Ten highly anticipated and highly promoted products that were duds – Listverse
Capitalism is the core of our society; companies and businesses produce consumer goods. This system breeds innovation. However, with a competitive free market, a company cannot create just one product in the same way and remain successful indefinitely. As time passes, products need to be innovated, upgraded and improved.
Sometimes audiences like a new version of an old favorite. Other times, not only do people not like it, but the product sells out to the point where stores can’t give it away. Often a company spends millions on advertising campaigns and marketing, whether it’s a new twist on an old favorite or an entirely new item. When a well-known company does this and still can’t move the product, it’s considered a “dud.” These are the ten biggest duds of all time.
Related: Top 10 Bizarre Canceled Food Products
10 Crystal Pepsi, 1992
In 1992, Pepsi tried, not for the first time, to introduce a new version of its classic cola. Crystal Pepsi was sold for two years in the US, Australia and Europe. The product failed due to branding issues, corporate sabotage by archrival Coca-Cola, and general consumer dissatisfaction with the product’s taste.
These factors culminated in one of the most famous product flops in history. The YUM! Corporation took over Pepsi Crystal’s operations and received many complaints that the product did not taste enough like Pepsi; they didn’t do anything about it. Despite an attempted reboot in 2016, the product never justified the millions spent on ad campaigns and is still considered an epic failure.[1]
9 Apple Newton, 1993
The Newton is a series of personal digital assistants (PDAs) developed by Apple Inc. It was technologically innovative, but had early problems with its handwriting recognition software, and combined with ridiculous prices, the product ultimately failed. Apple originally began developing the Newton in 1987. The device hit shelves in August 1993 and production ended in February 1998.
According to former Apple CEO John Sculley, the company invested approximately $100 million in developing the device, and the term “Personal Digital Assistant” was first coined in reference to the Newton. Although Apple benefited from the Newton, other companies developed their own cheaper PDAs, increasing sales. The product was discontinued after five years and is still considered a monumental flop.[2]
8 RJ Reynolds’ Smokeless Cigarettes, 1989
RJ Reynolds is the manufacturer of cigarette brands such as Newport and Camel. The company has been active in the tobacco field for over a hundred years. Under pressure from anti-smoking campaigns in the 1980s, Reynolds poured more than $300 million into a new product, “The Smokeless Cigarette.” The plan was as laughable as it sounds. This product allowed the tobacco to be heated but not ignited; the taste and smell produced were not the same as that of a lit cigarette.
The smokeless cigarette was only tested in a handful of cities in Arizona and Missouri. In addition to the flavor being sub-par, the cigarette was difficult to light and did not fulfill the task of creating a carcinogenic cigarette. After just five months, the product was removed from the shelves. According to a March 1, 1989 issue of the New York TimesReynolds gave up cigarettes because consumers had firmly rejected them.[3]
7 McDonald’s Arch Deluxe, 1996
McDonald’s has been expanding its menu for decades, and in 1996 the fast food giant introduced the Arch Deluxe. It targeted an advanced demographic and was just as successful as you might think. After spending more than $150 million on marketing campaigns, the burger was removed from the menu before the end of the decade. Despite hiring chef Andrew Selvaggio to create the sandwich, sophisticated suburbanites weren’t interested. It consisted of a quarter pound of beef on a sesame seed potato roll with split top, topped with a round piece of peppery bacon, leaf lettuce, tomato, American cheese, onions, ketchup and Dijonnaise sauce.
The Arch Deluxe was the biggest failure in McDonald’s marketing history. Problems with advertising agencies, a disinterested demographic, and a lack of franchisee support have made this product known as “A Great Burger and a Great Flop.” Prior to launch, the Arch was expected to generate $1 billion for McDonald’s; Needless to say, it wasn’t right. In 2018, the company attempted to reboot the product with the Arch Burger, a similar sandwich with a similar result, which compounded McDonald’s most epic failure.[4]
6 Cosmopolitan yoghurt, 1999
Cosmopolitan magazine has been around since the 1880s and is widely considered the standard in fashion and family magazines. For unknown reasons, the company produced a yogurt line in 1999. The late 1990s and early 2000s saw an oversaturated yogurt market, and the product was discontinued after just 18 months. The tasty snack was overpriced at over a dollar per unit. Combining sex and dairy was a gamble, and “Cosmo” readers were not impressed.
