7 Marketing Stunts Gone Horribly Wrong

KDND-FM "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" ContestKDND-FM “Hold Your Wee for a Wii” Contest
In 2007, Sacramento radio station KDND-FM held a “Hold Your Wee for a Wii” contest. You may think that name alone is horrific enough to be the end of the story, and you’re right. But there’s more.

Contestants had to chug as much water as possible without using the bathroom, and the winner — the person with a bladder that hadn’t yet exploded — would take home a Wii. After one contestant, 28-year-old Jennifer Strange, complained on-air of symptoms consistent with water poisoning (a real and potentially fatal condition) the wacky DJs on the “Morning Rave” show laughed it up and carried on with their schtick.

That … looked bad in court when Strange died a few hours after the contest. A jury ordered KDND-FM to pay the Strange family $16.5 million.