These Famous Products Really Missed The Mark
There are certain ideas that you hear just once, and you know they’re destined for big things. And then there are others that don’t seem quite right. When an idea falls into the latter category, an interesting thing happens sometimes, where inventors actually think they’re onto genius products that’ll take the market by storm- but don’t. Here are some examples of those instances…
The Edsel | Ford, 1957
Billed as “the car of the future,” the Edsel was rolled out by Ford Motor Company in the mid-1950s after $250 million went into its development, manufacture, and marketing. But the brakes were put on this new marvel when it was delivered with oil leaks, sticking hoods, and trunk doors and push buttons that didn’t work. Some critics compared the design of its vertical grille to a toilet seat. Discontinued in 1960, the Edsel is now considered a collector’s item.
Gerber Singles | Gerber, 1974
In the 1970s, Spam, Jell-O salad, and canned cheese whetted the appetite of consumers hungry for convenience foods. Gerber, the baby food company, thought it would tap into the craze for easy eatin’ by creating single-serving meals in jars for adults. But adult consumers, unlike babies, weren’t going for mushy meals with flavors like Beef Burgundy and Blueberry Delight.
The DeLorean | DeLorean Motor Company, 1981-1983
The DeLorean sports car rode into the annals of film history in the Back To The Future movie trilogy, but the car totally tanked, along with the American auto industry, in the 1980s. Despite a sleek stainless steel body and gull wing doors that were cooler than cool, sales of the iconic car were far from hot. Only 9,000 of them were made by 1983; thirty years after production ceased, the DeLorean Motor Company announced it would release 50 replica cars per year starting in 2017, at a cost of $100,000 each. To date, no new DeLoreans have zoomed onto the market.
New Coke | Coca-Cola, 1985
Considered by many as the worst new product of all time, New Coke showed how a soft drink can not only be soft when it comes to sales, but also be considered a total disaster. The sweeter and flatter-tasting New Coke was created to give its major competitor, Pepsi, a run for its money. The company received about 8,000 calls daily from outraged customers, and less than three months after its introduction, New Coke was no more, and Classic Coke reappeared on store shelves.
Twitter Peek | Peek, 2009
Let’s just say sales never peaked with this invention. Peek Inc. created a device that would be used solely for tweeting. Small in size, the Twitter Peek proved to be a big flop. Oddly, the Twitter tool didn’t have the capacity to show users their entire tweets and displayed only the first 20 characters.