The brand extension Cosmopolitan in service is called piggyback marketing; it made for a disappointing product launch and was the only marketing the product saw. “Although there isn’t much information about the details of Cosmos failed venture, it is clear that the product suffered from a significant lack of connection with the Cosmos brand and its other products. Finally, brand extension (or piggyback marketing) was tried Cosmos was too big a step.” Cosmos had created an overpriced product in a saturated market and ignored a potential demographic, leading to the most epic failure.[5]
5 Google Glasses, 2012
Project Glass is a “Moonshot” technology developed under the Google (GOOG) X initiative. The product was mismarketed, giving the public a distorted view of what to expect from Glass. Initially it was going to be promoted as a futuristic prototype, but a hype arose around the launch, coupled with a high price tag. Glass subsequently failed to meet expectations.
Google has spent hundreds of millions of dollars rolling out this product between research, development and marketing. Unfortunately, they spent little to no money explaining it. The product was unintuitive and did not deliver what the consumer thought they were being promised. In just three years, Google discontinued the product; the marketing team had dropped the ball. There was no actual launch, explanation of the product or regular advertising, and it was difficult to buy. While this product had potential, it was an epic failure.[6]
4 Mobile ESPN, 2006
Introduced in January 2006, ESPN Mobile was a short-lived “mobile virtual network operator,” or MVNO. ESPN’s idea was to sell phones that exclusively offered ESPN content and video, renting network access from Verizon Wireless. But ESPN only had one phone at launch, an overpriced Sanyo device. No one bought the product, even after ESPN poured $150 million into it, including a reported $30 million for a Super Bowl ad. Despite the investment, the project achieved only six percent of the sales forecast.
The idea was scrapped in late 2006, less than a year after launch. Mobile ESPN may be the biggest failure in the company’s history, but it also paved the way for ESPN to dominate the industry. Although the service was considered too expensive and a failure, in retrospect the actual data, audiovisual backbone and software behind the service would be successfully re-adapted for the smartphone era several years later, regardless of any specific carrier.[7]
3 Gerber Singles, 1974
In 1974, Gerber Foods decided to innovate the baby food industry with food aimed at… adults. They produced small pots of burgundy beef, Mediterranean vegetables and blueberry delight. Since Gerber has been making baby food since 1927, it seemed like the 1970s was the perfect time to move into adult food. One small problem: no one wanted a spoonful of cream of beef.
While the logic makes sense, something about eating from a small glass jar proved unappealing to even the loneliest of people. Gerber’s marketing team believed the product would work based on the lower birth and marriage rates of the time. They saw 40 million singles, accounting for approximately $205 million in unsold profits. Although a valiant effort, Gerber Singles was an epic failure.[8]
2 Ford Edsel, 1957
Bill Gates cites the Edsel as his favorite case study. Even the name ‘Edsel’ is synonymous with ‘marketing failure’. Henry Ford was the original car manufacturer and Ford Motors created some of the most classic cars in history. In 1957 they introduced the Edsel, an expansion of the Lincoln-Mercury Division to three brands: the Mercury-Edsel-Lincoln Division. The model is named after Ford’s son, Edsel Ford.
Americans wanted smaller, more fuel-efficient cars. However, Ford Motors executives failed to define the model’s niche in the automotive market. The prices and market target of most Edsel models were too high for a product that consumers did not want. It was withdrawn from the market in 1960.[9]
1 Betamax, 1975
In the 1970s there was a huge rivalry between home video formats, VHS versus Betamax. Beta was released in 1975 and allowed consumers to record up to an hour of television footage, while the VHS equivalent released in 1977 allowed for two hours, and the war between the two began. This feud lasted for over a decade, and while both recording formats have their unique qualities, they are very similar, causing the format war to continue for years.
In the end, VHS won even though Betamax had a higher resolution. VHS was preferred by most consumers due to its affordability and recording time. Despite being somewhat popular for almost a decade, many people today have never heard of Betamax; it is the greatest epic failure of all time.[10]