Pepsi Number Fever Promotion:
– Pepsi Philippines introduced a promotion where numbers were printed inside bottle caps for prizes.
– Prizes ranged from 100 to 1 million pesos.
– Marketing specialist Pedro Vergara based the promotion on successful past campaigns.
– Monthly sales increased from $10 million to $14 million during the promotion.
– 51,000 prizes, including 17 grand prizes, were redeemed.
Incident and Fallout:
– ABS-CBN announced the wrong grand prize number, causing confusion.
– 800,000 bottle caps with the wrong number were printed, leading to chaos.
– PCPPI offered 500 pesos to holders of the wrongly printed caps.
– Protests, threats, and accusations were directed at Pepsi.
– Senate committee accused Pepsi of gross negligence.
Legal Actions and Repercussions:
– 22,000 people took legal action against PepsiCo.
– Fines were paid for violating promotion conditions.
– Plaintiffs were awarded moral damages in court.
– Supreme Court ruled PCPPI not liable for the incident.
– Numerous civil suits and criminal complaints were filed.
Impact on Pepsi and Legacy:
– PCPPI received the Ig Nobel Prize for bringing factions together.
– Sales initially dropped but recovered to 21% by 1994.
– Negative publicity, loss of consumer trust, and legal battles affected Pepsi’s brand image.
– Long-term financial repercussions were felt by Pepsi.
– Lessons learned for future marketing campaigns.
Media Coverage, Cultural Impact, and Company Background:
– The incident was covered by international news outlets with mixed reviews.
– The importance of responsible marketing and scrutiny on promotional strategies was highlighted.
– The incident influenced pop culture references like Pepsiman and advertising practices.
– Pepsi’s company background, key executives, partnerships, and achievements were outlined.
– The incident shaped discussions on corporate responsibility and became a case study in business schools.
Pepsi Number Fever, also known as the 349 incident, was a promotion held by PepsiCo in the Philippines in 1992, which led to riots and the deaths of at least five people.
 The logo for the sales promotion. | |
| Date | February – May 25, 1992 |
|---|---|
| Location | Philippines |
| Also known as | 349 incident |
| Type | Sales promotion likely as part of the Cola Wars |
| Outcome | Market share of Pepsi in the Philippines initially increased from 19.4% to 24.9%. Later riots and protests due to multiple Pepsi products "349" bottle caps, the winning number for the ₱1 million prize, distributed |
| Deaths | at least 5 |