bsnsBlooper: From a Leaking Pipe to a Drumming Gorilla

Some recoveries don't look anything like the crisis that caused them.

In early 2006, a leaking pipe at Cadbury's Marlbrook plant in Herefordshire, England, allowed a rare strain of salmonella into the company's chocolate production, sickening 37 people and forcing a recall of over a million bars. UK sales fell as much as 14 percent in the weeks that followed, and the recall cost the company roughly £20 million. Facing a genuine crisis of consumer trust, Cadbury's marketing team took an unconventional risk: an ad featuring a gorilla drumming along to Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight," which premiered during the Big Brother finale in August 2007. The ad became one of the most celebrated campaigns in advertising history, boosting sales roughly 9 to 10 percent and winning the Grand Prix at Cannes Lions.

From bsnsBasics, this is bsnsBloopers, the weekly podcast that unpacks the business decisions that sounded smart, until they weren't.

Hosted by Ron Trucks. New episodes every Friday.

Another lesson from bsnsBloopers, the podcast that proves even smart ideas can blow up.

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