Private company
Hoover free flights promotion
Marketing promotion by Hoover Company
The Hoover free flights promotion was a marketing promotion run by the British division of the Hoover Company in late 1992. The promotion, aiming to boost sales during the global recession of the early 1990s, offered two complimentary round-trip plane tickets to the United States, worth about £600, to any customer purchasing at least £100 in Hoover products. The company had been experiencing dwindling sales as a result of the economic downturn and a sharp increase in competing brands.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0
Last updated Oct 21, 2026.
Overview
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The Hoover free flights promotion was a marketing promotion run by the British division of the Hoover Company in late 1992. The promotion, aiming to boost sales during the global recession of the early 1990s, offered two complimentary round-trip plane tickets to the United States, worth about £600, to any customer purchasing at least £100 in Hoover products. The company had been experiencing dwindling sales as a result of the economic downturn and a sharp increase in competing brands. It was counting on most customers not spending more than £100, as well as being deterred from completing the difficult application process, and not meeting its exact terms.2
Controversies and legal
Public response, repercussions and legal action
The British public reacted angrily to the fiasco. One man, David Dixon, claimed that in addition to not receiving airline tickets, the Hoover washing machine he had purchased to obtain a trip to the USA had broken down. He claimed that a Hoover technician who had come to fix the machine had said, "If you think buying a washing machine's going to get you two tickets to America, you must be an idiot", which led him to take action against Hoover.
In 1993, the Hoover Holidays Pressure Group was formed, led by Harry Cichy and Sandy Jack, to protest against the company's broken promises. After buying some shares in Hoover's parent company, Maytag, the pressure group went to the Maytag annual general meeting in Newton, Iowa. Jack expressed his concerns to the CEO of Maytag, Len Hadley, which made headline news. In 1994, Jack took Hoover to court over the free flight promotion. The BBC Watchdog programme's investigation of customer complaints about the promotion brought the matter to even wider public attention.
A number of Hoover executives lost their jobs as a result of the fiasco, including William Foust, the managing director and president of Hoover; Brian Webb, vice-president of marketing; and Michael Gilbey, director of marketing services. Despite the sale of the European division of the company to Candy in 1995, lawsuits concerning the fiasco continued into 1998.
From Wikipedia’s article on Hoover free flights promotion, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3
Links
- WikipediaHoover free flights promotion
- WikidataQ5898834
Sources
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