.

True or false: The grand prize for the Number Fever promotion was equivalent to about $15 billion in American dollars.

True or false: Pepsi offered a substantial amount of money to those who had the winning number in the promotion.

True or false: The Supreme Court in the Philippines ruled that Pepsi had to pay the grand prize to those who had the winning number.

True or false: Companies intentionally make it easy for customers to follow through on offers to maintain their reputation.

True or false: The Hoover promotion in the UK offered free flights that were easy to claim.

True or false: The story discussed in the podcast "Cautionary Tales" is about a man who received less money than he was promised.

True or false: The legal process the man in the podcast went through was quick and inexpensive.

True or false: The man in the podcast eventually realized he had misunderstood the terms of the agreement and received the correct payment.

True or false: "The Indicator" is a podcast produced by NPR that focuses on cautionary tales about business and economics.

False

False

False

False

False

False

True

False

True

True

Study Notes

Studying That Suits You

More Quizzes Like This

Inglés - C1.3- Giving and receiving positive feedback

Inglés - C1.3- Managing a problem

Inglés - C1.3 - TED - Less stuff, more happiness

Inglés - C1.3 - TED - Technology in the workplace

Upgrade to continue