Sydney's medal bungle is just the latest marketing error to win gold - and tourists' hearts

When thousands of international sports tourists cross the Sydney Marathon finish line, they'll receive a medal featuring a world-famous stadium, just not an Australian one.

Organisers of the popular marathon have thrown up their hands and admitted to the blunder, saying the image minted on the medal shows Munich's Allianz Arena instead of Moore Park's Allianz Stadium.

Instead of going to ground, organisers owned the mistake online, saying "You noticed. We noticed. We're human. See you in Sydney".

Munich's Allianz Arena joined the joke, saying "Mistakes happen. What's more, the medals are now something very special and truly beautiful".

More than 40,000 runners are expected to compete in the marathon on August 30, with athletes travelling from 162 countries to participate against entrants from around Australia.

By embracing the mistake, Sydney Marathon turned an embarrassing design slip into a viral international story, Bond Business School Associate Professor of Marketing Dr Rajat Roy said.

"Unexpected events draw attention, stimulate conversation and they're more likely to be shared, so although it was a mistake which was unintended, it created some brand and publicity value," he said.

It's a familiar playbook. It belongs to a tradition of global brand blunders that were flipped into promotional gold, from fried chicken shortages to iconic postal stamps. Here are some of the best.

Fried chicken behemoth KFC face a severe supply chain crisis across their stores in the United Kingdom in February 2018, forcing 900 restaurants to close.

With public frustration soaring, KFC launched a print apology with a bold newspaper ad showing an empty chicken bucket and the letters FCK.

The campaign went viral, as amused customers shared the ad, and the company recovered much of its public trust.

When alternative milk company Oatly was facing dairy lobbies lawsuits and consumer backlash, they joined the global pile-on.

Among other issues, they were receiving criticism for billboards that read "It's like milk but made for humans".

To embrace the criticism, the company bought print and billboard ads highlighting their worst customer reviews, using quotes comparing their oat milk to dirty water.

They also launched a website detailing all of the most-damaging claims against them.

By welcoming the negative press, Oatly transformed online hostility into an edgy selling point for loyal consumers.

In 2010, the United States Postal Service mistakenly printed the Las Vegas replica of Statue of Liberty on billions of stamps instead of the New York original.

When the postal service realised their mistake, they embraced the mix-up, deciding to print more instead of recalling the stamps that had been sold.

However, after the mistake was noticed, the postal service did not offer an apology or public attribution.

The sculptor of the Las Vegas version, Robert Davidson, successfully sued the postal service for copyright infringement in 2018, securing $3.5 million.

Dr Roy said that these blunders become promotional gold due to the element of surprise, saying it's the unexpected moments that stay in a consumer's mind.

"You can take a negative thing, give it a positive spin and end up delivering more bang for the buck," he said.