40 failed products
Nathan Johnson
Published
07/24/2018
in
facepalm
what were they thinking?
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1.
In 1982 Colgate came up with the weirdest brand extension idea. They decided to sell frozen dinners. This plan backfired, probably because consumers couldn't help but think that the Colgate food tasted just like their toothpaste. No company launches a product thinking that it will decrease sales of their other products, but Colgate should've seen it coming. Their toothpaste sales plummeted after the launch of the kitchen entrees line. -
2.
Clippy is described by some as the worst user interfaces ever developed. Clippy was designed to pop up whenever the software though that the user need help and annoyed quite a few people. After Microsoft acknowledged it's unpopularity they decided to remove the feature. -
3.
In 2005 someone at Frito-Lay decided it would be a great idea to launch a Cheetos' flavored lip balm. Even those who had never tried Cheetos will know why this idea flopped. -
4.
In 2012 Bic released a product for women they didn't even know they needed - "lady pens". These pointlessly gendered pens were mocked and failed to gain a consumer base -
5.
In 2000 Heinz decided to add an unexpected twist to their ketchup to catch children's attention. They came up with Ez Squirt colored ketchup which came in three main colors: teal, green, and purple. The idea wasn't meant to last on the market. After 6 years it was discontinued. -
6.
Donald Trump kicked off his “world’s greatest” line of premium steaks in 2007. However, consumers didn't think the steaks were great. The product was discontinued after just 2 months for not selling well. -
7.
In 1994 a bottled water for cats and dogs were launched. These beverages were carbonated, vitamin enriched and flavored. The product flopped after consumers realized that it's actually completely unnecessary to give pets this kind of beverage -
8.
In 1999 the nightmarish Rejuvenique Facial Toning Mask was launched. This creepy mask was intended to tighten facial muscles with... shock therapy. Consumers revealed that it feels as bad as it sounds. -
9.
In 2011 Google launched its new social network Google+. However, it never lived up to their expectations of becoming a Facebook competitor. It was a huge disappointment -
10.
In 1998 Frito-Lay introduced new fat-free potato chips. People seemed to be hyped with this "miracle food" and within the first year sales reached $400 million. But sales plummeted soon after when it was revealed that the chips contain Olestra, a fat substitute with very undesirable side effects, such as abdominal cramping and loose stools. -
11.
In 1992 Pepsi introduced a clear soda, "Crystal Pepsi". The product died a year later. David C. Novak who is credited with introducing the Crystal Pepsi concept admitted: "It would have been nice if I'd made sure the product tasted good". -
12.
In 2015 hoverboards turned out to be one of the biggest tech flops. why? Because they can potentially catch fire and burn your house down. -
13.
In 1985 Coca-Cola Co. decided to reformulate Coke. The company invested $4 million into the nationwide taste test. And despite the New Coke doing well in taste tests, after the launch, people's reactions were extremely negative. Within three months of the New Coke's launch, the company had to reintroduce the original formula and rebrand it as Coca-Cola Classic. -
14.
In 1988 RJ Reynolds Tobacco decided to develop a smokeless cigarette. The company invested $325 million into the manufacturing and came up with cigarettes branded as Premier which, according to the CEO of the company "tasted like sh*t". It's no surprise people didn't buy them. -
15.
TwitterPeek was the first and the last Twitter-only mobile device launched in 2009. As it turns out it was made to do only one thing - send and receive tweets, but failed at it. The device gave only a 20-character preview of the tweets. No surprise that consumers made a hard pass on this device. -
16.
In 2013 Juicero introduced a juicer called the Juicero Press. This device was sold with packets of pre-juiced fruits and vegetables sold exclusively by the company. The company faced scrutiny when consumers realized that these packets could be squeezed by hand just as efficiently as with a juicer. Later, company announced that it was suspending the sales of the juicer and repurchasing it from costumers. -
17.
Amazon decided to enter the smartphone market with the Fire Phone in 2014. However, it was very unsuccessful and was discontinued a year later. The company's CEO Tom Szkutak indicated that the pricing strategy was to blame for this product fail. -
18.
This energy drink was pulled from shelves in the US because of its suggestive name. The FDA decided that Cocaine was "was illegally marketing the drink as both a street drug alternative and a dietary supplement". The drink is still sold in Europe under its original name. -
19.
In 1999 Cosmopolitan magazine decided to get into the food game. They came up with the idea of Cosmopolitan yogurt and although it seemed that the magazine's target audience loved yogurt, they didn't love the ones Cosmopolitan sold. It was discontinued only after 18 months. -
20.
