Good Idea, Bad Idea Online Quiz | World

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Which company turned down the opportunity for their candy to feature in "E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial" allowing one of the most successful instances of product placement to go to a competitor?

Answer: Mars

The Hershey Company selected 'Reese's Pieces' rather than their flagship 'Kisses' to appear in the movie and sales soared allowing the company to gain market share. According to Jack Dowd, the executive from Hershey's who approved the deal, they "...got immediate recognition for our product. We would normally have to pay 15 or 20 million bucks for it." The decision was a good one for Hershey but a bad one for Mars!

2. Johnson & Johnson the pharmaceutical giant once suffered the nightmare scenario - a connection was made between their product and the death of seven consumers. Although the tampering did not take place in the factory and it was suspected that only a small number of bottles in a small number of stores were affected, they immediately issued a nationwide U.S. recall and halted all advertising. What was the name of the over-the-counter medication that had been tampered with?

Answer: Tylenol

The recall involved 31 million bottles and a loss of more than $100 million dollars, not including the loss of market share which went from 37% to 7% after the scare. They reintroduced the product with triple-seal tamper resistant packaging and offered discounts to encourage consumers to purchase.
Though very costly, the immediate action and assumption of responsibility was a good idea. Johnson & Johnson recovered and have, over the years, featured among the "Fortune" magazine's 'Most Admired Companies List'.

3. In 1876 William Orton, then president of the Western Union Telegraph Company sent a letter to a young inventor stating that "after careful consideration of your invention, while it is a very interesting novelty, we have come to the conclusion that it has no commercial possibilities..." This novelty was the telephone. Who was the inventor?

Answer: Alexander Graham Bell

The patent was offered (and turned down!) for $100,000 and is widely acknowledged as the single most valuable patent in history. Orton later realised what he had turned down and went on to compound his mistake by spending millions challenging Bell's patents and attempting to build his own network - which he was subsequently forced to turn over to Bell! Ouch, BAD idea.

4. In one of the most famous blunders in the business world, Coca-Cola launched 'New Coke' in 1985. After the initial launch, sales went flat! Protests were staged, there was a run on 'Old' Coke in supermarkets, and Coke began receiving sacks of mail and over 1500 calls a day from angry consumers. Realising their error, how long did Coke take to bring 'Coke Classic' back to the market?

Answer: 3 months

Coke launched 'New Coke' as a response to Pepsi gaining market share - the televised advertisements of the 'Pepsi Challenge', with consumers choosing Pepsi over Coke were having an impact. Coke spent two years, $4 million, and conducted approximately 200,000 'taste tests'. With hindsight, it turned out that the focus of the research was too narrow, focusing only on taste and ignored Coke's name, history, packaging and cultural significance. Bad idea!

5. Proctor & Gamble launched Cheer detergent in Japan using discounted pricing to build market share. This was a bad idea.

Answer: True

It was a bad idea for a number of reasons. Cultural factors played a part - by discounting the price, the reputation of the detergent was lowered. It alienated wholesalers by minimising the margins they could make and did not take into account that, at the time of the launch, most Japanese consumers shopped in local convenience stores.

These small retailers had limited shelf space and would not stock items that they made low profits on!

6. In 1984, which network famously turned down Bill Cosby's newly created sitcom, "The Cosby Show"?

Answer: ABC

ABC turned down "The Cosby Show", which was eventually purchased by NBC. It went on to be the number 1 show for four straight years and continued to win in the ratings for the 8 years it was broadcast. It also moved NBC from last to first place in the network wars. Good for NBC; bad for ABC.

7. The Model T Ford was first launched in 1908 and was a massive success. However, Henry Ford was very attached to this particular model and waited quite some time before launching a new car. In what year was the new Model A launched?

Answer: 1927

Although the Model A was another huge success, the decision to delay bringing a new model to the market was a bad one. Ford's market share slid to 57% of U.S. automobile sales in 1923 and continued to decline to 34% in 1926. In 1927, Chevrolet was on top. The Model A returned Ford to first place in 1929, but they never truly recovered their dominance.

8. One of the most famous bad decisions in music history was the one that turned down The Beatles! Which company made this disastrous decision?

Answer: Decca Records

Decca Records also turned down The Yardbirds and Manfred Mann, however they redeemed themselves by signing up The Rolling Stones - ironically, it was George Harrison who encouraged Dick Rowe to scout them!

9. Amazon.com is one of the largest online retailers in the world. Jeff Bezos, the founder, had an unusual business plan; he did not plan to turn a profit for quite a while. How long before he projected turning a profit?

Answer: 4 to 5 years

The strategy was successful. Amazon survived the bursting of the dot-com bubble and finally turned a profit in the fourth quarter of 2001.

10. An 11 year old boy with a lightning scar ... a school for witchcraft and wizardry. Which UK publishing house made the decision to buy the rights to "Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone"?

Answer: Bloomsbury

Nigel Newton, the chairman of Bloomsbury, credits his then 8 year old daughter Alice with 'discovering' Harry Potter - he says he took the sample, given to him by JK Rowling's editor, home and gave it to his daughter. According to Newton "She came down from her room an hour later glowing saying, 'Dad, this is so much better than anything else.' She nagged and nagged me in the following months, wanting to see what came next." Well done Alice!

Source: Author EmmaF2008

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Bruyere before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Good Idea, Bad Idea Trivia Quiz

A stroll down memory lane and a look at a few good and bad ideas and some of the best and worst business decisions made.

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