False accusations can do irreparable damage to the reputations of major corporations. These companies often have to pay fines to restore their good names, to say nothing of the costs incurred due to advertising campaigns to regain the public’s faith.

From Taco Bell to Toyota, many corporations have been forced to shell out big bucks due to false accusations made about their products. Here are five of the most memorable incidents.

1. Toyota

LOSSES: Up to $5,548,800,00.00 ($5.55 Billion)

After the storm, the amount of damage to the brand is often unknown.

False Accusation: Faulty electronics caused certain Toyota cars to accelerate out of control, contributing to at least 50 deaths.

The Truth: NASA released a statement reporting that allegedly ‘sticky’ accelerator pedals, which led to a recall of nearly eight million cars last year, were not in fact the result of faulty electronics.

“We enlisted the best and brightest engineers to study Toyota’s electronics systems, and the verdict is in. There is no electronic-based cause for unintended high-speed acceleration in Toyotas,” said US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

I’m guessing these guys know a thing or two about engineering.

Cost to Company: According to Huffington Post, the recall cost the company between $2 and $5.5 billion, due to a combination of lost sales and repairs. On top of that, the company was also fined $48.8 million by the U.S. government.

2. Taco Bell

LOSSES: More Than $8,900,000.00 ($8.9 Million)

False Accusation: “Your ‘beef’ is only 36% beef!”

The Truth: Last month, Alabama law firm Beasley Allen filed a class action lawsuit against the fast food chain, alleging that their beef taco filling was only about 1/3 beef, with the rest of the mixture containing fillers like “isolated oat product” and “autolyzed yeast extract.”

Taco Bell immediately launched a counter-suit, taking out a full page in several major newspapers that read, “Thank you for suing us.” The company has stated that their seasoned beef filling contains “88% Beef, and 12% Secret Recipe.”

Perhaps paying for celebrity visits will bring back the customers.

Cost to Company: The company just launched a promotion to give away ten million free tacos, prompted by the recent “Where’s the beef?” allegations.

A crunchy beef taco usually costs 89 cents, meaning the company is giving away the equivalent of $8.9 million. And don’t forget the cost of taking out ad space in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and USA Today.

3. Wendy’s

LOSSES: Up to $21,000,000.00 ($21 Million)

Once you wonder what’s in the chili, the company has already lost.

False Accusation: In 2005, a woman in Northern California told authorities that she found a severed finger in a bowl of chili at Wendy’s.

The Truth: The woman, Anna Ayala, made it all up in an attempt to extort money from the fast food chain. She bought the finger from a man who had lost it in an accident, and then staged the event. Police sorted out the truth, and Ayala spent four years in jail.

Clearly the scheme went the way she had planned.

Cost to Company: Wendy’s International Inc.’s earnings dropped one percent in the second quarter of 2005. That may not seem like a lot, but when you are the third-largest burger chain in the US, one percent of your revenue is a significant chunk of change.

For the first six months of 2005, profits fell to $122 million, compared to $124 million in 2004. And other estimates say that Wendy’s may have lost as much as $21 million in revenue due to the incident.

4. Pringles/Proctor & Gamble

LOSSES: Unknown

Support of Satan, or the creation of bored viewers?

False Accusation: P&G subsidized Satanic cults.

The Truth: The rumor about Satanic subsidies was started by four rival distributors. The matter lingered in a court case that took 12 years to resolve, but eventually the false rumor was dispelled and P&G was awarded $19 million.

As if the first “example” wasn’t a big enough stretch, here’s a second.

Cost to Company: There’s no word on how much revenue was lost due to consumers who believed the story about Satanic cults, or how much P&G paid its legal team for 12 years of courtroom battles.

Based on some of the other costs above, however, it seems reasonable to guess the company lost at least a few million dollars over that 12-year period.

5. McDonald’s

LOSSES: Unknown

Consider how long this image will stay with you, for example.

False Accusation: During the infamous “McLibel” case, which ran for over a decade in Europe, McDonald’s was accused of a number of outrageous activities. Members of London Greenpeace claimed the following statements about McDonald’s business practices were true:

• buys from greedy rulers and elites, practicing economic imperialism;
• destroys rainforests with poisons and colonial invasions;
• alters its food with artificial chemistry;
• exploits children with its advertising;
• poisons customers with contaminated meat.

