In 1966, Pepsi released the Devil Shake, a chocolate-flavored drink marketed as a richer milk-based soda. However, Pepsi was known for cola so a chocolate milk-style drink didn’t naturally fit the Pepsi brand. In addition, it ran into production problems, didn’t have a long enough shelf life, and didn’t compete well against incumbent Yoo-Hoo who had strong brand loyalty and established distribution.
Schlitz was one of America’s top-selling beers. After a brewery strike and pressure to expand nationally, management focused heavily on increasing output and reducing costs. This led to using cheaper ingredients and stabilizers while shortened aging time. The beer became less consistent and developed haze/flavor problems. Perception then spread that Schlitz was no longer premium quality leading to competitors such as Anheuser-Busch, Miller Brewing, and Coors Brewing out executing them on quality consistency, national distribution, modern marketing, and better logistic.
Warrior Custom Golf was a direct-to-consumer golf equipment company best known for aggressive TV infomercials and “free club” promotions in the 2000s and 2010s. Warrior clubs were marketed as premium custom clubs at bargain pricing, but many golfers considered the products inconsistent in quality compared to established brands like Callaway Golf or TaylorMade Golf. The company developed a reputation for low-quality manufacturing and aggressive upselling. Bankruptcy filings described serious accounting and recordkeeping problems.
LiveWire was launched by Harley-Davidson as its electronic motorcycle division and later spun out via a SPAC in 2022. Investors initially valued it like a high-growth EV startup, but demand turned out to be much smaller than hoped. Younger EV-oriented riders often didn’t want a Harley, preferred cheaper bikes, and weren’t willing to spend luxury-motorcycle prices.
FlexICs, an early 2000s semiconductor startup, set out to commercialize a technology that could print transistors on a flexible substrate. The initial application was for flexible displays. The core tech spun out of Lawrence Berkeley Labs. They were able to get initial prototypes working, but never got to scale manufacturing. The company ultimately ran out of money when it was clear that this deeptech venture was going to take a lot more capital, which the investors around the table were not prepared to support.
Founded in 1998, Fogdog tried to become the online version of a sporting goods superstore. It sold athletic apparel, equipment, and gear online during the early e-commerce explosion. Fogdog went public in late 1999 during the peak of the dot-com bubble. Fogdog failed because they sold low-margin physical products that were expensive to warehouse and ship, they spent massive amounts of money on ads, they had difficulty competing against traditional sports goods retailers, and after the dot-com bubble burst in 2000 investor sentiment collapsed. The company was sold for $40M in a distressed deal by Global Sports in 2000 after peaking at a $700M valuation in the public market.
Launched in 1978 by Mattel, the Battlestar Galactica Cylon Raider toy was discontinued due to safety concerns. It was a die-cast and plastic spaceship featuring spring-loaded missile launchers, a functioning cockpit that opened for a small pilot figure, and landing wheels. However, children could shoot projectiles into eyes or choke on them.
The 1959 Mattel Remington Derringer belt buckle was discontinued due to safety concerns. The toy cap gun disguised as a belt buckle that flipped out and fired a small plastic projectile. It used a spring-loaded mechanism trigger by pressure on the buckle. However, the toys often fired accidently in an unpredictable direction.
Launched in 2023, KFC failed at launching roast beef sandwiches. Customers go to KFC specifically for chicken and couldn’t compete against Arby’s, the roast beef specialist. The product had no clear advantage in price, taste, or uniqueness. Meanwhile, roast beef introduced new complexity for KFC with a different prep and storage, a different supply chain, and slower assembly vs. fried chicken.
Launched in 2015, the Chizza sandwich was a “pizza-chicken” hybrid featuring two 100% white meat extra crispy fried chicken filets acting as the crust, topped with marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese, and pepperoni. People tried it once out of curiosity but few wanted it again. Common complaints were that it was heavy and greasy, the sauce made the chicken soggy, the cheese didn’t melt well and it was awkward to eat.
