Help Me Name 10 big "Brand" failures

[caveman]

@Martini Enfield

What’s really funny, though, is that Royal Crown Premium Draught Cola and Pixie Caramels are made in Australia, yet you can’t buy them here! I’ve looked and looked and looked for Royal Crown Premium Draught Cola (the best Cola in the world, IMHO), and no-one’s even heard of it, despite the fact it’s made just up the road in Bundaberg, and the only place you can get Pixie Caramels is from specialist lolly shops, which re-import them from NZ and charge something like $2 each for them.

I recall a brief period of time, during my college years (1996-1999) when Target sold RC Premium Draught Cola. RC being my cola of choice, I snapped up a six-pack. Absolute awesomeness. A few months later, I saw an endcap with individual bottles going for $0.25 each. I bought what must have been $5 worth, and drank them slowly. Mmmm, tasty…

[RunSilent]

The 1919 Style Death Ray

[Nars_Glinley]

Billy Beer

[ralph124c]

DERLETH observes:
Which reminds me: You geeks mentioned the Lisa and the Apple III but forgot the NeXTcube and NeXTstation! NeXT is the perfect example of Dear Leader Jobs getting sick of not being the main wheel at Apple anymore, going off on his own with dreams of showing everyone how to make a computer company, lording over his minions with sheer King Hell Control Freak glee, and getting creamed in the marketplace because his black cube is a white elephant that is compatible with absolutely nothing else this side of Altair. Plus, you get to quote Bill Gates saying things like “Develop for it? I’ll piss on it.”
Very good point; i don’t know why people go gaga over the aesthetics of PC design-to me it is just an appliance that does a job-and I want the one that does it as cheaply and reliably as possible. i don’t give a damn what it looks like! Do car meachanics care about what their socket wrenches look like? Aestheitics are for things like houses and cars-not for computers! I remember seeing something about a designer who designed a uber-chic toilet brush! It was 4120 !! No thanks-i’ll buy the $2.99 version-does the same job-and who the hell looks at a toilet brush anyway? You use it, put it back, and that’s it!

[fishbicycle]

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 Up.

[Autumn_Almanac]

@OneCentStamp

Those were ALL the rage when I was in elementary school. The sucky thing about them was that the ink was never truly dry, and thus could be smeared by just about anything - not just the eraser. As a lefty, this meant the heel of my writing hand got all gummy and blue. Yick.

I’ve never thought of those as a failed product; when I was in school in the '80s and '90s they were just as common as any other brand of pen. Are they not sold anymore?

[OneCentStamp]

@Autumn Almanac

I’ve never thought of those as a failed product; when I was in school in the '80s and '90s they were just as common as any other brand of pen. Are they not sold anymore?

Nope, not that I can see, and I’m on that aisle of the store a lot, seeing how I have school age kids.

[Skywatcher]

@Rilchiam

@Omniscient

I’m not sure this would be the best example since it currently exists as the pretty successful Big N Tasty. They aren’t exactly identical, but I imagine one could make the case that the original marketing campaign was just poorly designed and the second push as the “Big N Tasty” came at a better time.

The Arch Deluxe is not a bit like the Big N’ Tasty. The Arch Deluxe had pepper bacon, mustard sauce and a sourdough bun. The Big N’ Tasty has the usual sesame seed bun, and is basically the McDLT put together like Og intended.

I feel the Big N Tasty is misnamed–it’s not really all that big and as for taste it’s rather blah. I miss the Arch Deluxe.

Back to the OP: The Sears Allstate.

[Spoons]

@The Scrivener

How about those Paper Mate [?] pens with erasable ink… Eraser Mate? It sounded like a great idea but in practice they were more trouble than they were worth. They must’ve sold very well though for a while.

I remember those. They were perfect for doing crossword puzzles.

I still do crosswords in pen. But now I don’t have to erase.

[WolfpackJeep]

@OneCentStamp

Those were ALL the rage when I was in elementary school. The sucky thing about them was that the ink was never truly dry, and thus could be smeared by just about anything - not just the eraser. As a lefty, this meant the heel of my writing hand got all gummy and blue. Yick.

I loved these, even though the ink wasn’t very smooth; I always noticed little blank spots where the ink had skipped. I wonder if these have been edged out of the market due to advances in correction products – fast-drying whiteout, spools of correction tape in trendy little dispensers, etc.