Quote:

"It's controversial," he said. "We have never done something like this before but we've learned over the years that the reaction to the more normal type of campaign is very limited."



Closest I can remember something happening like this in America is the original Atlanta olympics mascot "Whatizit?" . So named because nobody knew what it was. That was just one small group inside the Atlanta Olympic Committee and a hired artist.

But this thing sounds it actually went between companies. Some company not only managed to come up with the idea, but actually sell it to another company. And then, the evening news broadcast it. Is it possible they were just showing it to show how bad it was?

Maybe it's just one of those cultural things where you just can't understand how the screw-up worked unless you're from there.