Scentooze raised three rounds to build a Chinese perfume brand — then went quiet
Social media stopped updating in mid-2022. The Xiaohongshu store closed in September 2023. The Tmall shop simply became unsearchable.
Read the caseBusiness failures, costly decisions and the lessons they leave behind.
The full archive, in the appSocial media stopped updating in mid-2022. The Xiaohongshu store closed in September 2023. The Tmall shop simply became unsearchable.
Read the caseThe new look was called 'sterile' and 'soulless'. The company lost and regained almost $100 million in market value before restoring 'Uncle Herschel'.
Read the caseAn influencer dunked her face in a bowl of the product. Female customers called it disgusting. Innisfree pulled the ad and apologised within days.
Read the caseThe first Shanghai store took ¥2.5M a month. The plan was 30 stores a year. By March 2024, two were left. The last one closed on 31 July.
Read the caseBillboards read 'Thou shalt not become a nun'. Julia Fox: '2.5 years celibate and never been better.' Bumble apologised and donated the ad space.
Read the caseColgate-Palmolive said it was a 'before and after' scenario. The ASA said it could be read as suggesting white skin was superior to black skin.
Read the caseAmplitude and ITRIM were meant to fill the high end of Japan's department stores. The board met on 6 March 2023 and booked a ¥800 million extraordinary loss.
Read the caseFive generations in Besançon, a military contract book, and an in-house movement from 1936. None of it mattered when the banks said no.
Read the caseOmega, Longines and Tissot sank with Chinese demand. The ¥100 Swatch watch rose. The group's own portfolio showed where the market was going.
Read the caseThe airline did not even send a substantive response to the ASA investigation. An AI system the watchdog built had flagged the ads automatically.
Read the caseA teaser video showed no car. Critics called it 'woke' and 'reblanding'. Global sales fell from 61,661 to 33,320 vehicles in two years.
Read the caseThe campaign for Swatch Essentials ran on Weibo. Within days, products were removed from Chinese e-commerce sites and Swatch apologised in two languages.
Read the caseOne influencer post triggered a boycott from the right and fury at the response from the left. US sales fell over 10% and two executives were put on leave.
Read the caseThe donation had been made months before the campaign. Consumers who bought the branded pandoro thought their purchase was funding it.
Read the caseOne day after undertaking to stop misleading claims, Ramdev held a press conference. Two weeks later, Patanjali ran another ad. The court was not amused.
Read the casePosters, a TV spot and a YouTube video showed EV chargers and wind turbines. The ASA noted Shell emitted 1,375 million tonnes of CO2 that year.
Read the caseAn old milk brand won Taiwan's Threads with a warm editor persona. When an agency claimed credit, the boss backed it and threatened critics — and it collapsed.
Read the caseChina's pharma giant with a ¥47B market cap overstated revenue by ¥29B and profits by ¥4.1B. The fine was ¥600,000. Investors won ¥2.46B in court.
Read the caseA three-branch Taichung beauty chain changed its stored-value rules, then shut on Feb 27, 2026. About 240 consumers lost prepaid funds.
Read the caseA Korean cockle-bibimbap franchise signed 160 stores in nine months. Then COVID hit, seafood waste mounted, and the parent lost ₩68B before delisting.
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