How a Pepsi Marketing Scheme Went Wrong—Very Wrong

Newser

Talk about a promotional stunt gone wrong: Pepsi ran a bottle-cap lottery in the Philippines back in the 1990s that turned into such a nightmare that riots broke out, lawsuits were filed, and five people got killed. Now Bloomberg looks back on "perhaps the deadliest marketing disaster in history."

Pepsi's Deadly "Number Fever" Campaign

BOINGBOING.NET

How a Pepsi Prize Promotion Ended in Riots and Death

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How a Pepsi Prize Promotion Ended in Riots and Death

BLOOMBERG QUICKTAKE

How a Pepsi Prize Promotion Ended in Riots and Death

NEWS CHAIN

How a Pepsi Prize Promotion Ended in Riots and Death

MODERN GHANA

How a Pepsi Prize Promotion Ended in Riots and Death

NEWSBREAK

How a Pepsi Prize Promotion Ended in Riots and Death

NEWS SCIENCE

How a Pepsi Prize Promotion Ended in Riots and Death

JUST DIAL

How a Pepsi Prize Promotion Ended in Riots and Death

PHOTODOLLAR

How a Pepsi Prize Promotion Ended in Riots and Death

BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK

Pepsi intentó ganarse al mercado filipino con una promoción millonaria... el resultado fue un desastre

EL Financiero Bloomberg

Chien dich marketing cua Pepsi gan nam truoc:

E Magazine

Pepsi intentó ganarse al mercado filipino con una promoción millonaria... el resultado fue un desastre

Tres Lineas

Number Fever: The Pepsi Contest That Became a Deadly Fiasco

Neatorama

Number Fever: The Pepsi Contest That Became a Deadly Fiasco

BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK BY JEFF MAYSH

Decades ago, a marketing stunt promised Philippine soda drinkers a chance at a million pesos. But an error at a bottling plant led to 600,000 winners—and to lawsuits, rioting, and even deaths

Un Concorso A Premi Finito Malissimo

IL POST ITALY

Alle 18 del 25 maggio 1992 un buon numero di filippini stava guardando in tv il quotidiano segmento in cui venivano annunciati i vincitori di un concorso indetto dalla Pepsi.

Number fever: The Pepsi contest that became a deadly fiasco

NEWS SUMMED UP

Pepsi was about to announce the winning number in a promotion that had gripped the Philippines’ 65 million people.

What Was The Disastrous Pepsi Number Fever? How Did It Cost Pepsi A $20 Million Loss?

OLATORERA.COM AFRICA

Pepsi Number Fever, also known as the 349 incident, was a disastrous promotion held by PepsiCo in the Philippines in 1992.

Gila! Benarkah Demam Pepsi Pernah Sebabkan Kerusuhan Jalan dan Kematian di Filipina?

SINTRA AGUSTINA

Artikel ini telah tayang di Tribuntravel.com dengan judul Gila! Benarkah Demam Pepsi Pernah Sebabkan Kerusuhan Jalan dan Kematian di Filipina?

Pop goes the Cola

ASIAWEEK

In the Philippines, to be “349ed” has become a generic term for being duped. How this came to be a story of hugely successful soft drink promotion that turned into an unprecedented marketing disaster.

Supreme Court Upholds Arrest Warrants on Pepsico Executives

LOS ANGELES TIMES

The Philippine Supreme Court last week upheld arrest warrants on nine executives of a Manila subsidiary of Pepsico accused of refusing to pay more than 33,000 holders of winning bottle caps in a Pepsi promotion. The nine executives of Pepsi Cola Products Philippines face arrest on swindling charges after the Supreme Court denied their petition to reverse a lower court's order issued in May last year for their detention.

Pepsi-Cola Uncaps A Lottery Nightmare - Bombings, Threats Follow Contest With Too Many Winners

THE SEATLE TIMES

MANILA, Philippines - Pepsi's advertisements, splashed for weeks all over Philippine newspapers, radio and TV, were hardly subtle: "Today, you could be a millionaire!". From her tin-roofed shack in one of Manila's more squalid slums, Victoria Angelo couldn't resist. The unemployed mother of five and her husband, Juanito, who pedals people about in his three-wheeled cab for about $4 a day, began drinking Pepsi with every meal and snack.

A Pepsi Giveaway, Gone Wrong; Repercussions, Some Deadly, Persist From '92 Promotion `Glitch'

The Washington Post

A bizarre twist in a Pepsi promotional campaign to make millionaires out of poor Filipinos has turned into a battle between tens of thousands of consumers and the American soft drink giant.

