cicopy
Open case files

Marketing claims, checked against the record.

Every marketing case study says a company built a movement, a slogan, a philosophy. This is what the same company's own court filings, earnings calls, and regulators say happened next.

HOW A CASE FILE IS BUILT

7 companies investigated so far, every number sourced. Read the full method →

01 CASE FILE — COMPANY   NO. 06   FILED: DATE   STATUS: OPEN
02 Company Marketing Strategy: The Real Question Its Record Raises?
03 The Pitch — two paragraphs, no heading.
04 The Record — three to five dated, named incidents.
05 The Verdict — stamped, plain, no hedging.
  • 01
    The filingA sequential case number, a filing date, a status. A closed case can reopen the day the company's record changes.
  • 02
    The headlineAlways the exact keyword the company's marketing claims to own, turned into the real question its own record raises.
  • 03
    The pitchWhat the company's marketing actually says, and the single strongest piece of proof that it's real.
  • 04
    The recordEach incident sourced to a court filing, an earnings call, or a regulatory ruling.
  • 05
    The verdictWhere the pitch holds up, stated plainly. Where it doesn't, stated just as plainly.
New here? Start with this one Starbucks Marketing Strategy: If the Third Place Still Works, Why Did It Take Four CEOs in Three Years to Say So?

LATEST CASE FILES

Marketing Strategy
CASE NO. 07 — GOPRO MARKETING STRATEGY

Why Didn't 43,000 Submissions Stop a Slide From $1.6 Billion to $801 Million?

GoPro's Million Dollar Challenge draws 43,000 free user clips a year. A 2016 drone recall, a securities settlement, and a revenue slide to $801 million show what the contest never had to cover.

FILED: JULY 5, 2026
 Marketing Strategy
CASE NO. 06 — IKEA MARKETING STRATEGY

How Does "A Better Everyday Life" Square With $96 Million in Dresser Settlements?

The flat pack made the furniture cheap. An Ernst & Young prison-labor report, a 17-million-dresser recall, and a €1 million spying verdict show who paid the rest.

FILED: JULY 5, 2026
 Marketing Strategy
CASE NO. 05 — APPLE MARKETING STRATEGY

How Does a $4 Trillion Company Spend Eight Years Fighting a €13 Billion Tax Bill?

Fourteen workers died building the devices behind Apple's $4 trillion valuation. "Think Different" has never had to answer for that.

FILED: JULY 4, 2026
 Marketing Strategy
CASE NO. 04 — AIRBNB MARKETING STRATEGY

Can You "Belong Anywhere" If Airbnb's Own Data Shows Hosts Discriminate by Race?

Airbnb's own 2022 study found hosts still reject Black guests more often than white ones. The ad campaigns spent a decade selling one word: belonging.

FILED: JULY 1, 2026
 Marketing Strategy
CASE NO. 03 — SPOTIFY MARKETING STRATEGY

If Wrapped Really Works, Why Do Artists Keep Leaving the Platform?

More than 200 million people share their Wrapped for free every December. Some of the artists in it get paid $0.003 a stream.

FILED: JUNE 27, 2026
View all case files →