Fuji TV's closed-door press conference cost it 300 advertisers in ten days
December 2024: misconduct allegations surface. January 17: a press conference that barred cameras and foreign media. January 27: president and chairman gone.
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3,222 PUBLISHED CASES · REGULARLY UPDATEDHema built a Costco challenger in China's hottest retail fight — it closed all ten stores
The first Hema X opened in October 2020; by 2023 there were ten. Sam's Club and Costco were better at being themselves. The last Hema X shut in August 2025.
Read the casePrada's Chinese spokespeople keep falling — Zheng Shuang lasted eight days
Named ambassador, dropped eight days later over scandal. Then Li Yifeng, then Cai Xukun. Chinese netizens call it the 'Prada curse'. 300 million views.
Read the case21 airlines sold 'carbon neutral' flights — Europe's regulators made them stop
Pay a little extra, neutralize your flight: the claim that sold guilt-free flying across Europe. In November 2025, 21 airlines agreed to stop making it.
Read the caseAlaska sold Atmos Rewards on one headline feature — ten months on, it still doesn't exist
August 2025: Mileage Plan became Atmos, and members could 'choose how they earn — a first for any global airline.' By June 2026 the choice had never gone live.
Read the caseUnited deleted its award chart — and miles became whatever United priced them at
United deleted its award chart in November 2019 — dynamic pricing, no published floor or ceiling. Members called it robbery; United called it flexibility.
Read the caseLufthansa made Miles & More dynamic — a first-class award doubled overnight
The award chart died on 3 June 2025. JFK–Munich first went from 115,000 miles to 259,814. Lufthansa called the change 'exciting'. Members did not.
Read the casePayless survived its first bankruptcy — the second one closed all 2,100 stores
The 2017 Chapter 11 cut debt and 400 stores. It did not cut the problem: malls emptying, Amazon taking the rest. In February 2019 the chain liquidated.
Read the caseStarlux sold miles with a new credit card — then raised the redemption price months later
September 2023: award charts raised up to 43% overnight, two weeks to redeem. The backlash said 'harvesting leeks'. The next day, the date moved to March.
Read the caseDe Grisogono made jewels for celebrities — its shareholders' scandal made it toxic
The Geneva jeweller filed for bankruptcy in January 2020 after its majority shareholders were implicated in a corruption probe and pulled their funding.
Read the caseFive Doctors' collagen 'Husband upset me?' ad — fined ¥400K, apologized, did it again
Elevator ads peddled appearance anxiety, fined ¥400K. Next year same ads in Shanghai, another ¥200K fine. Product was a beverage, not health food.
Read the caseLa Chapelle: 9,448 stores to bankruptcy in 5 years — Chinese Zara crushed by its stores
Peak 9,448 directly-operated stores, 20+ brands, A+H listed. Five years later, over 9,000 stores closed, 2023 court-ordered bankruptcy liquidation.
Read the caseMeijian's sexist New Year copy — 'my daughter isn't good enough for you' — #1 trending
Meijian (Jiangxiaobai's) New Year bottle copy called women 'not good enough' — sexism backlash, #1 trending, full recall that day.
Read the caseShein called its fast fashion 'sustainable' — France fined it €40M and Italy added €1M
France fined Shein €40M for deceptive discounts and greenwashing in July 2025. A month later Italy's AGCM added €1M for misleading environmental claims.
Read the caseVW built one software unit for every brand — it delayed Porsche and cost the CEO his job
Ten years of software ambition, one operating system for every brand in the group. The code slipped, Porsche and Audi waited, and the CEO who built it left.
Read the caseGogoro promised 'zero monthly rent' — the NT$9,000 setup fee was in the fine print
The launch event led with zero. The app, three hours later, led with a setup fee that recurs every 24 months. Gogoro's owner communities exploded.
Read the caseGrab was the biggest SPAC ever at $40B — three months later, $22B of it was gone
Southeast Asia's super-app listed at the peak of the SPAC boom. First earnings: losses widening, revenue down 44%. The stock fell 37% in a day.
Read the caseVinFast's US launch sold 6,314 cars — the recall covered every one of them
The VF8's lane-keeping assist could yank the steering wheel in wide turns, hard enough that drivers couldn't override it. NHTSA recalled the entire US fleet.
Read the caseBMW's diesels kept catching fire in Korea — the government banned them from the roads
Nearly 30 engine fires in 2018, mostly 520d sedans. BMW recalled 106,000 cars and bowed; Korea banned the unchecked ones, then fined BMW $10M.
Read the caseDisney's board fired Chapek over $1.5B quarterly streaming losses — and rehired Iger
Two years and nine months: the streaming bet Iger left him, a cost-cutting program that alarmed the studio, and a board that called the man it had replaced.
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