Most businesses dream of a promotion that goes viral… but not like this.

Back in 1992, Pepsi launched a bottle-cap lottery in the Philippines called “Number Fever.” The idea was simple… Buy a bottle, check the cap and if your number matched the winning one, you bag yourself a million pesos (about $68,000 in today’s money).

Sounds great, right? Except Pepsi messed up. Big time. Due to a printing error, 600,000 bottle caps had the winning number “349.” That meant 600,000 people thought they were millionaires overnight. And when they turned up to claim their prize? Pepsi understandably panicked. They tried to change the winning number. Then they offered small consolation payments. But by that point, it was too late. What started as a marketing stunt ended in riots, lawsuits and tragically, five deaths. It’s now known as one of the biggest promotional disasters in history.

So, what’s the lesson here? Simple: Always check your numbers. Whether you’re running a marketing campaign, managing your finances or shipping freight across the world – small errors can lead to massive problems. That’s why at Millennium Cargo, we double (and triple) check the details. Because in logistics, one wrong number could send your goods to the wrong continent… and we’d rather not end up in the history books for all the wrong reasons.

Ever had a small mistake turn into a big disaster? I’d love to hear your story.