50 Failed Products Companies Deeply Regret Making

In 1982, toothpaste company Colgate made an entry into the food business, but it did not turn out well. It probably had to do with the fact that the brand name has become associated with dental fluoride.

Customers were not enthusiastic about the beef lasagna, as they could not help but think that it tasted just like the Colgate toothpaste. This poor entry into the market also led to decreased sales of their toothpaste.

This is one of the weirdest combinations in the history of pancakes. Jimmy Dean introduced this recipe in 2016. It contained sausage links wrapped in chocolate chips placed on a stick.

It is not surprising that consumers did not find these chocolate chip pancakes enjoyable. It is easy to understand why this recipe was stopped after a short while.

Samsung is a global brand, so it always makes the news whenever any of their products fail to impress. This was the case with Samsung Galaxy Note 7, their flagship phone for 2017.

There were several reports of overheating and exploding batteries which led the company to recall up to 2.5 million phones. The production of this phone was stopped after less than a year.

In trying to keep up with competition, Pepsi launched a new product called Pepsi Blue in 2002. Pepsi Blue was produced to compete with Vanilla Coke, but it failed on the market.

Despite heavy promotion, the taste of Pepsi was the main reason why it failed. Marketed as a berry cola fusion drink, consumers were of the opinion that it tasted like cotton candy with an aftertaste of berry.

Just like hoverboards, Google Glass was a product that many predicted would be around for a long time. Surprisingly, Google Glass failed to make a big mark on the market.

This was for a number of reasons, prominent among which was the fact that it did not have much value for users when its price was considered exceptionally high. It retailed for $1500 but did not provide value for money. There were also a lot of questions asked about privacy and safety.

Another case of brand venturing that failed, Bic launched a perfume in 1989. Everything about the branding of the product was great, from the packaging to the pocket-friendly price.

Consumers were however not impressed by the fragrance and Bic had to stop production after just one year. They recorded an estimated loss of $11 million.

A toning facial mask, the Rejuvenique face mask was launched in 1999 but did not last long in the market. The function of the mask was to tighten facial muscles, but the method which it used was quite questionable.

The mask tightened face muscles using shock therapy. This turned out to be quite uncomfortable for users and even near nightmarish. It was not long before its production was stopped.

In 2000, Heinz thought it would be a good idea to make their ketchup more kid-friendly. To achieve this, they added three new colors—purple, green, and teal.

It turned out that having green, purple, and teal ketchup on fries was not as appealing as Heinz thought it would be. The production of EZ Squirt colored ketchup was stopped in 2006 after six years.

Frito-Lay started the production of Wow! in 1998. Wow! was a fat-free potato chip that helped consumers stay off fat while enjoying their potato chips. Unlike many products on the list, Wow! was successful early on, with Frito-Lay making up to $400 million in sales.

It was however discovered that Wow! contained a fat substitute known as Olestra. Olestra caused consumer stomach issues and abdominal cramps, and this saw Wow! lose popularity.

In 2011, technology giant Google established a social network platform called Google+. Like many social networks launched at that time, Google+ was set up to rival Facebook. This was however not the case, as Google+ did not live up to expectations.

There were a lot of controversies surrounding its usage as well. The minimal success of this platform led to a total redesign in 2015, four years after launching.

It says a lot about the unpredictability of business when big brands like Coca-Cola also experience product failure. Coca-Cola set up a plan to reformulate Coke in 1985, with the product New Coke. New Coke did very well in a nationwide taste test that cost the company $4 million.

It was, however, a different case after it was launched, as the feedback was largely negative. The company had to revert to the original formula, this time branding it as Coca-Cola Classic.

In 1982, gaming company Atari secured the gaming rights for box office success E.T. The Extra-Terrestial. They spent about $20 million to secure these rights believing that the game would be a hit just like the movie.

This was not the case, as E.T. recorded one of the biggest commercial failures in the history of gaming. Atari produced 4 million cartridges, out of which 2.5 million ended up in a landfill.

Zune was a portable media player that was produced by Microsoft to rival Apple’s iPod. Zune, however, did not make a strong impression and production was eventually stopped. The reasons for the failure of Microsoft Zune include the lateness of its release.

