A vice president of marketing proposes a new program to significantly increase product sales by 250,000 units per year throughout the 1998-2004...

Unit Price  $20.00 $20.60 $21.00 $21.15 $21.25 $21.25 $21.00

The SG&A expenditure is estimated at $1.25 million in 1998, and it will increase by 3 percent per year during the six-year period. A corporate tax of 40 percent must be paid for any marginal income. There is an interest charge during this period, and the company's weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is 8 percent.

           If the company's hurdle rate for this type of investment is 25 percent, and the NPV (Net Present Value) for the proposed marketing initiative is negative at that hurdle rate of 0.25, why would you not recommend the marketing initiative be approved? Explain in depth.