Reversing Course When You’re Wrong.

Eric Brinker had to reverse course on a major issue last year – snack mix.

He is the director of brand management and customer experience for Jet Blue airline. He had switched the usual snack, Munchie Mix, to a healthier alternative in response to the request of some passengers. Little did he know he would incite a near riot.

Customers complained vociferously, writing things like, “[Munchie Mix] is the only reason I flew Jet Blue!”

So he back-tracked with a “Save the Munchie Mix” campaign that read, “Some pinhead in marketing tried to get rid of the Munchie Mix.”**

Brinker is not the first corporate guy to lead a change that later necessitated a reversal. Remember “New Coke?” Or “Pepsi Clear?”

The granddaddy of product flops was the Edsel. Never heard of the Edsel?

The Edsel was rolled out by Ford as a mid-priced luxury car. For weeks before it hit the market on September 4, 1957, Ford promoted “E-Day” in newspapers, magazines, and all three television channels nationwide. Folk stormed dealerships on E-Day, but rolled right back out as soon as they saw the Edsel.

The reasons for rejection were many. For example, the push buttons for the automatic transmission were placed right in the center of the steering wheel – right where’d you reach to blow the horn. Some said it looked like “a Mercury sucking a lemon.” What’s worse, a lot of the cars were delivered with a list of missing parts taped to the steering wheel. Mix in an economy that was fading into recession and the fact that the Edsel was made for richer times and you can predict what happened even if you weren’t alive then.

Within three years the Edsel limped into the scrap yard on the two wheels of bad design and bad timing.

Bad timing and designs aren’t limited to the business world. Just ask the prophet Jeremiah. He had a front row seat for one of the great “Edsel” moments of Israel’s history. Idolatry and apostasy had diverted Israel away from Yahweh, the covenant, and the law. The people didn’t see that their hopes, ambitions, and dreams had been completely misplaced as they’d whored out their trust in God to other gods “who are not even gods.” Jeremiah urged them to turn back to the ways they knew before it was too late, before their failure became epic in scale.

What are the “Edsel’s” of our own lives? What are the dramatic or not-so-dramatic failues you need to reverse course on and put in the past? I hope you can find ways to lean from your “Edsel’s" and have the courage to make the necessary changes.

This piece was based on Jeremiah 2.4-13.