Zune was released in 2006, five years after the iPod. It also did not have features that set it apart from iPod, and its marketing was quite poor as well.

The only film on the list, Mars Need Moms is considered the biggest movie flop of 2011. The animated film shot in 3D cost $150 million for production with a further $50 million spent on marketing.

Disappointing is an understatement of its performance at the domestic box office, as the movie made only $6.9 million on its debut, a tiny percentage of the money spent.

Starbucks announced the unicorn frappuccino on their Instagram feeds to a lot of excitement, as it ticked all the boxes for aesthetics.

The looks and hype did not match the taste, as some described it as being too artificial. This left many Starbucks customers disappointed.

With satisfries, Burger King made an attempt to promote healthy eating, but it backfired. Launched in 2013 as an alternative to normal fries, satisfries contained fewer calories but also less fries.

Despite its obvious health benefits, customers were not quite impressed by the new french fries. Burger King eventually stopped satisfries and reverted to their normal recipe.

This idea is similar to the one behind the Colgate Beef Lasagna discussed above. The only difference is that in this case, the lip balm actually had the flavor of Cheetos, and was not just a figment of the imagination.

Consumers apparently did not need a Cheetos flavored lip balm, as this product did not do well on the market.

When hoverboards were released in 2015, many expected them to be popular for a long time. This was however not the case, as the hazards of this exciting toy turned out to be greater than its uses.

Hoverboard fires were a common occurrence as a result of exploding batteries (caused by prolonged charging or usage) and these electric skateboards were phased out in no time.

Windows Vista, the operating system released by Microsoft in 2007, was not quite a success as it was generally disliked by users. The reasons for the failure of Windows Vista include the questionable driver support, concerns over the security features, the time-consuming product activation, as well as the general performance of the software.

Too many, it is the worst operating system that Microsoft ever put out.

The only car manufactured by the Delorean Motor Company, Delorean Dmc-12 achieved fame but not commercial success. Produced in 1981, the car made an appearance in the movie Back to the Future as a time machine.

Despite being a trademark of the movie, the car did not do well on the market as it was affected by a lack of consumer interest, safety concerns, as well as performance issues. Production of the Delorean Dmc-12 was stopped in 1984 after the company went bankrupt.

Released in 2006 by Coca-Cola, Blak was a combination of cola and coffee. Blak was an attempt to combine the trademark taste of Coke with coffee in order to give early risers the much-needed caffeine boost. The taste of Blak, however, did not sit well with a lot of consumers.

It was hard to make out what it really tasted like, and the taste was poor at that. Caffeine also proved to be excess and the product was discontinued after a while.

In 1974, Gerber launched a product line which would have been tagged genius if it worked. A baby-food giant, Gerber ventured into the production of “baby-food” for adults.

Gerber Singles were ready-made food in a jar and came in different flavors including Blueberry Delight, Beef Burgundy, and Mediterranean Vegetables. It turned out adults would rather eat adult food and Gerber Singles failed on the market.

The year 2003 saw a lot of people playing games on their smartphones. In an attempt to improve the gaming experience, Nokia combined gaming and phones with the Nokia N-Gage. Nokia N-Gage was not the success they envisioned as it was released to poor reception.

The shape of the phone raised some questions, it was referred to as ‘taco phone’. Nokia N-Gage was a commercial failure as only 1.8 million of the 6 million phones produced were sold.

A new recipe is not always the best way to win new customers, as McDonald’s found out in 1996. The Arch Deluxe was released to broaden the target demographic to include adults with mustard-mayonnaise sauce expected to do the trick.

This plan didn’t work out, however, even after $100 million was spent on an advertising campaign. The marketing campaign for this product is among the most expensive flops of all time.

In 1990, Maxwell House brought pre-brewed coffee in a cardboard box to the market. Although this idea was a good one and could have started a cold coffee trend, Maxwell House did not take the opportunity.

Instead, they suggested that consumers heat up their coffee before consumption. This made the point of their product quite needless and they had to stop production after a while.

Before voice assistants like Alexa and Siri came to be, there existed an office assistant named Clippy. Developed by Microsoft in the 1990s, a great number of people think Clippy ranks highly among the worst user interfaces ever.