The Truth: In 1997, the courts ruled in favor of McDonalds, awarding the company £40,000 (about $64,000 in U.S. currency). The company never claimed the money. Later, members of London Greenpeace continued the court battles.

In 2005, the matter finally came to a close. The controversy spanned a total of twenty years, between a decade of courtroom battles and the additional years spent in appeals and higher courts.

Cost to Company: McDonald’s reportedly spent “millions of pounds” to defend themselves against the McLibel accusations. No firm figures exist for how much the company may have lost in potential sales due to the bad press surrounding the court cases, but over a twenty-year period, those figures could have been in the tens or hundreds of millions.

Conclusion

The next time you hear a story about a major corporation’s flaws, take a moment to think about all of the false accusations above. No corporation is perfect, but it’s important to take every negative news story with a grain of salt.

POST OFFICES Most are closed.

RECREATION CENTERS Call for hours.

Also:

THE STOCK MARKET Closed.

SKI SLOPES Extremely crowded.

Online travel agent Expedia is no longer listing American Airlines flights on its websites, thanks to American’s effort to cut travel agent costs. From the Wall St. Journal:

The removal of American flights from Expedia’s listings comes as a conflict between the airline and travel sites ratchets higher. On Dec. 21, American pulled its listings from Expedia competitor Orbitz Worldwide Inc. (OWW). The airline hopes to drive more traffic to its own website, which it says offers “our lowest airfares” and doesn’t charge an online booking fee.

American, the third-largest U.S. airline, is at the forefront of an industry effort to reduce the cost of ticket sales that has brought it into confrontation with parts of the travel agent sector, as well as the online sellers.

Cutting costs related to travel agents is a much more consumer-friendly way for an airline to protect profits than some of the airlines’ other efforts, like charging $50 to check bags or cutting flight supply to a bare minimum in order to maximize fares. It’s almost a relief to see that they’re looking to other venues to trim down operating costs. As for Expedia, it may just be running on an agency model whose time is almost up.

Fortune Magazine has confirmed that the much-anticipated Verizon iPhone will be coming out early next year. Can you hear the collective sigh of relief? Fortune comments:

…wireless data usage on the device is a major burden on AT&T’s (T) network; iPhone users who complain about AT&T service don’t always realize how much they contribute to the strain, partly because the iPhone persistently reaches out to AT&T’s towers, switches, and computers to grab data. While (Verizon executives) wouldn’t comment on the iPhone specifically, (they) seem confident the Verizon network will hold up…Verizon already carries a data hog of a phone, the Motorola Droid (which runs on Google’s (GOOG) Android operating system), and that the average Droid user consumes more data than the average iPhone user.

But AT&T can expect some defections too. Some 18% of AT&T iPhone users surveyed by Credit Suisse said they’d consider switching carriers if Verizon got an iPhone. Says current iPhone user David Geffen: “I can’t wait to get the iPhone with Verizon.”

Read the entire Fortune article here–it’s a good one.

The new Verizon iPhone certainly has a lot of consumer sex appeal. The hottest cellphone on the market is finally meeting the nation’s clearest, most reliable cell network. A lot of people are going to buy into this and assume everything’s going to be perfect. That’s a heavy assumption, considering that the new iPhone is going to run on Verizon’s new 4G network, it will be Verizon’s first CDMA phone, and the strain on Verizon’s network will be new to the company. I don’t think it will be a flawless execution–things like these rarely are.

But it is hot marketing, a boost in sales, and fresh competition for AT&T, which is scrambling to upgrade its own criticized network. And in the end, more telecom competition can never hurt.

During the past two years, Yahoo has reserved one annual date for laying off hundreds to thousands of people. It’s about time for the struggling Internet company to cut back again, just in time for the holidays. The Wall St. Journal reports that Yahoo is planning on cutting 5% of its workforce, or 650 jobs:

The cuts will be targeted at Yahoo’s products group, which builds Web properties like the company’s popular news, sports and finance pages, as well as its widely used email service. The group, which recently had about 7,000 employees, is run by chief products officer Blake Irving, a former Microsoft Corp. executive who joined Yahoo in April.

