
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, September 30, 1993                   TAG: 9309300102
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: LONDON                                LENGTH: Short

HOOVER GUILTY OF FIASCO, NOT FRAUD

An ill-conceived sales promotion was a costly public relations fiasco for Hoover, but the vacuum cleaning giant learned Wednesday it won't face criminal charges.

Investigators found that Hoover's offer of two free international airline tickets to its customers "will doubtless go down in the annals of marketing lore as an unmitigated disaster," although it did not classify as fraud.

Hoover showed poor judgment, but did not intend to cheat anybody, said Alan Miles, who headed the investigation in Britain.

The promotion backfired when customers realized that vacuum cleaners are cheaper than airline tickets. Britons and Irish people bought tens of thousands of Hoovers so they could fly free.

Hoover, owned by Maytag Corp., of Newton, Iowa, was overwhelmed with demands for tickets it could not deliver.

Hoover ultimately set aside $30 million to resolve the problem by chartering airplanes and booking seats on more than 1,100 flights. Three top Hoover executives in Europe were fired. - Associated Press

by CNB