How Unilever, Coke and the Mini car got it so wrong

Even the biggest businesses can make big mistakes - and when they do, the result can be a commercial calamity.

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• Evan Davis presents Business Nightmares on BBC Two
• Mondays at 8pm from 9 May 2011

• Catch up via iPlayer
• Evan Davis: I worry you'll enjoy it too much

Companies are constantly striving to improve their products and turn a profit.

But changing an existing product can go horribly wrong, leaving customers in revolt and companies in crisis.
Mishandled marketing and bungling public relations can make the slickest of businesses look incompetent.
And the costs both financially and to reputation can be enormous.
Persil, Coca-Cola and the British Motor Corporation have provided some of the most extreme examples as Evan Davis has been finding out for a new BBC Two series.