Atari spent $20 million to secure the box office hit E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial thinking they had found a profitable source for video game development. The company produced 4 million cartridges however 2.5 million were left unsold and were dumped in a landfill -
21.
Google Glass, launched in 2013, was a very flawed attempt to create smart glasses. The device retailed for $1,500 and failed to carry out any of its intended functions well. These high-tech glasses also reportedly raised some very serious safety and privacy concerns. -
22.
In 2016 Jimmy Dean introduced a strange combination - sausage link wrapped with chocolate chip pancakes on a stick. For a quite obvious reason, this product didn't last long. -
23.
Orbitz drink which resembles a lava lamp caught consumers attention in 1988. However, according to reviews, its taste wasn't worth the hype. People began comparing the beverage to cough syrup and the gel balls were only making the taste worse. -
24.
You probably know this car for its appearance in Back to the Future movie. Notable for its gull-wing doors the car was plagued by performance and safety issues. It was on the market only for three years until the production was stopped -
25.
In 2017 everyone was talking about this explosive failure - the Samsung Galaxy Note 7. It lasted less than a year in the market after Samsung had to recall around 2.5million phones, due to complaints of overheating and exploding batteries. -
26.
Starbucks and Pepsi partnered to make this carbonated coffee-soda. People couldn't decide whether they liked or hated the drink. Nevertheless, it was discontinued after failing to appeal to a broad audience. -
27.
In 2006 Coca-Cola combined Cola with caffeine and introduced new beverage Blak. The drink was shelved a couple years later when people began to complain of poor taste and excess caffeine -
28.
In 1989 Pepsi introduced Pepsi A.M. This new formula contained more caffeine than regular Pepsi and was marketed as a morning drink. However, consumers were not fond of the idea of drinking Pepsi for breakfast. As a result, Persi A.M. was discontinued a year later -
29.
Burger King's attempt to make french fries a little more healthy backfired.They introduced Satisfries in 2013 as an alternative to regular fried, except with less fat and fewer calories. Consumers weren't fond of these revamped fries, and Burger Kind had to go back to their original recipe. -
30.
In 1989 Bic decided to launch a completely unrelated product to its brand - perfume. People were not impressed. Bic removed the fragrance off shelves the following year, swallowing an estimated $11 million loss. -
31.
In 2002 Pepsi launched a new drink Pepsi Blue to compete with Vanilla Coke. Despite being heavily promoted this new beverage flopped. It was meant to take like berries, however, consumers said it tastes more like more like cotton candy with a berry-like aftertaste. -
32.
Microsoft introduced a software called Bob in 1995. The Bob was supposed to make windows more user-friendly by transforming the desktop screen into an image of a room to help users find and understand programs better. However, it was a huge unworkable mess and Bob was discontinued a year later. -
33.
In 2006 Microsoft came up with a Zune, which supposed to become an iPods rival. However, Zune failed to convince consumers that it's as good as the iPod. In 2011 Zune players were discontinued. -
34.
Back in 2003 playing games on our phones wasn't a thing yet. So Nokia decided to combine phones and gaming. The reception of Nokia N-gage wasn't what Nokia excepted. This 'taco phone', as some people began referring to it, managed to reach only one-third sales of its 6 million units. -
35.
Operating system Windows Vista released in 2007 turned out to be a huge failure. It flopped due to issues with new security features, performance, driver support and product activation. -
36.
In 1996 McDonald decided to broaden its target demographic by introducing a burger Arch Deluxe. Mustard-mayonnaise sauce was supposed to appeal to adult tastes, however, even a $100 million advertising campaign couldn't convince grown-ups to eat the burger. The Arch Deluxe was soon discontinued and its marketing campaign now is considered to be one of the most expensive flops of all time. -
37.
Mars Needs Moms was an utter disappointment for Disney. The animated film cost $150 million to produce and probably $50 million more went to marketing. The saddest part is that the movie only made only $6.9 million in its debut at the domestic box office. It is considered the worst flop of 2011. -
38.
Despite being able to offer higher quality video and audio than its rivals, Laserdisc failed to gain traction -
39.
Introduced in 2009 Vio a beverage by The Coca-cola company failed to win consumer's hearts. Why? Probably because flavored milk mixed with carbonated water is an odd combination. -
40.
In 2011 Time magazine listed this game among "Top 10 Donald Trump Failures". This game was released in 1989 with only 800,000 copies sold out of an expected two million.
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