I read somewhere...
Sometimes even the biggest companies start to behave in self-defeating and even insane ways:
Shell outraged Europe by seeking to dump the Brent Spar oil platform in the North Atlantic, and lost millions when its customers boycotted its pumps.
IBM made the biggest loss in corporate history -- close to $5 Billion in a single year -- by fumbling the market for PCs it had itself created.
Coca-Cola tried to change the taste of the best known brand on Earth, with disastrous results.
McDonalds sued two unknown vegetarian protesters for libel and became bogged down in the longest libel suit in British legal history: a two-year PR nightmare.
Perrier tried to cover up the long-concealed truth about the purity of its product, and lost its market leadership when the truth finally came out.
Hoover came up with a promotional plan so clever it couldn't fail -- and lost $50 million.
Usually these corporate disasters are written off simply as errors of judgement; poor management, 'pilot error'.
