BMW News

Mini's advertising team is well known for its creative approach (the Rocketman parade float, the Mini yacht), but sometimes things go wrong, and they're tested in other ways. For example, how do you say "Sorry!" when your automated e-mail system goes berserk, and spams everyone on your mailing list with hundreds of copies of the same message?

Rather than respond with a mea culpa, Mini took a different tack by sending owners a charming gift box. Inside, one owner found a set of chocolate roses, a roll of duct tape, and a can of genuine Spam. In an accompanying note, the company said that it hoped that flowers and chocolates could be combined to make things better—and if that didn't work, maybe duct tape could patch things up. And if stress was still an issue, how about a squeezable can of spam?––Paul Duchene