That meme about A&W and their 1/3rd pound burger; is it fact? Fiction? Some mix of the two? In this episode, we are looking at why McDonald's Quarter Pounder outlasted A&W's "Thirds the Word" campaign.

Burger Kings Moldy Whopper

Sep 7th, 2021 15m 47s

Let's go all the way back to 2018. It was the year every fast-food company decided sustainability was vital. White Castle and Burger King debuted plant-based burgers, but McDonald's was still winning the fast-food wars. So why did Burger King c

The Ford Edsel

Aug 31st, 2021 17m 48s

In 1939 the Ford Automotive Company was facing a possible problem. GM was eating into their market share, and Ford believed it was because they'd not release a new line of cars in nearly 19 years. After ten years of research, over $250 million

Everything is Broken

Aug 12th, 2019 1m 47s

We took a little time off and now our equipment is taking some time off

The North Face

Jul 12th, 2019 13m 11s

When a popular outdoors brand like The North Face makes a bad marketing decision it can affect how its perceived by loyal customers. Even worse, it can affect how potential future customers make decisions. This episode looks at a recent misstep

Amy's Kitchen Nightmare

Jun 27th, 2019 12m 44s

In 2013 the Fox series Kitchen Nightmares sent Gordon Ramsey to Scottsdale, Arizona. Amy's Baking Company quickly became the most infamous episode of the entire series, and the only one where Chief Ramsey walked away. The resulting press gave A

Snakes on a Plane

Jun 21st, 2019 14m 25s

In 2006 there was a movie. One with a title so outlandish, yet so on the nose, there was no way it could ever get made. Thanks to Samuel L. Jackson, the movie was made and an internet sensation was born. This episode dives deep into Snakes on a

Sin to Win

Jun 13th, 2019 15m 14s

When Electronic Arts began promotion for the 2010 action game "Dante's Inferno" it was natural to utilize the 9 circles of Hell. Every level of the game was based around one of the circles and so too would be every tactic in their advertising s

The New Coke Strikes Back

May 23rd, 2019 7m 39s

We're talking the changing media landscape and what that means for production companies. Specifically, we're taking a look at how Netflix and Stranger Things season 3 resurrected New Coke. If you've not listened to our first episode, go back to

HBO's Confederate

May 16th, 2019 8m 6s

Game of Thrones has been the biggest hit on TV for years. With its end in sight, HBO tried to find a way to capitalize off of the GoT brand by tapping its show runners to create another series about an alternate reality. How could any of that g

ATHF and the Mooninite Boston Invasion

May 7th, 2019 16m 49s

By 2005 Adult Swim had made it as an entity from Cartoon Network. In 2007 they planned to release their first movie, Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters. To promote, they decided on gorilla tactic which their audience would fin

Internet Explorer 8 - OMG

Apr 30th, 2019 15m 53s

Microsoft's Internet Explorer has a rocky history. In 2009 they finally seemed to figure out what the people wanted out of a web browser. However, the public had already decided they didn't want another IE. Microsoft decided to run a marketing

LifeLock

Apr 25th, 2019 5m 46s

In the beginning of the internet era no one knew identity theft was a thing. LifeLock made it their business, literally, to ensure everyone know of the dangers presented online and that they could protect their subscribers. To illustrate this p

Pull a Ratner

Apr 15th, 2019 17m 1s

In April of 1991 the Ratner Group was the premiere British jewelry company. They owned about 50% of the market and were the place where "Working class boys bought rings for working class girls." It took Gerald Ratner minutes to cost the company

Nintendo Wii U

Apr 9th, 2019 18m 19s

In November of 2012 Nintendo released its follow up to the massively successful Wii home gaming console, the Wii U. The original Wii sold over 100 million units in route to becoming a hugely successful platform for hardcore and non-traditional

Herb the Nerd

Apr 1st, 2019 16m 36s

In late 1985 Burger King was the second most successful burger joint in America. With McDonald's owning 37% of the fast food market share and Wendy's coming off of their "Where's the beef?" campaign, Burger King felt they needed to captivate th

Bud Lights #UpForWatever

Mar 27th, 2019 22m 23s

How could an award winning campaign go sailing off the rails? A bad tweet here and a tone def label there is all it took for Bud Light to find out being #UpForWatever wasn't always a good thing.Produced by Digital Buzz LLC Hosted by Dave Plo

Always Fresh?

Mar 26th, 2019 12m 48s

Over the past 50 years Tim Hortons has moved from regional coffee joint to Canadian way of life. That doesn't mean they are impervious to bad press. In fact, a company decision from 2003 seems to still be haunting them today. On this episode we

The Day Disco Died

Mar 23rd, 2019 15m 40s

In the 1970s Disco was king. To dethrone a king all you need is a scorned radio DJ, a crate full of explosives, and the Chicago White Sox. In this episode of Fails and Fixins we go back to 1979 to learn about Steve Dahl and the day disco died.

Volkswagen's Dieselgate Dilemma

Mar 23rd, 2019 13m 13s

The Volkswagen Jetta won "Green Car of the Year" in 2009. In 2015, VW's entire line of "clean diesel" engines had been recalled for breaking EPA emission regulations. In this episode we look at how Volkswagen mishandled this crisis communicatio

New Coke

Mar 23rd, 2019 17m 26s

Coca-cola spent five years and $4 million researching a new formula. It took less than three months for the public to reject it and demand the original Coca-cola Classic return. On this episode of Fails and Fixins we take a look at why New Coke