The main issue with Clippy was that it always managed to annoy users. It was programmed to pop up whenever it felt users needed help, but its leering eyes did not make too many users fond of it.

In 2009, Coca Cola attempted to enter the dairy market with Vio. This drink came in very colorful bottles which made them quite attractive. With different exciting flavors including Very Berry, Peach Mango, Exotic, Citrus Burst, and Tropical Colada, Vio had all the markers of being a huge success.

The taste, however, was not appreciated by consumers, as a lot of people didn’t like the combination of flavored milk and carbonated water.

Known for their lifestyle magazine that held sway all through the 2000s, Cosmopolitan made a foray into the food business in 1999. Cosmopolitan Yogurt was popular within their demographics but failed to fully make a crossover to the major market.

As such, it failed on the market and production was stopped just after 18 months. Safe to say, the yogurt did not sell as much as the news.

Four Loko, the product of Drink Four Brewing Company, was released in 2005. Four Loko was an alcoholic beverage that contained caffeine. The problem with this drink was not the taste but with the effect on the health of consumers.

There were always legal, ethical, and health concerns and the FDA declared it a public health concern in 2011. Production was finally stopped in 2016.

A two-wheeler self-balancing transport, Segway FT was launched by Segway in 2001. Even though, it was predicted to record great success on the market, Segway FT turned out to be a failure.

This was partly because of its expensive price, as well as being largely unnecessary for consumers. Less than 10,000 units of Segway FT were sold in the first two years, a massive letdown on the 10,000 units per week predictions made by experts.

Another failed product from Microsoft, Microsoft Bob was a software launched in 1995. The idea behind this software was to create a software that was more user-friendly, and for this purpose the desktop screen had the picture of room.

This screen looked hideous and failed on the aesthetic front. Furthermore, it was not as user-friendly as intended to be and users found it to be an unworkable mess. It was scrapped in 1996.

In 1995, Apple launched a console called the Apple Pippin, which surprisingly was not a success. In fact, out of the 100,000 units produced, only 42,000 were sold. Pippin came at a time when names like PlayStation, Sega, and Nintendo reigned supreme in the gaming world.

It was, therefore, not possible for this console to disrupt the market. The fact that the console had web browsing and educational features did not help matters.

Nintendo launched the Nintendo Virtual Boy in 1995, and it ended up being a failed product. Virtual Boy, according to Nintendo, was the first virtual reality console. This was not the truth, as the parallax effect was what was used to create an illusion of depth for players.

Virtual Boy was released to negative feedbacks, all of which were as a result of its high price, questionable 3D effect, monochrome display, as well as health concerns that were raised.

Athletic apparel retail company Lululemon did not quite hit the mark with Astro Pants. Customers found out after purchasing that the pants were see-through.

This did not sit well with a lot of customers and the repercussions for Lululemon were quite serious. There was a great decline in profits, they had to embark on recalls for the pants, and battled a lawsuit as well.

Everyone knows that milk and cereal go together as a perfect match. This was the idea Kellogg’s had when they produced Breakfast Mates. This product was released in 1998, with about $30 million spent on print and TV ads.

They found out that the simplest ideas don’t always yield the best results, as consumers did not find Breakfast Mates tasty or convenient.

Having been a gaming giant in the early days, Sega attempted a major comeback with Dreamcast after PlayStation had emerged as frontrunner. Dreamcast was however not good enough to usurp PlayStation 2, which was the in-thing at the time.

Poor marketing, cost disadvantages, poor game selection, and bad launch games were among the reasons why Sega Dreamcast was a failed product. Sega became a third-party developer after the failure of Dreamcast.

This is probably the weirdest brand extension on this list. Harley Davidson, the company that produces some of the best American bikes to date, went into the fragrance market with the Legendary Harley Davidson cologne, released in 1990.

It turned out to be a short-lived venture, as the reception was poor and the company decided to put a stop to their brand extension project.

Back in 1964, shoemaking company DuPont released Corfam shoes. Corfam shoes were quite different from other shoes on the market as they were made of synthetic leather.

