# Worst ideas by companies of all time? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 22, 2014, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-ideas-by-companies-of-all-time/707901 "2014-12-22T10:45:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-ideas-by-companies-of-all-time/707901/61 "2014-12-24T04:07:35Z")
Actually, she didn’t even win. > **[Woman dies after being in water-drinking contest](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-jan-14-me-water14-story.html)** > > A 28-year-old woman found dead hours after taking part in a radio station's water-drinking contest died of water intoxication, the coroner's office said Saturday. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-ideas-by-companies-of-all-time/707901/62 "2014-12-24T04:21:14Z")
it would have made a stiff awards presentation. ---
**Author:** ![txswimdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@txswimdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/txswimdad)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-ideas-by-companies-of-all-time/707901/63 "2014-12-24T04:33:29Z")
Long time lurker. I registered to reference the “hold your pee for a wii” contest; however, I see I got beat to the punch by nearwildheaven and usedtobe. The only thing I have to add is that a jury awarded the family of the deceased $16 million in damages and 10 people at the radio station were fired for the stunt. They were warned multiple times that the stunt was potentially fatal yet they went through with it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-ideas-by-companies-of-all-time/707901/64 "2014-12-24T18:08:56Z")
I stand corrected. Not to mention numbstruck. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-ideas-by-companies-of-all-time/707901/65 "2014-12-24T18:51:14Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > There was one radio station-sponsored contest a few years ago called “Hold Your Wee For A Wii” where the person who drank the most water without urinating won a Wii. The person who “won” ended up dying from hyponatremia. Maybe you’re thinking of the [guy who ate more than anyone else](http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/26/15460502-florida-man-who-died-in-cockroach-eating-contest-choked-to-death-autopsy-says?lite) in a\* cockroach eating contest\*, and choked to death, while winning a pet python in the process. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a8b319/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_wuzzy)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-ideas-by-companies-of-all-time/707901/66 "2014-12-24T20:23:30Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Well, there was, of course, Ayds Diet Candy. To be fair, the candy preceded the disease name. > > Then there was the [pudding cup miles promo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Phillips_%28entrepreneur%29), wherein an engineer figured out that the cost of the pudding cups was less than the value of the miles and managed to accumulate $1.25 million air miles at a cost of only $3,000 to himself. I seriously doubt that ConAgra was damaged at all, but I’d bet that somebody got fired. Reminds me of the Hoover free flights promotion in the UK back in the 1990’s. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoover\_free\_flights\_promotion](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoover_free_flights_promotion) ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-ideas-by-companies-of-all-time/707901/67 "2014-12-24T21:12:58Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > J.C. Penny’s “no sales, just everyday low prices” strategy. The only problem with it was that Penny’s didn’t sell anything that the typical consumer wouldn’t wait for someone else to have a sale. And this one broke my heart. It was pretty clear, I think, that this strategy wasn’t going to win anybody over, but I really, really wanted it to because I’m so very sick of all the complicated sale pricing gimmickry at the competitors. It’s borderline impossible to tell how much anything at Kohl’s costs. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-ideas-by-companies-of-all-time/707901/68 "2014-12-24T21:17:38Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](#): > > Reminds me of the Hoover free flights promotion in the UK back in the 1990’s. > > [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoover\_free\_flights\_promotion](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoover_free_flights_promotion) Post #8 ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a8b319/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_wuzzy)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-ideas-by-companies-of-all-time/707901/69 "2014-12-24T21:19:34Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > Post #8 note to self - less skimming, more close reading. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-ideas-by-companies-of-all-time/707901/70 "2014-12-24T21:38:15Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Then there was the [pudding cup miles promo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Phillips_%28entrepreneur%29), wherein an engineer figured out that the cost of the pudding cups was less than the value of the miles and managed to accumulate $1.25 million air miles at a cost of only $3,000 to himself. I seriously doubt that ConAgra was damaged at all, but I’d bet that somebody got fired. Just to clarify, he did not accumulate 1.25 million _ **dollars** _ worth of airline miles. He accumulated 1.25 million airline miles. Airlines generally sell miles to sponsors of promotions for 2 to 2.5 cents each. So the miles cost ConAgra between $25,000 and $31,250. In return, they got a buttload of publicity (and are still getting some, as evidenced by this thread). I doubt anyone got fired. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-ideas-by-companies-of-all-time/707901/71 "2014-12-24T22:37:04Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > Just to clarify, he did not accumulate 1.25 million _ **dollars** _ worth of airline miles. He accumulated 1.25 million airline miles. Airlines generally sell miles to sponsors of promotions for 2 to 2.5 cents each. So the miles cost ConAgra between $25,000 and $31,250. In return, they got a buttload of publicity (and are still getting some, as evidenced by this thread). I doubt anyone got fired. $25,000 is nothing to a company like ConAgra so I really doubt anyone got into serious trouble over it let alone got fired. There is another deal that still has consequences to this day for the company dumb enough to offer it. American Airlines once offered unlimited **lifetime 1st class** trips for $250,000 in the early 1980’s. If that sounds like a lot, it may be for you but it is an astoundingly incredible deal if you travel a lot for business or pleasure. It is essentially the same as having your own jet with crew especially back then when travel was easier. People took them up on it in large numbers and many of them abused the hell out of the system. The tickets had a stipulation for discount rates for a companion so many people just grabbed a stranger wanting to go on the same flight, gave them a discounted ticket and split the difference to make their money back. Some people were using theirs to fly to Europe and back just to check out that new restaurant that they read about, many of them hundreds or even thousands of flights just because they could. Believe it or not, some people still hold those tickets to this day and they are still just as valid as they ever were but American desperately wants to destroy them. They have offered some of the holders more money than they paid for them in the first place (which is all kinds of awesome if you have one; 30+ years of free 1st class travel + PROFIT!). They have also initiated fraud investigations on many of the holders for violating some of the terms. American has been able to invalidate some of the tickets on those grounds but not all of them. Next time you take an American flight, one of those people in 1st class may be just jetting off to Paris because…why not? They deserve it because they scored one of the best consumer deals of all time. > **[Fly anywhere, any time, for life](https://www.economist.com/gulliver/2012/05/13/fly-anywhere-any-time-for-life)** > > American Airlines made some travellers an offer they couldn't refuse—and now regrets it ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-ideas-by-companies-of-all-time/707901/72 "2014-12-24T22:41:58Z")
