Launched and discontinued in 2006, ESPN burned through $150M (including $30M on a Super Bowl ad) for its mobile phone and only hit 6% of its sales target. ESPN built a wireless service and special phone so sports nuts could receive score updates, l ...
Launched in 2004, Febreze Scent Stories was a clamshell device which added new scents every five minutes within a 30-minute disc. They proclaimed: “You can play scents… like you play music!" By making Shania Twain its spokesperson who helped with ...
Launched in 1987, HyperCard was a tool for making tools – Mac users could use Hypercard to build their own mini-programs to balance their taxes, manage sports statistics, make music – all kinds of individualized software that would be useful (or fun ...
Launched in 2024, the Rabbit R1 is supposed to be a "super-clever, ultra-helpful AI assistant" which was pre-ordered by over 100,000 people. However, the R1 is underwhelming, underpowered, and undercooked. It can’t do much of anything.
Launched in 1981 and discontinued in 1982, Life Savers Soda actually fared well in taste tests. But it tanked once in stores. Explained one brand critic, quoted in the 2005 book Brand Failures: "The Life Savers name gave consumers the impression the ...
Launched in 2008 on Shark Tank, Uroclub is a urinal disguised as a golf club. "The discreet sanitary solution for your urgent relief looks like an average nine iron. But the edge of the club contains a radical reservoir, ending your pee plea withou ...
Launched in 1998 and discontinued in 2002, HP Jornada was HP's personal digital assistant. It had several product issues leading to multiple recalls, while it wasn't as popular as other hand held devices.
Launched in 2003, the Starbucks Barista Bar Blender cost $100. An ad for the blender reads, "Whip up everything from rich coffee smoothies to creamy dessert drinks, even frosty cocktails — all in a matter of moments." The company released a fe ...
Founded in 2015 and shut down in 2021 after raising $2B, Katerra's goal was to be a one-stop-shop, vertically integrated, construction project management company. Katerra emphasized very heavily on growth, disruption, and innovation, without having ...
Launched in 2004 and discontinued in 2008, Mars spent $39M for media for this underperforming bar, which embeds M&M's into a chocolate bar. They used a cheaper chocolate that never appealed to M&M consumers while TV ads, some of which aired ...
