The carmaker BMW launched a Mini Cooper marketing campaign in Germany to try to take advantage of the cold weather.

But the cold front named after the car went on to kill some 100 people across Europe, leading a BMW spokesman to say that "it took on catastrophic proportions and left so many victims... we do regret it very much."

Allyson Stewart-Allen, a marketing expert who runs International Marketing Partners, explains what brands can to to avoid such marketing disasters.

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