Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Pepsi’s $32B Typo Caused Deadly Riots

medium.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

151–160 of 197 posts

Re: Pepsi’s $32B Typo Caused Deadly Riots

#151

Post by interestica »

cdubzzz wrote: post #122
stickfigure wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If I intended to write a check for $200 and later when it was cashed found I had accidentally wrote it for $220, I would call that a $20 typo. So my example was a "$199,999,800 typo"? Can't we just round up?

The relevant difference between our examples is not the amount. It's that my example check was cashed and therefore cost me $20. Your example check bounced and didn't cost you anything. If that bounce caused your bank to charge you a $10 fee, I'd call it a $10 typo.

It was a $32B typo that only cost them $20M

Re: Pepsi’s $32B Typo Caused Deadly Riots

#153

Post by baby »

kwhitefoot wrote: post #94
baby wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This selfish

Do you contribute to Wikipedia? I have, and to Wikibooks, and it can be a thankless task when you run into an admin who is more interested in formatting than content and more interested in the enforcement of petty rules than in helping the author get it right.

sounds like contributing to open source

Re: Pepsi’s $32B Typo Caused Deadly Riots

#154

Post by radu_floricica »

I wish the article had some numbers on Pepsi's income and expected profit in that timeframe. It would really put that 8 mil offer in context. I also think a key point here is the deal Pepsi made with that local market: you buy a lot of Pepsi, and we give you winnings.

If they made 100 mils profit due to this campaign I think it's a different situation, ethically, from if they made around 2 mil profit (the amount of the original prize).

Re: Pepsi’s $32B Typo Caused Deadly Riots

#155

Post by nate_meurer »

snowwrestler wrote: post #132
Aloha wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've always looked at it this way "things must be pretty bad if lighting yourself on fire sounds like a better alternative then living" I dont need to understand the particulars beyond that.

I think there are two ways to approach thinking about dramatic acts like self-immolation, rioting, looting, stealing, etc. One way is to think "wow, those people have had very different experiences from me, to drive them to do that." I'd put your reply in that category and I prefer this. It recognizes shared commonality among people, which is a good place to start for constructive change. The other way is to think "w…

I really agree with you here, except for your inclusion of looters in that group. You're goddamn right opportunistic looters are nothing like me. Those fuckers care nothing about the fight of the protests, and are willing to tarnish the whole movement for some free shit. Fuck them.

Otherwise, right on. I can't tell you how often I come to dead ends in arguments regarding poverty and crime, where folks who've never been poor or desperate give themselves 100% of the credit for their good fortune. Like they picked their fucking parents before birth.

Re: Pepsi’s $32B Typo Caused Deadly Riots

#156

Post by Avicebron »

kiliancs wrote: post #138
emilsedgh wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a theory that distribution of power in democracies leads to "distribution of blame". Living in a third world country means you probably are dealing with a (semi) dictatorship. That means there's only a few entities (eg regime, government, whatever) that you can assign the blame to. Therefore, you can light yourself on fire in protest to them. In the U.S. who would you light yourself to protest to? Elected cong…

> I have a theory that distribution of power in democracies leads to "distribution of blame". I think there's some truth to this, but I think this eventually results in widespread cynicism, skepticism and loss of trust towards any sort of institution (aka "the system") in general --including science and religion--, which is a perfect environment for fake news and conspiracy theories. Long term it leads to chaos and u…

I think that you are correct that in the long term it leads to chaos and unrest, but I think it also has a slow burn problem that ultimately leads to deep ennui, cynicism, and a feeling of powerlessness that can last many generations. This has the effect of further concentrating power in those who have rigged the system and leads to such an unbalance that maybe when the chaos comes, it won't lead to anything better.

Conversely I think in more volatile arenas, the power dynamics while large, are less so (logically this makes sense because a revolution that can win is closer in power to the system they are fighting). While this volatility may be worse overall in that society, it is less systematically oppressive than say a rigged democracy deeply meshed into a non-democratic economic system.

The more I think about it the more my nihilism takes hold and I find that very disheartening.

Re: Pepsi’s $32B Typo Caused Deadly Riots

#157

Post by austincheney »

snowwrestler wrote: post #132
Aloha wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've always looked at it this way "things must be pretty bad if lighting yourself on fire sounds like a better alternative then living" I dont need to understand the particulars beyond that.

I think there are two ways to approach thinking about dramatic acts like self-immolation, rioting, looting, stealing, etc. One way is to think "wow, those people have had very different experiences from me, to drive them to do that." I'd put your reply in that category and I prefer this. It recognizes shared commonality among people, which is a good place to start for constructive change. The other way is to think "w…

I try to look for primary intent. If somebody is advocating awareness of something worthy of their passion I can empathize with that advocacy even during times I may disagree with the subject advocated. I find it harder to empathize with people who are stealing designer handbags and claiming it’s a form of protest. I just see self enrichment (theft) as the primary motive and then a lie as a qualifier. To me that results in a difference compared to the prior described advocacy group that I cannot shake.

Re: Pepsi’s $32B Typo Caused Deadly Riots

#158

Post by austincheney »

catalogia wrote: post #133
austincheney wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not about who has it worse. That completely misses the point. It’s about accurately reflecting on your personal situation and not drawing absurd conclusions to justify a personal opinion. Let’s call this Dunning-Kruger for sympathy. If you are trying to qualify who has it worse you aren’t focused on a materially objective outcome. For example many of the people protesting in the US in the past few weeks are tryi…

I think there may be a miscommunication here. I read "The same absurd comparisons also come up when entitled people people try to talk about poverty when it’s clear they have never seen poverty in the US, much less in an economy where people earn less than $5 per day working 5x harder." as meaning you have no sympathy for the plight of poor people in America because people in other countries experience even more seve…

> Seeing poverty in America is as easy as going outside and opening your eyes.

That so completely depends upon where you live. My big city of 900,000 people reported their highest measured homeless population ever in 2018 with a sizable jump to about 2000 people. That is tiny compared with many other similar sized cities.

Seeing homeless people, like stepping over a drunkard spilled out over a sidewalk, isn’t the same as diving into the research or getting into some of the personal stories.

Re: Pepsi’s $32B Typo Caused Deadly Riots

#159

Post by rsynnott »

sergiotapia wrote: post #18

I wonder if this is a third-world thing, soda contests for cash. I remember when I was 12 in Bolivia, we had literal Coca Cola scratch off cards and had to collect bottle caps with the numbers to make a lot of cash. Kids would trade bottle caps, rumors floated about fulanito having the rare cap and he would sell it for the right amount, etc. Been in the states for a few years now and never heard of something like tha…

I think it might just be a 90s thing. I remember similar promotions in Ireland when I was a kid, but they don't seem to be a thing anymore.
Post reply on HN