The 101 Dumbest Moments in Business

[ablang]

The article starts here:
http://www.business2.com/articles/ma...,47750,00.html

My two favorite moments are #'s 10 & 87:

10. And there's another €5,000 in it if you can somehow work in strudel.
In December, German real estate tycoon Rolf Eden, 72, announces that he is willing to pay €125,000 to any woman who can kill him through sexual intercourse, saying he plans to fly interested women to his home in Berlin for a trial run. "I don't care why they make love to me," Eden says, "as long as I have my fun."

87 Among its target audience, of course, the line between "date" and "prostitute" does tend to blur.
E-ECAD, a provider of electronic design automation software, takes out an ad on a Silicon Valley billboard that uses pictures of female archetypes to explain its three payment options: hourly (a prostitute), term (a girlfriend), and perpetual (a bride). After it comes under fire, the company puts out a press release explaining that the hourly woman -- wearing thigh-high red boots and a miniskirt -- wasn't a prostitute but rather a "date."

[Redwolf]

24 Whiffed pitch No. 3: dead spokespeople.
To promote the release of its videogame Shadow Man: Second Coming, the London office of Acclaim Entertainment (AKLM) seeks volunteers who'll allow the company to put ads on the headstones of deceased relatives. Explains an Acclaim spokesperson: "It's a dark, gory type of game, and we thought it was appropriate to raise advertising to a new level."

:smacks head: DUH!

19 To: Dean Kamen. Re: Vibrating Segway?
Shortly after Mattel (MAT) releases its Nimbus 2000 broom as part of its line of Harry Potter toys, the vibrating device begins getting the wrong sort of customer raves. "I'm 32 and enjoy riding the broom as much as my 7-year-old," says one enthusiastic mother on Amazon. "My only complaint is, I wish the batteries didn't run out quite so quickly." Mattel stops making the toy, but denies that the unintended value-add is the reason. Says a spokesperson: "It's just not a continued product in our line."

20 That's OK. We heard they all had a nasty stain on them, anyway.
In April, Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) starts selling a line of Asian-themed T-shirts with slogans like "Wong Brothers Laundry Service: Two Wongs Can Make It White." After a firestorm of outraged complaints, A&F pulls the line. "We thought everyone would love this T-shirt," A&F spokesman Hampton Carney says. "We are truly and deeply sorry."

Uhhhh.........uhhhhhhhhhhh.............uuuuuuuhhhh hhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?!?!?

ROFL

[Redwolf]

39 At least they didn't sell it for 99 cents.
With Africa in the throes of its worst drought in decades, McDonald's begins selling its beef-in-a-pita McAfrika sandwich in Norway. Protesters in Oslo counter by giving out samples of the emergency-ration crackers distributed throughout the continent. By way of appeasement, McDonald's allows the protesters to place posters and fact sheets in its stores.

Wow, that is definately one of the dumbest thing's I've ever heard.