Introduction

The Hoover free flights promotion was a marketing promotion in which the British division of the Hoover vacuum cleaner company promised free airplane tickets to customers who purchased more than £100 of their products. The response to the promotion was far greater than Hoover had anticipated, and they were overwhelmed by the demand for airline tickets, and the cost involved in supplying them.

History

In 1993, the Hoover Holidays Pressure Group was formed, led by Harry Cichy and Sandy Jack, to protest that the company was not keeping its promises. Buying some shares in Maytag, the pressure group went to the Annual General Meeting of Hoover's owners, Maytag, in Newton, Iowa. Sandy Jack expressed his concerns to the CEO of Maytag, Len Hadley. The presence of the group made headline news on ABC TV News and the front cover of the Des Moines Register.

In 1994, Jack took Hoover to Court over the free flight promotion. The BBC Watchdog programme's investigation of customer complaints about the promotion, by reporter Hilary Bell, brought the matter to even wider public attention.

Result

The court cases went on until 1998. After the fiasco had cost the company almost £50 million, the British division of Hoover was sold to the Italian manufacturer Candy.

Follow-up

In 2004 a BBC documentary was made on the anniversary of Cichy and Jack's visit to Newton in 1994. Part of the Trouble At The Top series, the "Hoover Flights Fiasco" segment was produced by Angela Chan; on its first showing had a record 1.7 million viewers.

External links

• BBC News story: BBC online Hoover's free flights fiasco recalled UK Edition, May 13, 2004
• PROMO magazine: A Bloody Dust Up, Oct 1, 2005