The Chaotic Swatch x AP Royal Pop Launch Was Entirely Predictable and Utterly Avoidable

[Narrator] The catastrophic Swatch

and Audemars Piguet launch

was entirely predictable and utterly avoidable.

Long queues, sudden closures, arrests and fights took place

outside stores across the world,

including in Singapore, Dubai, New Delhi, Mumbai, London,

Milan, as seen in this footage,

Dusseldorf, Paris, Miami, Houston, Chicago, and New York,

where amazingly pepper spray was used.

Customers disappointed by stores

having insufficient stock of the Royal Pop pocket watches

that mirror the design of $20,000 luxury APs,

made their feelings clear in storefront interviews

on how poorly the release has been handled by Swatch.

It wasn't until 2:00 PM Eastern Time,

17 hours after the first warning signs in Singapore,

that Swatch finally issued a statement

saying the Royal Pop Collection would be available

for several months

and urging people not to rush to stores.

But this was far too little, far too late.

In a statement issued to Wired,

Swatch insisted that the launch was a success

and issues had been experienced in only 20

out of the 220 Swatch stores.

Audemars Piguet was less forthcoming,

not responding when asked by Wired

if it considered Swatch's handling of the Royal Pop launch

a safe and positive experience.

But what's most remarkable is that Swatch appears

to have learned no lessons

from its MoonSwatch release in 2022,

which saw similarly chaotic scenes.

Experts, however,

tell us how it could have been all very different.

Read the full piece at wired.com

and let us know in the comments

what you think of the launch.