Take a trip through time as Kwasi Studios presents to you the 13 biggest marketing failures known to man.

1. 13MARKETING
FAILURES
GUARANTEED
TOBLOW
YOURMIND

2. 13.TheFirebox
Designed to warn off pranksters,the Firebox was
an add on to fire alarms.This ridiculous
contraption worked by trapping the hand of the
user after they sounded the alarm,forcing them
to remain glued to the alarm until the authorities
arrived.Introduced in the US in 1938,the Firebox
has to be one of marketing's (and innovation’s)
most humorous fails.

3. 12.Smell-O-Vision
Pioneered in 1960, Smell-O-Vision was
originally designed to omit scents into
the theatre during the films. But the idea
was a massive flop, and was only ever
applied to one film, The Scent of Mystery.
Smell-O-Vision was slammed by
audiences and critics alike upon release,
and was removed from all cinemas by
the end of the year.

4. 11.GerberSingles
In 1974 Gerber Baby Foods designed a
baby food for adults. However, the
company quickly discovered that small
servings of pureed meat is not an
appealing dinner option for college
students and single professionals.
Flavours included: beef burgundy,
chicken madeira, beef with mushroom
gravy, and blueberry delight.
Gerber ceased production of their
Singles range in 1975.

5. 10.McDonald'sArchDeluxe
McDonald's first attempt at appealing to
America’s childless, urban professionals.
This spectacular marketing failure cost
Mickey D’s more than $US100 million to
market and promote. Abandoning its
tried and tested model of appealing to
children and couples with kids the Arch
Deluxe isolated its loyal target audience,
and led to the speedy discontinuation
of this ill-fated burger.

6. 9.ThePremierCigarette
Launched in 1988, the Premier was
conceived as a ‘smokeless nicotine
delivery mechanism that looks and feels
a cigarette’. However, it not only tasted
awful but omitted a foul smell that one
consumer described as, “similar to the
smell of burning plastic.” The company
spent around $US300 million ($US600
million in today’s money) on research,
development & marketing but the
product was disbanded by 1992.

7. 8.SpruceGoose
Howard Hughes’ H-4 Hercules was
designed as a flying boat made to carry 750
equipped troops. At the time of its
completion in 1947 the U.S. government
had spent $US22 million on the project
and Hughes had spent $US18 million of his
own personal fortune, the equivalent of
$US436 million today. Flying the aircraft
himself, Hughes only managed to keep the
spruce airborne for less than a minute
before landing.

8. 7.Franz
Reichelt'sParachute
Jacket
Designed by the German inventor Franz
Reichelt, the parachute jacket had its
high-profile unveiling in Paris in 1912.
Confident in the reliability of his absurd
creation, Reichelt decided to perform a
demo by jumping from the then tallest
building in the world, the Eiffel Tower.
Tragically, the parachute failed to
deploy, and Reichelt was filmed
plummeting 300 metres (986 feet) to his
death.

9. 6.HydrogenBlimps
When the Hindenburg was designed in
1931, its makers originally designed it to be
filled with helium gas. However, due to a
shortage of helium in Nazi Germany at the
time, the airship was eventually filled with
highly flammable hydrogen. This proved
fatal in 1937, when the famed zeppelin
caught fire and was destroyed during an
attempt to dock in New Jersey. Of the 97
people on board 35 died.

10. 5.Asbestos
A versatile mineral fiber that excels at
absorption and can withstand the
harshness of heat, health concerns
relating to the carcinogenic effects of
asbestos dust were first raised as early as
the 1920s. Inhaling the toxic particles of
asbestos dust causes a life threatening
condition called asbestosis. According to
World Health Organisation estimates,
“more than 107,000 deaths each year are
attributable to occupational exposure to
asbestos.”

11. 4.Titanic
When the Titanic was built,it cost about
$US7.5million.In modern terms,that
equates to $US175million.The ship set sail
on the 31st of May 1911and sank on the
2nd of April 1912,resulting in the loss of
more than 1,500lives.The tragic loss of life
that came about due to some fatal flaws in
the ship's design,coupled with the huge
cost of the project,surely makes the Titanic
one of the biggest marketing failures of all
time.

12. 3.Ford's'Edsell'
Dubbed as ‘E-Day’, the Ford Edsel was
launched on the 4th of September 1957.
Ford was tight lipped about its then
pride and joy. But not even secrecy,
coupled with the advertising power of
Ford Motors, could convince the public
to hop in this poorly designed and
manufactured car. By November 1959,
Ford finally killed off the Edsel, after it
had lost an estimated $US250 million –
nearly $US2 billion in today’s money.

13. 2.Sub-PrimeMortgages
When huge numbers of sub-prime
mortgage owners began defaulting on
their loans, a wave of property
foreclosures across the US plunged the
global financial system into recession.
According to Bloomberg, total losses
from the five biggest sub-prime lenders
(UBS, Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, HSBC &
The Royal Bank of Scotland) totalled
$US 140 billion, making it the most
costly product innovation on this list.

14. 1.StarWarsProgram
In 1983 Ronald Reagan announced the
most ridiculed defence program in US
history. His plan: to fund a defence
system capable of destroying Soviet
intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs)
long before they could travel from
Europe to North America. Reagan's’
Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI) -
dubbed ‘Star Wars’ by the media due to
the programs far-fetched ideas, many of
which involved lasers - was an
unequivocal failure.

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