Some years give you breakthroughs. 2025 gave us faceplants.

Before we start: we're steering clear of politics and geopolitics here. Not because there weren't plenty of "interesting choices" — but because we're keeping this useful, not comment-war bait.

This is the hall of fame for brand, PR, and marketing moments where you read the headline and think: "Was nobody in that room allowed to speak up? OR Who on earth was in the room?"

At Wizer, our thesis is simple: better decisions happen when the right mix of minds is in the room. Not the biggest room. Not the loudest. Not "whoever replied-all fastest." The wise one.

So here's a (slightly ruthless) look at 2025's most public decision disasters — and what Wizer would've flagged before anyone pressed launch.

Let's work out what was missing from these decision rooms.

1. The "It Sounded Clever in the Meeting" Campaign

What happened: American Eagle ran a "great jeans" pun campaign. The internet read it as "good genes." Eugenics vibes ensued. Backfire complete.

What went wrong: Wordplay got greenlit in a bubble where everyone thought it was cheeky and nobody ran the "how will the internet interpret this" test.

If Wizer was in the room:

Panel Strength Alert: LOW - High creative confidence, zero consequence testing

• Diversity gap: Missing Gen Z representation (the audience most likely to call this out)

• Experience gap: No social media/reputation management expertise in the room

• Decision Profile gap: Missing Guardians (reputational risk) and Analyzers (tests alternate interpretations). Too many Visionaries and Explorers driving "clever" without checks.

The fix: Before launching wordplay into the wild, add Guardians who ask "how could this be weaponized?" and Analyzers who test every possible reading. Plus: someone under 25 who lives online.

2. The Rebrand That Started a Culture War

What happened: Cracker Barrel changed its logo. The internet declared war. Cracker Barrel reversed course faster than a NASCAR pit stop.

What went wrong: A visual identity decision got treated like a political manifesto. Then became a story about "why are you changing anything at all."

If Wizer was in the room:

• Panel Strength Alert: LOW - Change makers present, change recipients absent

• Diversity gap: No customers over 50 in the panel (the exact demographic who would react strongest)

• Experience gap: Missing change management and frontline operations perspective

• Decision Profile gap: Heavy on Visionaries and Achievers (let's modernize!), missing Guardians (what's the cultural/emotional cost?) and Collaborators (who's impacted by this?).

  
  

The fix: Your rebrand panel needs the people who will face the backlash: customer service, long-tenure staff, and customers who actually care. Wizer flags when you're designing change without the people who'll experience it.

3. The Tourism Slogan That Sounded Like a Clearance Sale

What happened: Tourism New Zealand launched "Everyone Must Go." The internet heard "going out of business" and "please emigrate immediately."

What went wrong: A slogan passed every internal check and failed the only one that mattered: "What does this sound like to people not in our office?"

If Wizer was in the room:

• Panel Strength Alert: LOW - Too many insiders, missing external perspective

• Diversity gap: Same cognitive styles, potentially influenced by leadership enthusiasm. May lack lived experiences and age demographics.

• Decision Profile gap: Missing Analyzers (tests alternate meanings) and Guardians (flags misinterpretation risk)

  
  

The fix: Wizer identifies when everyone shares the same context—which means nobody spots the obvious problem. Add Analyzers who test for unintended readings and external voices who see it fresh.

4. The Cultural Mix-Up (Followed by the "Delete and Pray" Strategy)

What happened: Fendi used a knot design, called it Korean, got correctly informed it was Chinese, then deleted everything and hoped nobody screenshotted.

What went wrong: Classic "we didn't have the right expertise in the room" problem, followed by the equally classic "make it go away" response.

If Wizer was in the room:

• Panel Strength Alert: LOW - Cultural blind spots and weak crisis response

• Diversity gap: Missing lived cultural expertise (Chinese or Korean cultural knowledge)

• Experience gap: No cultural consultants or authenticity reviewers in the decision chain

• Decision Profile gap: Missing Guardians (cultural sensitivity risk) and Analyzers (fact-checking origins). Team likely skewed toward Deliverers (ship it fast) without accountability checks.
  

The fix: For anything culture-linked, Wizer flags the missing expertise before you launch. Add voices with actual cultural knowledge and Guardians empowered to stop the line when something's wrong.

5. The Stunt That Met Physics (Physics Won)

What happened: Chery tried to drive an SUV up a famous stairway. It crashed. The structure got damaged. The footage was… not as planned.

What went wrong:A brand stunt got greenlit without enough weight on: safety, permissions, public impact, or "what if this goes spectacularly wrong?"

