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I think this shows a significant disconnect between the ostensibly-wealthy managers that cooked up this genius marketing ploy and their customers: if the manage

I think this shows a significant disconnect between the ostensibly-wealthy managers that cooked up this genius marketing ploy and their customers: if the managers want an intercontinental flight, they just book it at whatever the current price is, because £600 is chump change for them and does not motivate them to invest time into looking for deals. It thus naturally never occurred to them that anyone would even think about buying the cheapest qualifying vacuum, even though they don't need one at all, just to get an awesome deal on flight tickets - basically it's flight ticket buying for £120 with the catch that you must dispose of a cheap vacuum. Anyone to whom those £600 worth of flights appear as a considerable value will immediately come to this conclusion, whereas if £600 means nothing to you, you'd never even think about putting up with the hassle.

Sniffnoy 7y ago
The lesson I draw is a bit different. Sure, they might have failed to think of that -- but they didn't personally have to think of it, as long as someone else did and warned them. But, even though they got professionals to assess the risk, they then completely ignored that assessment. Well -- we all know how that story ends...
- ghaff 7y ago
  It's probably a mistake to assume that everyone down the line will look at some promo/ad/etc. with fresh eyes and ask "Do we really want to do this?" People assume that someone else has vetted the basic concept, get focused on the mechanics, etc. and focus on the how rather than the should. ADDED: There are plenty of ads that make you ask: "How did this get through?" and it's the same basic idea. Having worked for large companies I totally understand.
  - KaoruAoiShiho 7y ago
    It was warned by professionals: "When Hoover ran this plan by risk management professionals, the company was warned that it would be an absolute disaster." I don't know how formal this warning was though. To me this is a key part of the story that should've had more detail.
  - Retra 7y ago
    Lots of people will question this stuff, but they definitely won't bring up their objections. People are incentivized to collect their paychecks and do what they're told, not to point out the absurd thinking of the managers and executives above them. Nobody is thinking they'll save their company those millions and get an recognition/reward for it. Even the professional risk assessors got ignored.
    - ghaff 7y ago
      I'm not really that cynical. But a lot of people do have their jobs to do, may even appreciate that they may not be aware of all the context fo some given decision, and just aren't inclined to fight battles over things that aren't their department at the end of the day.
jamiethompson 7y ago
You're right. To anyone that's not incredibly wealthy the deal on offer, in reality, was: "Two unfeasibly cheap flights to the US plus a free vacuum cleaner"
VBprogrammer 7y ago
It's funny, in the early 90s my family flew to Florida (from Glasgow, Scotland) on a £49 per person fly-drive offer. I can't imagine coming across an offer like that these days; even adjusted for inflation. Actually, the taxes involved would probably make it almost impossible.
triceratops 7y ago
When you think about it though, it's a simple market arbitrage opportunity. If someone was selling £600 shares of stock at £120, with some odd restrictions, they'd be jumping on it. They're lucky someone didn't buy every vacuum cleaner available, mail-merged, printed and mailed letters and re-sold the tickets to customers at a markup. I'd pay £150 for a £600 flight ticket, if it meant I didn't have to figure out what to do with a vacuum cleaner. Why wouldn't a bunch of MBA-types see that?
hinkley 7y ago
When you get paid less than $20 an hour, jumping through hoops for a $50 promotion is time better spent than working an extra shift. And of course the less you get paid the less disposable income you have, so the ramp-up is pretty severe, but I think there are plenty of analogies one could cook up for themselves if they had a lick of empathy.

Sniffnoy 7y ago

The lesson I draw is a bit different. Sure, they might have failed to think of that -- but they didn't personally have to think of it, as long as someone else did and warned them. But, even though they got professionals to assess the risk, they then completely ignored that assessment. Well -- we all know how that story ends...

ghaff 7y ago
It's probably a mistake to assume that everyone down the line will look at some promo/ad/etc. with fresh eyes and ask "Do we really want to do this?" People assume that someone else has vetted the basic concept, get focused on the mechanics, etc. and focus on the how rather than the should. ADDED: There are plenty of ads that make you ask: "How did this get through?" and it's the same basic idea. Having worked for large companies I totally understand.
- KaoruAoiShiho 7y ago
  It was warned by professionals: "When Hoover ran this plan by risk management professionals, the company was warned that it would be an absolute disaster." I don't know how formal this warning was though. To me this is a key part of the story that should've had more detail.
- Retra 7y ago
  Lots of people will question this stuff, but they definitely won't bring up their objections. People are incentivized to collect their paychecks and do what they're told, not to point out the absurd thinking of the managers and executives above them. Nobody is thinking they'll save their company those millions and get an recognition/reward for it. Even the professional risk assessors got ignored.
  - ghaff 7y ago
    I'm not really that cynical. But a lot of people do have their jobs to do, may even appreciate that they may not be aware of all the context fo some given decision, and just aren't inclined to fight battles over things that aren't their department at the end of the day.

jamiethompson 7y ago

You're right. To anyone that's not incredibly wealthy the deal on offer, in reality, was: "Two unfeasibly cheap flights to the US plus a free vacuum cleaner"

VBprogrammer 7y ago

It's funny, in the early 90s my family flew to Florida (from Glasgow, Scotland) on a £49 per person fly-drive offer. I can't imagine coming across an offer like that these days; even adjusted for inflation. Actually, the taxes involved would probably make it almost impossible.

triceratops 7y ago

When you think about it though, it's a simple market arbitrage opportunity. If someone was selling £600 shares of stock at £120, with some odd restrictions, they'd be jumping on it. They're lucky someone didn't buy every vacuum cleaner available, mail-merged, printed and mailed letters and re-sold the tickets to customers at a markup. I'd pay £150 for a £600 flight ticket, if it meant I didn't have to figure out what to do with a vacuum cleaner. Why wouldn't a bunch of MBA-types see that?

hinkley 7y ago

When you get paid less than $20 an hour, jumping through hoops for a $50 promotion is time better spent than working an extra shift. And of course the less you get paid the less disposable income you have, so the ramp-up is pretty severe, but I think there are plenty of analogies one could cook up for themselves if they had a lick of empathy.