Pepsi Number Fever

Pepsi Number Fever
The logo for the sales promotion.
DateFebruary – May 25, 1992
LocationPhilippines
Also known as349 incident
TypeSales promotion likely as part of the Cola Wars
OutcomeMarket share of Pepsi in the Philippines initially increased from 19.4% to 24.9%. Mistake in ₱1 million grand prize winning bottle cap distribution led to riots and deaths.
Deaths5

The Pepsi Number Fever,[1] also known as the 349 incident,[2] was a promotion held by PepsiCo in the Philippines in 1992, which led to riots[3] and the deaths of at least five people.[4]

It also existed in Poland in 1995, known as Numeromania, and the person announcing the winning numbers was Piotr Fronczewski.[citation needed] However, it didn't cause as much controversy.

  1. ^ Drogin, Bob (26 July 1993). "Pepsi-Cola Uncaps A Lottery Nightmare -- Bombings, Threats Follow Contest With Too Many Winners". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 7 September 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  2. ^ "SC decides in finality on 'Pepsi 349' case". The Philippine Star. 26 June 2006. Archived from the original on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  3. ^ Mickolus, Edward F.; Simmons, Susan L. (1997). Terrorism, 1992-1995: A Chronology of Events and a Selectively Annotated Bibliography. ABC-CLIO. p. 166. ISBN 978-0-313-30468-2. Archived from the original on 14 October 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  4. ^ Kernan, Sean (12 June 2020). "Pepsi's $32 Billion Typo Caused Deadly Riots". Medium. Archived from the original on 9 June 2020. Retrieved 13 June 2020.