Yahoo’s turnaround effort has seen it strike a search pact with Microsoft, enabling the Internet giant to focus on its core website properties and its display-advertising business. But Yahoo has continued to struggle with soft ad sales, especially in North America, the company’s most important region. In October, Yahoo said third-quarter revenue rose 1.6%, with revenue from owned and operated display advertising jumping 17%, while search ad sales fell 7%. The company at the time said its third-quarter earnings more than doubled.

Incidentally, the rumored Yahoo-AOL merger is off, according to Search Engine Land:

The would be AOL-Yahoo merger is apparently off, according to Crain’s New York Business. The site is reporting that “AOL tried to either get enough backing to make a run at Yahoo, or get Yahoo interested in buying it . . . Yahoo didn’t bite, and AOL didn’t have its ducks lined up to be a buyer.”

Earth to Yahoo: What on earth is your strategy? The company has been through three CEOs, a few purchases–notably news site Associated Content–and lots of layoffs, but still doesn’t seem to have any clear direction. That’s dangerous in today’s hypercompetitive economy. Unless they get a turnaround specialist in ASAP, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this ship go under or get bought out in the next several years.

Yahoo needs to convince Wall Street and advertisers that it is more than simply an aggregator of content or gateway to other sites that users will spend more time on — and it needs to prove that soon.

General Electric is purchasing oilfield equipment maker Wellstream for $1.3 billion, making a move into deepwater drilling. From Bloomberg:

The Wellstream purchase expands GE operations in Brazil, where Exxon Mobil Corp., BG Group Plc and state-controlled Petroleo Brasileiro SA may need to spend more on Wellstream’s flexible pipes and risers to ramp up energy production. GE said in November it would spend $500 million to expand energy, transportation and health-care manufacturing in Brazil while adding its fifth global research center.

The acquisition will be added to the GE Oil & Gas unit, which generated $7.7 billion in sales last year. GE agreed to buy oil-field equipment maker Dresser Inc. for about $3 billion in October. With Dresser, GE added industrial valves and pumps to challenge companies such as Tyco International Ltd., Flowserve Corp. and Emerson Electric Co. Other energy-unit acquisitions this year included the waste-heat power generation business of closely held Calnetix Inc. for an undisclosed sum.

GE’s buy is reflects the consolidation that has been going on in the oil and gas industry this year, according to the Wall St. Journal:

The Wellstream deal, “is symptomatic of what’s going on in the wider industry,” said Evolution (Securities) analyst (Keith) Morris. The oil and gas services sector has seen significant consolidation in 2010, following a steep downturn in 2008-2009, and this is likely to continue, he said.

John Wood Group PLC (WG.LN) also agreed Monday to acquire PSN Ltd. for $955 million, forming what it described as one of the largest companies offering production services to mature oil fields.

Cyber Monday, the biggest Internet shopping day of the year, happens on November 29. As a shopping day, it’s not quite as involved as Black Friday. You can hit up Cyber Monday in your pajamas.

It still pays, however, to know where to find deals. We created a list of the five best websites to find Cyber Monday deals below. We didn’t add obvious ones, like eBay and Amazon, because we figured you probably know about those. The sites below compile Cyber Monday bargains so that you can find the ones you want quickly, without an excess of Google searches. Happy shopping:

1. Cyber Monday by Shop.org

Features:
Coupons
More than 700 stores in their database
Email updates
Free shipping offers
Hourly specials on Cyber Monday

Shop.org invented the term “Cyber Monday.” Their extensive database of more than 700 stores has your Cyber Monday needs covered. You can scroll through deals at the top of the page, scroll through merchants, or find deals by searching through coupon-style icons below that. The website appears busy at first, so you have to get accustomed to navigating through all the information. All proceeds from CyberMonday.com go to a scholarship fund for students studying ecommerce–a nice touch.

2. Dealio’s Cyber Monday

Features:
Downloadable coupons & deals toolbar
RSS feed
Deal/coupon widgets

Dealio’s Cyber Monday has a simple interface that makes it easy to navigate. Explore the site by store logo, product, or featured deals. Their complete list of ads by store is helpful. If you want to keep your Cyber Monday search simple (and potentially faster), start here. Their blog also offers good tips and deals.

3. DealTaker’s Cyber Monday

Features:
They put checkmarks next to store names on left sidebar after they’ve received ads for that store
Forums
Email updates
On Twitter/Facebook

Find deals by store icon or coupon link on this site. It updates frequently, but doesn’t include a blog, so you get a bare-bones list of deals. Their forums help you find more information. The interface design makes this a good site to find deals by store.

