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SMALL BUSINESS
101 Dumbest Moments in Business
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MCT
Wal-Mart
Grand Prize Winner
After hiring a PR firm that specializes in political campaigns, Wal-Mart suffered its first quarterly profit drop in 10 years, as well as a series of snafus. Among them is the ex-vice-chairman Coughlin's $500k pockets, lined with funds from a bogus antiunion campaign that no one questioned in the first place!
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Northwest Airlines
After winning AOL's Dumbest Moment in Business, Northwest Airlines lands front-and-center on Business 2.0's list. The trouble stems from a seemingly innocuous guide, "101 Ways to Save Money," which Northwest distributed to laid-off employees, advising dumpster diving as a plausible means to cut costs.
More Bosses Behaving Badly -
Comcast
Worst Customer Service
Imagine coming home to find a cable repairman crashed on your couch. No, it's not a sitcom episode, it was a real life 'take' for Brian Finkelstein, who turned his experience into one of the clickiest viral videos of 2006. The repairman claims Comcast left him holding on the phone for an hour.
More Worst Moments in Customer Service -
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Starbucks
Dumbest Moment in Marketing
Starbucks earns the dunce cap and a $114-million-class-action-
suit after an e-mail campaign went awry. Baristas in the southeast were permitted to e-mail coupons for a free iced coffee to family and friends -- which after mass forwards, eventually included the entire country. Unable to honor the coupons, Starbucks lands a false advertising suit.
Misadventures in Marketing -
AP
RadioShack
E-mail continues to play a healthy role in the 2006 Dumbest Moments in Business. It was the vessel for RadioShack's public attack after the company decided to fire 400 employess with a mass e-mail that read: "The work force reduction notification is currently in progress. Unfortunately your position is one that has been eliminated."
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Honda
The premiere manufacturer of the "little engine that could," Honda inadvertently broke into the entertainment market after consumers found themselves calling a sex hotline number found in their owner's manual. Callers thought they were dialing the number for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
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AP
News Corp.
Known for pushing the limit on sensational journalism, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. announced and then canceled plans to publish and air "If I Did It," O.J. Simpson's take on how he would have killed Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman. The News Corp.'s Fox TV claimed to have secured its film footage when advance copies suddenly became available on eBay.
Sex, Drugs and Celebrity Gaffes -
Alarm One
Don't be a cry baby. Eating babyfood, wearing diapers, getting spanked? It's not the latest fraternity hazing scandal but a targeted corporate team-building exercise for select Alarm One employees. The home security company was sued by former worker Janet Orlando for $1.7 million, after she endured the humiliating drills.
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Taco Bell
Let us know when it's safe to eat. An E. coli 'red herring' led Taco Bell to release a statement that it removed green onions as a product ingredient, only to later discover that the real culprit behind a Taco Bell food borne illness was lettuce. Hey, the chihuahua's still cute!
See Misadventures in MarketingRelated Content
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WireImage / AP
Carl's Jr./Hardees
There must be better ways to promote a late-night menu. Though it wasn't in her contract, Carl's Jr./Hardee's spokesperson, Paris Hilton, cites a midnight craving for an In-N-Out Burger as the reason behind her drunk driving incident.
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Tesco
Tesco
"Unleash the sex kitten inside ... soon you'll be flaunting it to the world and earning a fortune in Peekaboo Dance Dollars," stated this web promo in the Toys and Games section on the U.K.-based Tesco.com (similar to Amazon.com). To quell the roar from parents groups, Tesco relisted the Peekaboo Pole Dancing Kit, replete with garter and faux money, in its fitness accessory section.
Tatoo Kids Hasbro Whores -
Steve Mawyer, AOL
Checking in With Past Dumbest Winners
Janet Jackson's 2004 Superbowl "wardrobe malfunction" that exposed one of her breasts on prime-time network TV cost CBS $550,000 in fines. The indecency debacle led to the Broadcast Decency bill, signed by President Bush in June 2006. Once approved by Congress, the bill will increase fines for decency violations from $32,500 to $325,000.
101 Dumbest MomentsSee Where Are They Now? -
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