Oakland Sports3

Oakland Sports

On September 26, 2024, the A’s played the last game of the 4 major professional sports in Oakland.

The A’s played 56 seasons in Oakland and won 4 World Series. The Warriors played 47 seasons in Oakland and won 3 Championships. The Raiders played 45 seasons in Oakland and won 3 Super Bowls. Oakland won a title in five straight years in the 1970s: the A’s in 1972, 1973 and 1974, the Warriors in 1975, and the Raiders in 1976.

In addition, the Seals played 10 seasons in Oakland and never won a Championship. They ended play in 1976, 15 years before the San Jose Sharks.

Bailing on Oakland ultimately came down to money—the money other municipalities had to offer for stadiums and the money that Oakland lacks amid budgetary woes.

Sony Memory Stick - Failure museum

Sony Memory Stick

The Memory Stick is a removable flash memory card format launched by Sony in 1998. Sony exclusively used Memory Stick on its products in the 2000s such as digital cameras, digital camcorders, mobile phones, TV sets, PCs, digital audio players, and the Playstation Portable game console. The SD card, jointly developed by Toshiba, Panasonic, and SanDisk became widely popular among companies and soon became the most popular flash format – by November 2003 it held 42% market share in the United States, ahead of CompactFlash’s 26% and Memory Stick with 16%.

Tupperware - Failure Museum

Tupperware

Founded in 1942, Tupperware manufactured preparation, storage, and serving containers for the kitchen and home. Tupperware filed for bankruptcy in 2024 due to declining demand and rising costs. The company’s traditional direct sales model failed to attract modern consumer, while they had rising competition from Rubbermaid, OXO, and takeout food containers that consumers recycle as there was growing public health and environmental concerns about plastic.

Sony Reader - Failure museum

Sony Reader

Sony Reader was launched in 2006, one year before Amazon’s Kindle. Sony spent more than twice of what Amazon spent on measured media, but it lost mind share by not sustaining its marketing, and failing to highlight its product superiority. Sony never offered a compelling reason to buy, there weren’t enough titles, and their store was not that easy to use. Kindle jumped them with a wireless product with a larger array of titles available, backed with strong advertising and good PR.

Rudy's Morning Coffee - Failure Museum

Rudy’s morning coffee

Rudy Giuliani is urging his supporters to buy his coffee brand one day after pleading not guilty to charges of conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

“I’ve moved at a fast pace, and have had many different roles in life, but the one constant thing has been a good cup of coffee, which is now proven to have health benefits. Please enjoy my delicious fresh roasted specialty coffee. It’s quality you can trust.”

Coca Cola Spiced - Failure Museum

Coca-Cola Spiced

Discontinued in September 2024 and only 6 months after its release, Coca-Cola Spiced was unable to attract younger drinkers. Spiced was created to attract Gen-Z drinkers, who have a thirst for punchier flavors. Coca-Cola expected the drink would become a permanent flavor since their research found an increase in consumer willingness to try a spiced beverage. Lack of awareness of this new offering and confusion about the flavor contributed to its lackluster sales.

Parfum De Mayonnaise - Failure museum

Parfum De Mayonnaise (i.e. Hellmans Mayo Fragrance)

At the heart of the fragrance lies a daring mayonnaise accord. The mayonnaise accord provides a rich, smooth texture to the fragrance, making it intriguingly complex and memorable.

Complementing the mayonnaise, a whisper of parsley adds a fresh, herbal element to the scent’s heart. The green, aromatic quality of the herb enhances the fragrance with a natural, earthy tone, reminiscent of a well-prepared dish.

The fragrance is rounded out with creamy vanilla, adding a sweet comforting finish. This note balances the tartness of the lemon and the creaminess of the mayonnaise, creating a harmonious blend that is both inviting and intriguing.

Motorola ROKR - Failure Museum

Motorola ROKR

In 2005, over a year before the first iPhone, Apple and Motorola collaborated to produce a device informally known as “the iTunes phone.” This was Apple’s first device in the cellphone market. Conceived as an iPod Shuffle mated to a cellphone, the device was called the MOTOROKR E1. 

In the end, the device proved disastrous with its cheap plastic design, poor camera and 100-song limit, it fell far short of the iPod’s promise of 1,000 songs in your pocket.

Ellume - Failure Museum

Ellume

Founded in 2009 and having raised $192M, Ellume was focused on producing digital diagnostic products during the H1N1 outbreak. Ellume secured a $300M contract to supply newly developed SARS-COV-2 kits to the US in 2019. In 2021, the product was recalled due to false positive results. Ellume went bankrupt in 2023 and owed $140M to investors, partners, contractors and staff.

Second Life - Failure Mueum

Second Life

Founded in 2001 ahead of its time, Second Life was a developer of an internet-based virtual platform intended to empower people to create, share, and benefit from virtual experiences. The three-dimensional virtaul world allows people to create, buy, sell, and experience virtual content through a sereis of content creation, land management and transactional tools.