Fascination with disasters seems to be widespread as evidenced by the rapidity with which Hollywood picks up on so many, in many cases finding them extremely lucrative with a few hitting the top levels of popularity and income. One...
Commercial Archive
Honda F1 Withdrawal – 2008-2009
From the early 1990s Honda pursued high-profile success in the premier international motor-racing series, supplying engines to established teams in The Formula One World Championship with some success. But the mighty Japanese car maker eventually decided to ditch partnership...
Bernie Madoff’s Billion Dollar Ponzi Scam – 2008
It was inevitable that the fallout from the collapse of international banking and the global government bailouts would add the scum of fraud to the froth of scandal, bubbling to the top of the cauldron of financial disaster. Bernie...
Societe Generale Trading Loss – 2008
The world now knows to its cost that the great investment banks lost all sense of disciplined prudence as they greedily grabbed glittering profits in deregulated markets. By developing ever-more sophisticated and complex financial instruments, sharp traders were able...
Coca-Cola’s Dasani Water – 2004
Five years after its 1999 launch in the USA, Coca-Cola had achieved a marketing miracle with its Dasani bottled water. It was time to ‘grow’ the brand in Europe. Early in 2004, the company spent £7 million introducing Dasani...
Equitable Life – 2001
Founded in 1762, the same year as Barings Bank, Equitable Life used to share the same reputation for probity. That reputation evaporated in 1999 when the insurance company went to court in an effort to renege on its promises...