The Tornado Vacuum Cleaner Company produces and sells three different types of upright vacuum cleaners: (1) the F1, (2) the F3, and (3) the F5. Each vacuum cleaner shares certain basic features such as a 15-inch cleaning width, edge groomers, headlight, and 31-foot power cord. However, the vacuums differ in the power offered (the F5 has a 12-amp motor and dual agitators), versatility (the F5 comes with five cleaning tools, whereas the F3 comes with three cleaning tools and the F1 has only one cleaning tool), and ease of use (both the F3 and the F5 are manufactured without belt drives—thus, customers do not need to purchase or install a replacement belt as they ultimately would have to for the F1).

Management of Tornado has provided you with the following data for their most recent year of operations:

In addition, management has informed you that annual fixed costs amounted to $3,860,000.

Required:
a. What was Tornado’s profit for the most recent year?
b. Assume that Tornado wants to spend $150,000 on advertising. To maximize impact, management believes it should focus all advertising dollars on one of the three vacuum cleaners. Regardless of the product chosen, Tornado estimates that sales of the targeted vacuum cleaner will increase by $600,000, whereas sales for each of the other two vacuum cleaners are expected to decrease by $60,000. Which vacuum cleaner should be the focus of the advertising campaign? By how much is profit expected to increase as a result of the advertising campaign?
c. In part (b), Tornado’s management assumed that, regardless of the product chosen for the advertising campaign, the increase in sales revenue will be constant at $600,000. What assumption is management making? Likewise, management also assumed that the decline in sales revenue associated with the two vacuum cleaners not selected for the advertising campaign will be constant at $60,000. Do you believe these assumptions accurately depict reality?Why?

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Vacuum Cleaner F1 F3 FS Variable cost per unit Quantity sold Selling price per unt 150 S200 $400 $75$110 $240 25,000 5,000 10,000