Mini names lethal weather front 'Cooper' in PR gaffe
An advertising agency for BMW has paid to name a cold weather front sweeping Europe "Cooper" in Germany, after the carmaker's Mini Cooper.
But the public-relations stunt by the agency went wrong after the freezing conditions led to dozens of deaths.
Germany's meteorology institute allows the sponsorship of weather systems. On its website, advertising agency Sassenbach says that naming the front after the open-air vehicle was a "wind- and weather-proof idea". It is encouraging people to follow the path of the weather on meteorological websites.
While the snow and ice have brought some stunning scenes across Europe, the freezing temperatures have led to at least 100 deaths, mainly in Poland and Ukraine. In Ukraine alone, nearly 950 people are being treated in hospital with hypothermia and frostbite, the Associated Press news agency reports.
The Munich-based advertising agency said it was no longer commenting on the unfortunate correlation between the progress of the severe weather and the car it sought to publicise. It has also named a warmer weather front to follow "Minnie".
I think I see a fund raising opportunity here for the United States National Weather Service. Instead of naming tropical storms and hurricanes after otherwise innocent women and men, perhaps they could charge not to name them after companies, with a secret bidding process, and the low bid getting the name. For example we could have Hurricane General Motors, and Tropical Storm MF Global. By extending the idea to cold and warm fronts like the Germans do, we could have Alberta Clipper Solyndra, and Heat Wave Goldman Sachs. After all, corporations are people.
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