If Wizer was in the room:

• Panel Strength Alert: LOW - Bold ideas without safety infrastructure

• Diversity gap: Likely all marketing/creative, no technical or operations voices

• Experience gap: Missing engineering, risk management.

• Decision Profile gap: Too many Explorers and Visionaries (imagine the footage!), missing Guardians (what's the liability?) and Deliverers with deep technical expertise (can this actually be done safely?).

The fix: Wizer doesn't kill creativity—it stops you from executing creativity dangerously. Add technical expertise, legal review, and Guardians who ask "what's our worst-case scenario?" before the stunt becomes a crash reel.

6. The Executive Scandal That Became Content

What happened: Astronomer's kiss-cam moment spiraled into a PR crisis. Because in 2025, everything is content.

What went wrong: A people-and-power issue escalated into a brand issue. The response made it worse.

If Wizer was in the room: (unlikely to be an official decision - we acknoledge this is a system/management fail - but if Wizer was asked :-)

• Panel Strength Alert: LOW - Missing governance and external perspective

• Diversity gap: No age/gender diversity to flag workplace culture risks

• Experience gap: Missing HR governance and crisis management experience

• Decision Profile gap: Missing Guardians (risk awareness) and Collaborators (stakeholder impact)

  
  

The fix: When leadership IS the risk, your panel needs Guardians who see reputation threats and experienced governance voices empowered to challenge behavior before it becomes a brand crisis.

7. The Product That Should've Stayed a Joke

What happened: Skims launched a "micro string thong" with fake pubic hair. The public said what we're all thinking.

What went wrong: Sometimes the question isn't "can we sell it?" It's "should we become known for this?"

f Wizer was in the room:

• Panel Strength Alert: LOW - Missing brand stewardship perspectives

• Diversity gap: Age diversity missing (no one over 35)

• Experience gap: Long-term brand reputation management absent

• Decision Profile gap: Missing Guardians (long-term thinking) and Analyzers (audience interpretation), Maybe explorers to ensure you have a lot of options.

  
  

The fix: Wizer flags when shock value is drowning out reputation risk. Add Guardians who ask "what's the cost to trust?" and demographic diversity that catches tone-deaf moments.

8. The Sports Decision Made in Feelings

What happened: Notre Dame pulled out of a scheduled bowl game after getting snubbed from the playoffs. The reputation damage was… significant.

What went wrong: A reactive decision made in emotion, not strategy. (We've all done it. Just not on ESPN.)

If Wizer was in the room:

• Panel Strength Alert: LOW - Emotion-driven decision without strategic pause

• Diversity gap: Likely missing voices outside the immediate athletic department bubble

• Experience gap: Missing long-term reputation management and stakeholder relations expertise

• Decision Profile gap: Heavy on Achievers reacting with pride, missing Guardians (long-term reputation cost) and Analyzers (what are the second-order effects across all stakeholders?).

The fix: A wise panel creates strategic pause between emotion and action. Wizer flags when your panel is too homogenous to see consequences—add Guardians and external perspective before hitting send on decisions made on ESPN.

The Point (Before We All Get Sued)

Wizer doesn't exist to say "don't do anything."

It exists to stop organizational decision-making disasters with a panel that looks like:

• All confidence, no caution

• All creativity, no consequences

• All speed, no strategy

• All insiders, no reality checks

The platform recommends who should be in the conversation and assesses whether your panel is strong or weak — so you can correct the mix before the decision becomes a headline.

The Decision Cocktail (Steal This) - How to Avoid Decision-Making disasters

If your decision is risky, public, expensive, or hard to reverse, your panel needs:

The Seven Decision Profiles:

• Analyzer – Data-driven, precise, focused on accuracy

• Collaborator – Draws on the strengths of others to co-create better outcomes

• Guardian – Risk-aware, ensuring stability and long-term thinking

• Explorer – Open to possibilities, always surfacing new options

• Deliverer – Process-driven, excelling in deep expertise and execution

• Achiever – Goal-focused and prioritizes outcomes

• Visionary – Big-picture thinker, shaping bold, future-focused ideas

Plus:

• Real expertise: Someone who's actually done the thing — or cleaned up the mess when it broke

• Demographic diversity: Age, gender, lived experience. If everyone sees the world the same way, you've built an echo chamber, not a decision panel

Want to build better decision panels? That's literally what we do. Check out Wizer →

Also here is a blog about how to create a wise panel

Here is to a wonderful 2026!