Rewind: The Hoover Free Flights Incident
32 years later, and we can still learn from one of the worst promotions of all time: With its anniversary coming up this summer, let’s rewind and take a look at the Hoover free flights incident. In 1992, the Hoover Company was in trouble. The global recession of the early 90s had hit hard, and competing brands were closing in. The situation was a far cry from Hoover’s domination of the industry between roughly 1920 and 1970 — when the word “vacuum” was synonymous with “Hoover,” especially in England. The British division of the Hoover Company decided to run a once-in-a-lifetime marketing promotion, one that could boost sales and make them stand out from competitors. Thus, the Hoover free flights promotion was born. Hoover offered two complimentary, round-trip plane tickets to the United States or Europe to any customer purchasing at least £100 (equivalent to $125.61 in 1992, about $279.63 today) in Hoover products. ‘“To me it made no logical sense,” said Mark Kimber, one of the consultants on the beginning stages of the promotion. “Having looked at the details of the promotion [and] attempting to calculate how it would actually work I declined to even offer risk management coverage,”’ (Crockett). Hoover ignored the advice and proceeded. Hoover hoped most customers would spend more than £100, and be deterred by the arduous application process for the promotion. They also assumed most would not meet the promotion’s exact terms. Hoover’s hopes failed to materialize. The promotion was perceived by customers as “two flights for just £100 with a free vacuum cleaner (or other product) included,” and response rocketed. Over 200,000 people bought vacuum cleaners they didn’t actually want or need. Hundreds of thousands of vacuum cleaners, hundreds of thousands of free flights. See the issue? No flights were granted. “Though the company generated around £30m in gross sales from the promotion, the cost of the flights was conservatively estimated to be more than £100m.” In attempts to get themselves out of trouble, Hoover dug itself into a deeper hole. They claimed customers had incorrectly filled out the forms, “offered flights that departed hundreds of miles away from customers’ homes,” and even “sent out request forms on Christmas Eve, hoping mail closures would cause people to miss the 14-day deadline to send them back in.” Hoover had to cancel the promotion after customers had purchased products and filled out the appropriate forms, resulting in millions of pounds’ worth of plane tickets. Customers protested and took legal action, and in 1993, a man held a Hoover delivery van hostage in his driveway. Finally, The Hoover Company lost their Royal Warrant, one of the biggest blows they faced. This was the beginning of the end for Hoover. They never recovered from the financial hit of the free flights promotion, or from the now-famous scandal. Hoover tried to shift the blame — on executives, airlines, and agencies they had partnered with. Once the most trusted company in England, Hoover became a disgrace. ‘“Our production losses forecast for the coming years run into millions of US dollars,” Hoover’s US president, Gerard Amman, told shareholders, “[and] 80% of the total is attributable to Hoover Europe.”’ Hoover International split from Hoover North America in 1993, and in 1995, it was acquired by a competing Italian company. Hoover North America was sold in 2007.
