Organizational Communication Commons^™

Pepsi-Cola's Number Fever Fiasco: How The Media Portrays The Actors Of A Crisis, Rick Pulos

Proceedings of the New York State Communication Association

In 1992, Pepsi created a marketing ploy to increase interest in its products in the Philippines. The game was aptly called “Number Fever,” and participants had to look at the number printed underneath the cap of their soft drink bottle and listen to the announcement of the winning numbers on the radio and evening news. Filipinos “went crazy for Number Fever. Everyone was trying their luck. Winners were announced daily and suddenly Pepsi seemed to be everyone’s favorite drink” (Radeska, 2018, para. 3). The number “349” was announced for the jackpot and unfortunately thousands held the winning bottle cap. This …