COMPANY NEWS: An Unlucky Number; Pepsi Caps the Damages On a Promotion Gone Flat

THE NEW YORK TIMES

MANILA, Aug. 17— A soft drink sales campaign meant to turn a few lucky Filipinos into peso millionaires has turned into a nightmare for the Pepsi-Cola Company. Eighteen months after beginning a promotional numbers game, Pepsi has spent about $11 million to settle thousands of claims from "winning" consumers and repair its shattered image here.

Pepsi: 1, Activism: 0

Z MAGAZINE ( WASHINGTON FREE PRESS )

Pepsi splashed ads for weeks across the Philippine newspapers, radio and TV: "Today you could be a millionaire." There was to be a specially marked bottle cap. The owner would win a million pesos, about $40,000. Families began drinking Pepsi with every meal and snack, praying for a fated bottle cap. Each night, they would circle the TV to hear what number, etched in the cap, meant freedom from want.

Lawsuits and riots cap Pepsi Number Game fizzer

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Poor David: No match against giant Goliath, Pepsi

THE FILIPINO EXPRESS

My younger brother and I always had a sibling rivalry. We quarreled about everything. I always thought he followed the crowd while I went for the under-dog. He liked Coke. I like Pepsi. Not anymore.

Pepsi NY execs meet with 349 head-on settlement

THE FILIPINO EXPRESS

Making no progress with their demands for payment of claims in Manila, the president of Coalition 349.Inc., a group of claimants in the controversial Pepsi Cola "instant millionaire" promotions, has flown to New York, where he was received twice this week by Pepsi executives at their headquarters in Purchase New York.

PepsiCo urged to pay court winners

THE FILIPINO REPORTER

The president of a consumer coalition that sued PepsiCo over the "349" Pepsi Number Fever Promotion fiasco in 1992 has urged the top officials of the Purchase. NY based soft drink giant to honor a court ruling and settle the 12 year old corporate liability to thousands of Filipino consumers who won in the promo.

Filipino 349 class suit vs. PepsiCo to be filed this month

ASIAN JOURNAL

The prospects are bright for an early strategic filing of a class suit against PepsiCo, the world's 50th largest corporation this month in New York.

$400-M class suit vs. PepsiCo filed here

THE FILIPINO REPORTER

A $400 million class-action suit against PepsiCo New York was filed last week with the United States District Court of Brooklyn, New York on behalf of Pepsi Number Fever promo fiasco in the Philippines in 1992.

Filipinos file class suit vs Pepsi in NY, seek $400-M

PHILIPPINE MABUHAY NEWS

About 10,000 Filipinos consumers accused the soft drink giant Pepsico of "breach of contract" and moved to boycott its products here and in the US West Coast.

Law suits and riots cap pepsi number game fizzer

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Blunder turns to anti-Pepsi fever as Filipinos demand their contest prizes

LOS ANGELES TIMES/THE BALTIMORE SUN

COLUMN ONE : Bottle Cap Flap Riles the Masses : After a Pepsi promotion went awry, thousands of Filipinos mistakenly thought they were in the money. Now the firm is trying to cool off protests that have united rebels, generals and matrons.

LOS ANGELES TIMES

Pepsi Loses Big in Philippine Sales Gamble

REUTERS

A SOFT-DRINK sales campaign supposed to turn a few fortunate Filipinos into peso millionaires has turned into a public-relations nightmare for US giant Pepsi-Cola.

COMPANY NEWS: An Unlucky Number; Pepsi Caps the Damages On a Promotion Gone Flat

REUTERS

A soft drink sales campaign meant to turn a few lucky Filipinos into peso millionaires has turned into a nightmare for the Pepsi-Cola Company.

PHILIPPINE SENATE PANEL CRITICIZES PEPSI CONTEST

THE ORLANDO SENTINEL

Philippine senate panel Friday accused the local subsidiary of soft drinks giant PepsiCo of gross negligence after a bottle top lottery ended in chaos.

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Filipinos Revolt vs Pepsi

Filipino Reporter

PepsiCO named in consumer fraud rap before Atty. Gen

Filipino Reporter

Number Nightmare

Time Magazine

US Media picks up Pepsi Tanzan Fiasco

Express

Pepsi Cant Escape Backfired Philippine Promotion

Saudi Distribution Co.