"That guy doesn't really need the dollar. He just likes collecting."
"Do you see the business opportunity here?" Hardy asked.
"Business opportunity? What business opportunity?"
Bill was confused. How could there be a business opportunity with a bottle cap?
"A bottle of Coke costs 5 cents, 12 bottles cost 60 cents, but 12 bottle caps can be exchanged for a dollar. Don't you think Coca Cola will lose money?"
Bill thought and agreed.
"Yeah, Coca Cola would lose money."
Hardy grabbed a handful of bottle caps, "There's a catch. Coca Cola says collecting 12 zodiac signs can be exchanged for one dollar, but two of the images are very rare. They control the number of these two bottle caps to manage the prize payout."
Bill's eyes lit up as he thought of sothing.
A look of excitent appeared on his face.
"Boss, making bottle caps isn't complicated. We could set up a factory to produce the zodiac images Coca Cola controls and sell them. This could be a great business."
Bill was very sharp when it ca to doing such a shady business.
"Not just in LA. Other cities too. Just send a few people to wholesale to local small ti crooks. If the volu is large, this business will definitely be profitable."
"Boss, I get what you an by digging Coca Cola corners," Bill said excitedly.
"Exactly. But this must be done discreetly. The Los City Company won't be directly involved, only secretly wholesaling. Let small ti crooks in other cities do the actual work," Hardy instructed.
"I understand. Those street crooks don't make much money daily. If they get a money making opportunity, they'll be more enthusiastic than anyone," Bill said with a smile.
Hardy thought for a mont, "Produce 10 million each of Gemini and Virgo bottle caps. Once done, shut down all the machines and clean up everything. Store the caps separately. After half a month, distribute them to major cities nationwide and start selling."
"Why wait?" Bill asked.
"So there's only the product but no trace. No one can find the source," Hardy explained.
"I understand, boss." Bill left happily.
Hardy took a sip of his drink. Stay connected through m-v l|e'-
For Hardy, digging Coca Cola corners with bottle caps was just a side job. The main purpose was to hurt Coca Cola.
A bottle of Coke costs 5 cents. One cent can make 10 tal bottle caps. The cost of making 20 million bottle caps is only $20,000. But this $20,000 could cause imnse damage to Coca Cola.
Initially, they won't notice. But when more people exchange, Coca Cola will realize the problem. They have two options: stop the prize exchange imdiately to cut losses, which will hurt their reputation, or continue exchanging, which will cost them a fortune. Hardy thought the latter was unlikely because the cost would be too high, possibly wiping out Coca Cola's profits for several years.
Even if the managent wanted to preserve their reputation, the shareholders wouldn't agree.
No matter what Coca Cola chose, the result would be the sa: the prize exchange would be stopped, and future similar promotions would be unlikely.
Their reputation would take a hit.
Their business would suffer greatly, and recovering from the loss would require imnse effort and money.
Hardy's move was ruthless.
But that's the nature of business competition.
He also thought of Pepsi's prize exchange promotion. Soone might try to counterfeit caps to scam prizes. Hardy planned to remind Mack to improve anti counterfeiting asures to avoid losses.
After Bill left, the butler approached Hardy with a tray in hand, which held a letter.
"Mr. Hardy, a letter has just arrived for you."
Hardy was surprised as to who would send him a letter.
He picked it up and saw it was sent by Victor from London.
The letter was thick, containing dozens of pages. Upon reading it, Hardy realized it was more like Victor's recent work report than a regular letter.
Although they could communicate via telegram, many confidential pieces of information couldn't be exposed to outsiders, so Victor resorted to this most primitive and secure thod.
In the letter, Victor detailed his work over the past two months.
Upon arriving in London, Victor first rented a storefront in the busiest district. He explained that establishing Hardy Group's reputation was crucial, and Hardy agreed. Sotis, appearances were very important.
Then, with the help of the consulate's consul, Victor invited prominent figures from England's political and business circles to a banquet, successfully opening up the market.
Reading this, Hardy nodded. Victor, being a well traveled person, had a very sharp mind. This was the main reason Hardy sent him there in the first place. Often, people who have been to prison are quite talented.
Initially, the acquisition of artwork was diocre, only a few pieces per day. But after the arrival of penicillin, Victor first sold so to London's hospitals. This thod indirectly inford others that he had a large quantity of penicillin.
Sure enough, this attracted major clients.
Victor detailed his transactions with these clients in the letter, and Hardy noted everything.
Although Hardy wasn't there, he could guess that soone was profiting from the current crisis by selling cultural relics and artworks.
It's not surprising to see people selling national artworks for personal gain during this ti, possibly even those at the top. After all, not many could handle such large scale transactions.
In the letter, Victor asked whether they should continue acquiring these artworks as the quantity has exceeded their expectations.
Hardy called for pen and paper and wrote a few words.
"Buy them all, with a price reduction of over 30%. Issue Wells Fargo bank checks, which can only be cashed after arriving in the US. Each transaction's check number should be recorded and information retained by the bank."
He handed the note to the bodyguard beside him.
"Take this to the telegraph office and send it to Victor."
The bodyguard left with the ssage.
Hardy thought for a mont and then called Mark Kean, the president of Universal Tis. "Has the newspaper established a branch in London?"
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