DuPont marketed the shoes on the premise that synthetic leather was better than genuine leather. This gave the shoes a bit of traction, but after a while, there were a lot of complaints about the shoes. Users claimed that the shoes were too hot for feet, in addition to being too stiff.

In a bid to add another non-alcoholic drink to their catalog, Coors Brewing Company launched Coors Rocky Mountain Spring Water in 1990. As a result of its similarity in the name and label this product shared with Coors Beer, a lot of customers were confused.

This led to low sales and Coors Brewing Company had to stop production of Coors Rocky Mountain Spring Water in 1997.

The Nw-Hd1 Audio Player was a product of Sony. Launched in 2004, one major advantage it had was the portability, as it was the smallest audio player at that time.

Despite this clear advantage, it turned out to be a failed product as a result of its format compatibility. The player only supported Sony’s ATRAC3 format. Files that came in formats like WMA, WAV, and even MP3 could therefore not be played on this audio player.

In a bid to compete with the iPad, HP launched the HP Touchpad in 2011. The product failed on the market due to a number of reasons, which include poor marketing, deadly leaks, and poor choice of name.

It was, therefore, unable to live up to the expectation as the device to rival Apple’s iPad. HP Touchpad spent just 49 days on the market, with only 20,000 units of the device sold.

For years and years, women have been writing with a man’s pen. They could never really understand why it felt so uncomfortable or why it was so hard to get work done despite all their practice writing. Luckily, in 2012, Bic released a product for women that they didn’t even know they needed — “lady pens.”

If you couldn’t tell by now, we’re being completely sarcastic. Bic for Her pens failed because the company made some pretty serious assumptions about the female population. They’re pointlessly gendered pens and have been unsurprisingly mocked since they first appeared on the shelves.

The first device to feature handwriting recognition, the Newton was a series of personal digital assistants (PDAs) developed by Apple. They started developing the platform in 1987 and released it six years later in 1993.

Although the device was considered technologically innovative upon its debut, it was discontinued just five years after its release due to a number of factors including problems with the handwriting recognition feature. It also didn’t help that Apple put such a high price tag on it.

Developed by Digital Convergence Corporation, the CueCat was released during the late ’90s and needless to say, it was a massively expensive failure. It was supposed to serve as a bridge between the print media world and the internet. After plugging the device into a PC, consumers could scan specially marked bar codes to visit internet sites.

While it’s a nice concept, we’re not entirely sure how this is easier than typing a link into the browser. As you would expect, this product left everyone scratching their heads and it was discontinued after it was deemed useless.

In 1992, PepsiCo introduced a new product called “Crystal Pepsi” — a caffeine-free clear alternative to normal colas. Launched as a response to the growing concern for purity among consumers, Crystal Pepsi failed miserably for a number of reasons including taste.

PepsiCo may have claimed that their new beverage had the “Pepsi” taste but in reality, it wasn’t nearly as sweet. It actually tasted more like Sprite without the lime flavor. Crystal Pepsi inventor, David C. Novak, later admitted that “it would have been nice if I’d made sure the product tasted good.”

In 2006, a new social media platform called Eons was initially launched for users that were 50 years of age and older, although the age restriction was later lowered to 40 in 2008. While the platform — which was basically the MySpace for baby boomers — had an age restriction for a reason, it also prevented the site from being widely popularized.

Given that, it failed to attract people to sign up. With that being said, the site never experienced a huge boom. By 2011, it was acquired by an advertising agency that targets matured consumers.

There’s no denying that electric cars have grown in popularity over the years, which is why the EV1 was such a big hit with consumers and environmentalists upon its release. General Motors introduced the first mass-produced electric car in 1996. Six years after its release, though, GM recalled the model claiming liability and issues with spare parts.

Needless to say, this made quite a few people angry. Still, we think it’s safe to say that GM was ahead of the curve in designing the vehicle. As of 2020, the company is laying the foundation for an all-electric future…

Yet another failed PepsiCo product — Frito-Lay lemonade. It’s no secret that Frito-Lay is the leading brand of salty snacks in the United States. Now, what do people want to accompany a salty snack? A thirst-quenching drink, of course. Launched in 1998, this lemonade may have initially seemed like a logical brand extension but the soft-drink totally bombed.

