If you’ve been in marketing for a while, you’ve probably seen what we’d call a “manufactured error” campaign:
- You get a “leaked” internal email discussing an upcoming sale, or a sale discount email that clearly got sent before it was ready.
- The company follows-up with an “oops” email, saying that because they made a mistake, they’ll honor the sale starting today.
Why do marketers manufacture mistakes?
Because, done well, it works. Other use cases include:
- Sending a sale promo email a day or two early.
- Setting a discount banner live—with a promo code—early.
- Creating a serious discount for an item, saying it was a mistake, but honoring it anyway.
- Creating “accidental” product listings before a rumored product launches.
… The list goes on.
Why you should manufacture mistakes?
Here are two questions to ask yourself:
- Do you believe lying is unethical in marketing?
- Do you believe that intentionally misleading someone about your intentions is a form of lying?
If you answered “yes” to both of those questions, you’ve got your answer, at least personally.
The Crew’s Insight
And if you’re wondering what we think, we tend to believe that, in most cases, creating fake mistakes is unethical and risky.
That’s it.
