5 Publicity Stunts That Went Horribly Wrong

2. Vodafone’s Naked Streakers

Vodafone Group Plc (ADR) (NASDAQ:VOD)’s New Zealand arm staged a publicity stunt in 2002 during the Tri-Nations match between the All Blacks and Australia. The company’s CEO, Grahame Maher, had encouraged two streakers to go on the grounds during the match with Vodafone’s logo on their bodies. During the second-half of the match in Sydney, the two men did indeed hit the ground running, completely naked, and with Vodafone’s logo on their bodies. Later investigations revealed that Vodafone was in connivance with the streakers (was kind of obvious after all), which resulted in a public apology by the company and worldwide embarrassment. In a statement, Vodafone New Zealand’s managing director Tim Miles said that the company was “disappointed” with what happened. To mend the bruised PR after the publicity debacle, Vodafone also announced that it would donate NZ$100,000 towards a campaign to reduce sports injuries.

Real Life Design/Shutterstock.com