Small computer company that was my first programming job. In 1981, just as the PC was coming out, they bought a company that sold electric typewriters. The kind that sold for several thousand dollars. Oh, and the guy who owned my company had a reputation as a sexist asshole (the one woman in the company had already sued his ass off for harassment and won - and was only staying to grind it in his face), so the moment the entirely female staff of the typewriter company found out that he bought it, they all quit enmasse. Only the manager remained, because apparently it was in the contract that she had to stay to help the transition. But of all time, I have to go with the Time Warner/AOL Merger. That was fucking hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Unpronounceable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9de0a6/32.png) [@Unpronounceable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unpronounceable)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-ideas-by-companies-of-all-time/707901/73 "2014-12-25T00:35:16Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Maybe you’re thinking of the [guy who ate more than anyone else](http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/26/15460502-florida-man-who-died-in-cockroach-eating-contest-choked-to-death-autopsy-says?lite) in a\* cockroach eating contest\*, and choked to death, while winning a pet python in the process. no, he was talking about [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KDND) ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-ideas-by-companies-of-all-time/707901/74 "2014-12-25T04:49:17Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Gerber was capitalizing on a brief fad for eating baby food (by adults). I think it was driven by a vague notion of healthiness, convenience, huge selection, etc. but then everyone realized they were living on puree and it passed. > > Gerber being a corporation, they were slow on the uptake and missed the brief market window. But the notion of adults eating Baby Chow was not whomped up by their marketing jeenyuses. There was an actual fad for eating baby food by adults?!?:dubious: I am a few years away from feeding baby food to a baby but man, I can’t imagine any adult enjoying a steak dinner with veggie sides pureed and mixed together. The only reason babies are fed it is as a transition from breast/formula liquid diet to solids. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-ideas-by-companies-of-all-time/707901/75 "2014-12-25T05:06:29Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Then there was the [pudding cup miles promo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Phillips_%28entrepreneur%29), wherein an engineer figured out that the cost of the pudding cups was less than the value of the miles and managed to accumulate $1.25 million air miles at a cost of only $3,000 to himself. I seriously doubt that ConAgra was damaged at all, but I’d bet that somebody got fired. Part of the plot of “Punch Drunk Love,” that many people probably thought was made up for the film. Pretty good film; don’t let Adam Sandler put you off. Another point was that they barcoded the cups individually instead of per 6 pack (or however many). ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-ideas-by-companies-of-all-time/707901/76 "2014-12-25T05:07:46Z")
The first portable PC was in a mini-tower case - lowering one side panel exposed the monitor, the other released the mouse and keyboard. Sales went through the roof. Until the founder let slip that he was working on a Model 2 which was going to be SO MUCH BETTER that people stopped buying Model 1, and the company folded. Never compete with yourself… ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-ideas-by-companies-of-all-time/707901/77 "2014-12-27T02:11:33Z")
> [@grude](#): > > …Or something JohnClay on this very board brought to my attention, Lucent’s Inferno OS: > > [Inferno (operating system) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inferno_(operating_system)) > > Why with demonic and underworld themed names this is sure to be a hit in the USA and other countries that are majority christian! :smack: The sad thing is no matter how good the OS was that naming pretty much guaranteed it would go nowhere. About its owner, Lucent: > **[Lucent Technologies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucent)** > > Lucent Technologies, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications equipment company headquartered in Murray Hill, New Jersey. It was established on September 30, 1996, through the divestiture of the former AT&T Technologies business unit of AT&T Corporation, which included Western Electric and Bell Labs. > Lucent was acquired by Alcatel SA on December 1, 2006, forming Alcatel-Lucent. > Lucent means "light-bearing" in Latin. The name was applied for in 1996 at the time of the split from ... > [@](#): > > This same linguistic root also gives Lucifer, “the light bearer”… Lucent also operated from 666 Fifth Avenue, NY. 666 is also known as “the number of the beast”. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-ideas-by-companies-of-all-time/707901/78 "2014-12-27T03:13:01Z")
Wait, did I miss something? 77 posts, where is [Bob](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Bob#Reception_and_legacy)? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-ideas-by-companies-of-all-time/707901/79 "2014-12-27T03:26:58Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Wait, did I miss something? 77 posts, where is [Bob](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Bob#Reception_and_legacy)? Hiding behind [Clippy.](http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/519285ffecad046054000014-480/microsoft-clippy.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-ideas-by-companies-of-all-time/707901/80 "2014-12-27T04:53:11Z")
Gerald Ratner’s [infamous speech](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Ratner#The_speech) surely deserves a mention: > [@](#): > > “People say, “How can you sell this for such a low price?”, I say, “because it’s total crap.”” > > … > > After the speech, the value of the Ratner group plummeted by around £500 million, which very nearly resulted in the firm’s collapse. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-ideas-by-companies-of-all-time/707901.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-ideas-by-companies-of-all-time/707901.md?page=5)