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McDonald’s gave away razors with breakfast -

McDonald’s thought it would be a good idea to include a disposable Gillette razor with breakfast. The “Free Razor with Breakfast Entree” promotional campaign was first launched in 1978, and again in 1986. Bizarrely enough, they’d give it to kids, too, as long as they were accompanied by an adult. Still, not the safest thing to do, right?

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And then Wendy's did the same -

Then in 1985, Wendy’s launched the “Free Razors with Your Breakfast” campaign, because having breakfast and shaving was a thing, apparently!

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Oprah gave away free cars to her audience -

In 2004, members of ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show' audience were given a car donated by General Motors. The giveaway cost GM about US$8 million in total.

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Oprah gave away free cars to her audience -

It turns out there’s no such thing as a free car, though. Every one of the 276 people who received a car had to pay gift tax of up to US$7,000. While this may sound like a good deal in the end, members of the audience were picked because they actually needed a car, but couldn’t really afford one, let alone pay $7,000 in taxes.

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A car dealership gave away AK-47s to customers -

What do you do after having breakfast and shaving? You go buy a pickup truck from Max Motors in Kansas City, Missouri. The reason? You might just get a voucher for an AK-47
assault rifle...

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A car dealership gave away AK-47s to customers -

Indeed, this was the case in 2009. It goes without saying that many people were unhappy about the promotion. But the owner said the event generated a lot of publicity and angered "liberals."

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Cap’n Crunch’s giveaway could hack phone lines -

Back in the 1960s, breakfast cereal Cap’n Crunch gave away a seemingly innocent gift: a whistle. Though this was no ordinary whistle; it was a toy replica of a bosun's whistle used by a boatswain.

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Cap’n Crunch’s giveaway could hack phone lines -

It turns out the whistle played at 2600hz, a frequency that would allow for free long-distance calls when played into a payphone. Have some cereal, blow a whistle, bypass AT&T’s system, and talk to someone far away for free: sounds like a perfect morning!

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Coca-Cola gave away cash and foul-smelling water -

Can you imagine opening a can of Coke and finding cash instead of the famous drink? Well this is what happened in 1990 with Coca-Cola’s 'MagiCan.' The can needed to appear normal but contain something no one would actually drink, so Coca-Cola filled the cans with smelly chlorinated water with ammonium sulfate.

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Coca-Cola gave away cash and foul-smelling water -

Except, some people drank it and some didn’t even realize there was a prize inside because the spring-loaded device that was supposed to lift up containing the cash didn’t work!

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Healthy Choice pudding gave away over one million air miles -

In 1999, Healthy Choice launched a promotion where a customer would get 500 air miles for every bar code they sent in. And for those who did so in the first month of the promo, it would double to 1,000 miles.

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Healthy Choice pudding gave away over one million air miles -

A civil engineer named David Phillips from California found Healthy Choice puddings for sale for 25 cents per cup and bought US$3,000 worth of them. This translated to over 1.2 million air miles. Phillips then donated the puddings to the Salvation Army and local food banks, earning an US$815 tax write-off.

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Acclaim offered to pay speeding tickets -

To mark the UK release of their game ‘Burnout 2: Point of Impact’ in 2002, Acclaim offered to pay the ticket of anyone caught speeding. It goes without saying that it wasn’t a very responsible promotion.

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Acclaim offered to pay speeding tickets -

The government was not happy at all. "Basically they are encouraging people to speed and to break the law. I just hope for their sakes that none of these people ends up knocking down a child," a Department of Transport spokesman said.

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Cleveland offered 10 cent beer -

In 1974, Cleveland offered baseball fans beers for 10 cents. Yes, sounds great, and disastrous. And disastrous it was, with a huge crowd of drunk people. There were chairs thrown, fireworks shot, and hot dogs thrown at Texas players.

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Cleveland offered 10 cent beer -

Fans then rushed the field and it turned into a full-blown riot. Police were called in, and tear gas was used. Maybe they should have left the beer at its normal price: 65 cents.

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Hoover gave away free flights and it was disastrous -

In the 1990s, Hoover had a crazy promotional giveaway: UK customers who spent £100 could get two round-trip tickets to any destination in Europe. The promo was a success and sales went up. So they decided to add flights to the US as well.

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Hoover gave away free flights and it was disastrous -

Hoover thought the move would encourage customers to buy more expensive products, but most ended up going with the cheapest qualifying product possible (worth $119.99). Hoover made £30 million in gross revenue and spent about £50 million. There were lots of people fired, the company went nearly bankrupt, and in the end the European arm of Hoover was sold to Candy.

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McDonald’s gave away virus-infected MP3 players -

In 2006, some 10,000 Japanese customers won MP3 players from McDonald's. The MP3 players came with 10 free songs… and malware.

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McDonald’s gave away virus-infected MP3 players -

Customers were sent MP3 players with Trojan horses, a spyware used by hackers to steal passwords and other sensitive information. McDonald’s Japan apologized and recalled the MP3 players.

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Pepsi offered 1 million pesos to anyone who found a bottle cap with a number -

In 1993, Pepsi offered 1 million pesos to customers in the Philippines who could find a bottle cap with the number 349 printed on it. This sounds reasonable, except there was a mistake and 800,000 caps were printed with the number.

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Pepsi offered 1 million pesos to anyone who found a bottle cap with a number -

The (expensive) mistake would have translated into US$18 billion dollars. Pepsi ended up paying some money though, around $10 million. Customers were still not happy, however, and in addition to protests, riots broke out. A bomb was thrown at a Pepsi truck and a grenade into a warehouse. In total, five people died.

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McDonald’s free meal giveaway during the Olympics -

McDonald’s launched a rather patriotic campaign during the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The fast-food chain gave away free meals each time a US athlete won a medal.

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McDonald’s free meal giveaway during the Olympics -

While this could have worked out under normal circumstances, the 1984 Games were boycotted by a very strong Olympic-medal candidate: the Soviet Union. This meant that the US got way more medals than expected. A total of 172, to be precise.

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LG event in South Korea -

In 2013, LG was launching its new LG G2 smartphone when they came up with a campaign dubbed "G in the Cloud." Essentially it involved placing 100 coupons in 100 balloons and launching them into the Seoul skies. Each coupon would translate into a free LG G2.

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LG event in South Korea -

A crowd showed up ready to do anything to get a free phone. Some people even brought BB guns and opened fire as soon as the balloons were released. One even brought a spear! In total, over 20 people were injured.

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Oprah and KFC -

Yes, it’s Oprah again. This time, KFC launched a promotional campaign on ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ offering free coupons on meals.

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Oprah and KFC -

The public response was overwhelming. About 10.5 million coupons were downloaded and the fast-food chain had to give away around US$42 million worth of food. Still, KFC didn’t manage to deliver on their promise completely and some coupon holders didn’t get their free meals.

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Live turkeys were thrown at a crowd on Thanksgiving -

In the 1950s there was a Thanksgiving turkey drop, which was as horrible as it sounds. There was a parody of the event on the show ‘WKRP in Cincinnati,’ but it turns out it was based on real events.

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Live turkeys were thrown at a crowd on Thanksgiving -

Turkeys would initially be thrown into a crowd from the back of a truck in a parking lot. But a few years down the line, an airplane was used instead. In 1989, the National Enquirer covered the event, reporting turkeys being thrown out of an airplane in the town of Yellville, Arkansas.

Sources: (TopTenz) (Metro) (The New York Times) (Business Insider) (4AllPromos) (Unbelievable Facts) (The Atlantic) (Dangerous Minds) (CNBC) 

See also: Decoding the irresistible appeal of vintage Coca-Cola advertising

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