In 2018, RedBus launched a new feature that sent users a message on Whatsapp. It asked them if they’d like to chat with the complete strangers they are traveling on the same bus with.
It seems like a harmless, ‘social’ idea till you figure out that it could be horribly misused. And could be a terrible idea for women in particular, in case they agreed, by any freak chance (they surely wouldn’t). In any case, people would rather chat with people they already know, instead of strangers with whom they would be traveling for about 4-8 hours at best.
This is what happens when product managers get overenthusiastic.
Recently, Delta and Diet Coke went on a similar, stupid trip. Instead of seeking permission to get them into a Whatsapp Group, they invented an even more creepy (in the adult world) idea straight from school classroom – write down your name on an in-flight (branded with Diet Coke!) napkin and share with their ‘plane crush’ (cringe). The text in the napkin even had the helpful, “Be a little old school. Write down your number and give it to your plane crush. You never know…”.
Much like the RedBus idiocy, this idea . Thankfully.
This is what happens when brand managers get overenthusiastic.