As tasty as lemonade is, it wouldn’t have been able to quench the thirst that people had after eating the company’s salty snacks. In other words, from the consumer’s perspective, this sweet drink had very little connection to other Frito-Lay products.

It was 2008 and the virtual world known as “Second Life” was absolutely thriving! Of course, Google wanted to get in on the action and decided to create its very own version called “Lively.” Users were able to create avatars to interact in a three-dimensional virtual environment.

While it may have been a fairly solid idea, Lively was discontinued just a few months later in December of 2008 due to a number of reasons including server glitches and lags.

Disney is known for sticking a brand on just about anything and everything — from High School Musical cucumbers to Toy Story apples. After Hannah Montana became a booming success, it wasn’t very surprising to find that Disney had merchandised dozens of products.

Still, Hannah Montana cherries may have not been their brightest or most appropriate of ideas. The Washington Post suggested a Hannah Montana banana but Disney discarded this perfectly clever and catchy market idea in favor of cherries. Needless to say, people didn’t really hop on board with this one…

In the fall of 1999, Patriot Computer released two of the most poorly executed ideas — the Barbie computer “designed especially for girls” and the Hot Wheels computer “designed especially for boys.” They were sold for $699 and came bundled with various games and educational software, plus a plastic steering wheel peripheral.

Unfortunately, the computers came with so many manufacturing issues that it drove the company out of business, with thousands of unfilled orders. It wasn’t long before Patriot Computer filed for bankruptcy, leaving buyers with a $100 gift certificate from Mattel by way of apology.

In 1978, Phillips began selling the LaserDisc (abbreviated as ‘LD’) — a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Although the format was capable of offering higher-quality video and audio than its consumer rivals, LD never really gained widespread use in North America due to a number of factors including high costs for the players and the inability to record TV programs.

Contrastingly, the LD had much more success in Japan, as well as the more affluent regions of Southeast Asia. It was even the prevalent rental video medium in Hong Kong during the 1990s.

Back in the mid-’90s, Starbucks and PepsiCo partnered to make a lightly carbonated coffee-soda called Mazagran — a name inspired by a cold, sweetened drink that originated in Algeria — and it was a total flop.

While many customers were willing to give the drink a try because of the Starbucks brand name, Mazagran didn’t get the repeat business the corporation had hoped for. Still, it was the stepping stone on the way to what we now know as bottled Frappuccinos.

Introduced in 2004, Oakley Thump was launched as the first audio player built into sunglasses. While these MP3-player sunglasses are admittedly not terrible for what they are, what they are is sort of the issue here.

Unless you’re extremely sensitive to light both indoors and out, why would anyone want to spend over a few hundred dollars on a product like this? Aside from the fact that the audio itself is nothing to write home about, Oakley’s Thump line isn’t the most fashionable of products.

In 1970, Ford not only damaged their reputation but they also made one of their biggest financial mistakes by releasing the Pinto. Why? Well, a rear-end collision could cause the fuel filler to come loose and puncture the fuel tank, oftentimes ending in the car catching on fire.

Apparently, in testing, Ford crashed it more than 40 times at speeds of more than 25 miles per hour and the fuel tank ruptured every single time. It wasn’t long before Ford was served with around 177 lawsuits after putting the Pinto on the market.

Before Apple created the iPhone, they partnered up with Motorola to create a new iTunes phone…or they at least tried. What they came up with, though, was an underpowered cellular device with limited storage, lack of responsiveness, and problems uploading songs.

The Rokr E1 was released in 2005, far after Apple had already created the first iPod, a product that anyone and everyone had to get their hands on upon its release. With that being said, any phone that failed to perform just as perfectly and intuitively as an iPod would face severe disapproval.

In 1975, Sony released Betamax — an analog-recording and cassette format of magnetic tape for video. Advertised with the slogan that you can “watch whatever, whenever,” Betamax quickly became outdated as it lost the videotape format war to VHS.

Consumers preferred the latter format because VHS recording time was two hours, and it allowed most feature films to be recorded without a tape change. Despite this, Betamax recorders would only be discontinued in 2002 although new Betamax cassettes were available until March 2016, when Sony stopped making and selling them.