4. Cyber Monday by Offers.com

Features:
Blog
Find deals by store, coupon, or category
Lists additional stores with holiday deals
Store watch feature

Offers.com’s Cyber Monday homepage features coupon codes, making it easy to browse discounts by company. Sidebars offer easy access to stores and product listings. The site syncs with other Offers.com features, including a customized store watchlist and an As Seen on TV section. Their blog covers ongoing deals throughout the season.

5. Digital Editor’s Cyber Monday

Features:
Email alerts (only when homepage is updated)
“Email a friend” feature
Extensive list of stores with discounts

The best feature on this site is its large database of retailers with sales or discounts. The homepage has coupon codes by store. Since many stores have more than one coupon, navigating to your preferred deals can be laborious. Unfortunately, the site lacks a search box, so the best way to find your favorite deals is to search on the main list.

Year-Round Coupon Sites for Cyber Monday

The sites below aren’t Cyber Monday (or Black Friday) specific, but we’d be remiss not to mention them:

CurrentCodes has a comprehensive list of online discount codes for an impressive number of retailers every day. Trust their code-collecting acumen for your Cyber Monday deals, too.

WOW Coupons compiles a real-time list of major retailer coupons throughout the year. Look for even more action during Black Friday week.

After two straight years of losses, software company Novell has agreed to be bought by software and IT solutions company Attachmate for $2.2 billion. Because Attachmate is owned by private equity, that essentially puts Novell into PE hands, too. BusinessWeek reports:

Besides Linux, Novell’s business units include identity and security management, systems and resource management, and workload-management products and its GroupWise e-mail system.

Novell investors will get $6.10 a share, Attachmate, a software company owned by private-equity firms including Golden Gate Capital Corp., said today in a statement. That’s 9.1 percent more than Novell’s closing price on Nov. 19. Novell will also sell some intellectual-property assets to a group of technology companies led by Microsoft Corp. for $450 million.

This small win for Novell stockholders is also a relief for Novell’s customers, who have been wavering in the face of company uncertainty for some time. With Novell’s rich history and tech heritage, I hope that Attachmate keeps the brand’s name and identity intact.

The Chrysler Group unveiled the new Fiat 500 at yesterday’s LA auto show. The Fiat 500 will hit US markets in January 2011 at a starting price of $15,000. USA Today has more on Fiat’s marketing plans:

When Fiat sold cars in the U.S. in past decades, it wasn’t known for reliability, so to allay those fears, Fiat says the 500 will have a four-year, 50,000-mile, bumper-to-bumper warranty and free maintenance.

The new Fiat 500′s prospects, she says, will be younger hipsters. “It’ll be seen as a new brand, a cool Italian brand.” And when they research the 500, “They’ll see it’s a worldwide icon,” helping pre-sell them on the car.

Just like 1980′s retro fashion, companies are relying on Gen Y-ers’ shorter lifespan to spin something everyone else has doubts about.

How does the Fiat 500 measure up technically? CNET’s Antuan Goodman describes the sporty little hatchback:

Under the hood is Fiat’s award-winning 1.4-liter MultiAir engine, which uses a sophisticated form of variable valve timing to output 101-horsepower and 98 pound-feet of torque. So, while you won’t be towing any trailers with such low power levels, we are still talking about a power-to-weight ratio similar to that of the Mazda2–which we all loved to drive. The 500 will be available with a five-speed manual transmission, with gear ratios modified for the U.S. market, or a six-speed automatic gearbox. The 500 also gets a larger 10.5 gallon fuel tank to help it cope with the longer average trips made by American buyers and an uprated climate control system to better deal with the broader range of temperatures on our continent.

In the cabin, the 500 carries its Microsoft-developed Blue & Me voice activation command for handsfree calling, as well as its available TomTom navigation system. The latter manifests itself as a 4.3-inch portable navigation device that docks at the top of the dashboard. North American 500s get new steering wheel mounted controls.

On a promising note, the Chrysler Group, which is majority owned by Fiat, is also planning on releasing an EV version of the Fiat 500 in 2012. A high-performance version of the Fiat 500 is also slated for 2012.

With a decent enough car, and urban appeal, the hipsterized Fiat brand just might work.