There’s no denying that pet owners want the best for their furry, little friends. With that being said, it’s not completely unlikely that consumers might serve bottled water to their cats and dogs. Well, that’s what the makers of Thirsty Cat! and Thirsty Dog! must have believed when they released this bottled “water” in 1994.

The beverage was carbonated, vitamin-enriched, and came in flavors such as “Crispy Beef” and “Tangy Fish.” Still, the product never seemed to catch on as consumers realized it’s pretty unnecessary to give their pets what could be considered soda.

Back in 2009, Vegemite — a popular Australian food spread — received 48,000 suggestions on what to name their new cheese-based spread. Out of all the ideas they received, they chose to go with the worst one.

iSnack 2.0 was widely ridiculed and even protested to the point that the company began rethinking their decision. iSnack 2.0 became the second most talked about topic on Twitter within 24 hours of its announcement. Given that, it’s safe to say that iSnack 2.0 was an epic fail.

In 2013, McDonald’s added a new recipe to its menu in a bid to win more customers. Referred to as “Mighty Wings,” the name of this recipe was befitting as it was quite large.

The taste and appearance were another case entirely, as customers made it clear that the taste was not the best and the appearance was not appetizing. The cost, which was on the high side, did not help matters, so it is not a surprise that Mighty Wings lasted only a year.

DVD players were quite popular in 2004, and it was in this year that the Eyetop Wearable DVD player was launched. This wearable DVD player had a 320 × 240 pixel LCD screen fixed in the right eyepiece.

This LCD screen was to simulate a 14-inch screen whenever it was in use. Although a great innovation, this DVD player was a failed product as it caused motion sickness.

In a world where intellectual property and copyright are taken very seriously, a startup company Napster set up a service that infringed on these rights. Napster built a free music sharing platform that was used by over 80 million people at its peak.

Lawsuit after lawsuit for copyright infringement was filed against the company. Napster had to end its services after these lawsuits were filed.

In order to cater to the working class, Pepsi in 1989 introduced a new product known as Pepsi A.M. As a morning drink, Pepsi A.M. had more caffeine than the standard Pepsi in order to help consumers kickstart their days.

Though the idea was fantastic, the target demographic did not buy it as not many people were fond of the idea of drinking Pepsi in the morning. This resulted in low sales, and the production of Pepsi A.M was stopped in 1999, just a year after launching. The can stands out as one of the best Pepsi cans ever, though.

Ford Motor Company in 1957 produced a car called Edsel that failed to reach the heights set for it with the expectations. Ford Motor Company spent up to $400 million on developing, manufacturing, and marketing this car, with the belief that it would be a commercial success once unveiled.

This was not to be the case, as the reaction to this car was rather lukewarm, to say the least. Ford lost up to $250 million on this car, and the car was taken off the market in 1960, after three unsuccessful years.

One of the leading companies in technology and e-commerce, Amazon, made a foray into the smartphone market in 2014 with Fire Phone. However, it lasted only a year on the market.

The reasons for the failure of this phone were the high cost, limited features that largely favored only Amazon users, as well as its lateness to the market in a time when Samsung and Apple had firmly established themselves as leading smartphone companies.

One of the most used social network platforms today, Twitter has been around for a while. In 2009, Twitter launched a Twitter-only mobile device called Twitter Peek in attempts to make tweeting much easier.

The problem with this product was that it did not make tweeting easier, as it was capable of giving just a 20-character preview of tweets. This ensured that it was not well accepted by customers.

Released by Juicero in 2017, Juicero Press did not meet the expectations of customers. Juicero Press was a juicer that came with packets of prejuiced vegetables and fruits (exclusively from Juicero).

It did not take long for customers to discover that the Juicero Press was just as effective at juicing as human hands. This prompted Juicero to stop sales and they started buying back the juicer from customers.

Orbitz Soda was a case of good branding not matching the product quality. A product of Clearly Canadian Beverage Corporation, Orbitz Soda was launched in 1997 to initial acceptance by consumers. This was largely attributed to its eye-catching appearance, as it resembled a lava lamp.

The reviews on its taste were quite underwhelming, as a lot of people believed it tasted like cough syrup. The soda also contained gel balls which did not help the taste at all.