Top 10 1980's Things That FAILED Spectacularly

#10: RCA Dimensia (1984–89)

In the 1980s, people were obsessed with their odd vision of the future. RCA thought it could lead the charge into a new tech revolution with a so-called “thinking television.” There's only one problem: they got off on the wrong foot when they chose the name Dimensia. This high-end line of TVs and components promised to be the ultimate “smart” entertainment system. Admittedly, they were well ahead of their time. Unfortunately, almost nobody wanted it. The system was staggeringly expensive to buy and had a confusing user interface. By 1990, RCA quietly pulled the plug. Dimensia was meant to be the dawn of the digital living room, but it ended up a costly punchline instead.

#9: The Yugo Car (1985–92)

If the 1980s had a punchline on four wheels, it was the Yugo. Imported from Yugoslavia and sold in the U.S. starting in 1985, it was billed as the cheapest new car on the market. A brand new Yugo cost just under $4,000. Unfortunately, sometimes you get what you pay for. The Yugo quickly became infamous. It was poorly constructed and had clunky handling. Worst of all, it had an unfortunate habit of breaking down in the worst possible moments. One critic even joked it came with a “rear-window defroster” just to keep your hands warm while pushing it. The Yugo disappeared from the U.S. market in 1992 as its American distributor folded. It's remembered as possibly the worst car of all time.

#8: McDonald’s McDLT (1984–90)

McDonald’s has had plenty of menu flops over the decades. Few were as weirdly over-engineered as the McDLT. Rolled out in 1984, the burger came in a massive two-sided Styrofoam container. It was supposed to “keep the hot side hot and the cool side cool.” One half held the beef and bun. The other cradled lettuce, tomato, and cheese. Apparently, McDonald's believed that to compete with the Whopper, some consumer assembly was required. The gimmick was clunky, wasteful, and not especially appetizing. The DIY sandwich kit, novel at first, wore thin. The environmentalist backlash over the extra Styrofoam trash didn’t help. By 1990, McDonald’s dropped the McDLT entirely.

#7: DeLorean Motor Company (1975-82)

It looked like a car from the future. The DeLorean Motor Company, though, barely made it out of the driveway. John DeLorean’s flashy DMC-12, with its gull-wing doors and stainless-steel finish, promised style over substance. That's exactly what they delivered. The car was slow, unreliable, and ridiculously overpriced. As it hit showroom floors across America, the company hemorrhaged cash. By 1982, DeLorean Motor Company crashed and burned. Its founder getting arrested in a botched cocaine sting didn't exactly help right the sinking ship. Ironically, the car finally became iconic thanks to “Back to the Future.” By the time it became a pop culture triumph, the DeLorean Motor Company was already dead and buried for three years.

#6: The Apple Lisa (1983-86)

In 1983, Apple launched one of the most advanced PCs of the decade — and one of its biggest failures. The Lisa was the first widely sold computer with a graphical user interface, a genuine technical marvel that used icons and windows years before its rivals. Unfortunately, it also cost nearly $10,000. That was mortgage money, and almost nobody outside of boardrooms could afford it. Those who did buy it found it slow, buggy, and impractical despite its groundbreaking design. Meanwhile, IBM’s PCjr and Coleco’s Adam went the opposite route: cheap but laughably horrendous. The PCjr’s “Chiclet” keyboard was ridiculed, while the Adam could literally erase its own files on startup. Apple priced itself into oblivion. IBM and Coleco cheaped themselves into the trash heap.

#5: Sinclair C5 (1985)

Nothing says ‘cutting-edge innovation’ like a plastic go-kart you could die in.” In 1985, British tech pioneer Clive Sinclair unveiled the future of personal transport: the Sinclair C5. It was a tiny, low-slung, battery-powered tricycle. It looked like a cross between a pedal cart and a bathtub on wheels. At just £399, it was cheap enough to tempt curious buyers. Unfortunately, they found it wanting. The C5 had a pitiful range and topped out at 15 miles per hour. Worst of all, it was so low, drivers were practically invisible to other traffic. Reviewers practically laughed it out of the market: they only sold around 14,000 units. Today, the C5 is remembered as one of the 1980s’ most laughable tech misfires.

#4: LaserDisc Format Flop (1980s)

Long before DVDs and Blu-rays, there was LaserDisc: the so-called future of home video. First sold in the late ’70s and pushed hard in the 1980s, it promised superior picture and sound quality compared to VHS. Unfortunately, it also came with discs the size of vinyl records. LaserDisc players cost a small fortune. You couldn’t even watch a feature-length film without flipping the disc or swapping it out halfway through. VHS was cheaper, more convenient, and could record television. Despite its higher quality, LaserDisc couldn’t compete. While it hung on as a niche format for cinephiles and schools, LaserDisc never cracked the mainstream. By the time DVDs arrived in the ’90s, LaserDisc was already a relic of a failed future.

#3: RJR’s Smokeless Cigarette: Premier (1988-89)

Imagine a cigarette so bad it made smokers wish for real-deal cancer sticks. In 1988, R.J. Reynolds launched Premier, a “smokeless” cigarette that heated tobacco instead of burning it. The pitch was unique: fewer carcinogens, less secondhand smoke, but the same nicotine hit. The reality was absolutely vile. Smokers complained it tasted like burning plastic or charcoal. 'Lighting' up required a bizarre puffing ritual to heat the tip. RJR poured a whopping $325 million into its development. Premier flopped in less than a year. By 1989, it was yanked from shelves. It was less of a health breakthrough and more of a boondoggle for a company that certainly had it coming.

#2: Atari Shock & “E.T.” Game (1982-83)

Few visuals capture an industry collapse quite like a landfill full of unsold games. In 1982, Atari rushed out "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" in just five weeks, hoping to cash in on Spielberg’s hit. Instead, it became one of the worst video games ever made. Millions of cartridges went unsold, and urban legend claimed they were secretly buried in a New Mexico dump. The fiasco fueled the 1983 video game crash, when Atari — and the U.S. market as a whole — imploded. Demand plummeted, companies folded, and consoles gathered dust. In 2014, a landfill dig confirmed the myth, unearthing the lost copies of E.T. Atari’s empire crumbled and was buried in the desert like a failed geeky mafioso.

#1: New Coke (1985)

It’s not easy to enrage your entire customer base in one fell swoop, but Coca-Cola managed to pull it off. In 1985, desperate to out-sweet Pepsi, the company scrapped its century-old formula. They rolled out New Coke, leading to a full-blown cultural meltdown. Fans revolted, hotlines were flooded, and protest groups with names like “Old Cola Drinkers of America” sprang up overnight. Within just 79 days, Coca-Cola caved. They re-released “Coca-Cola Classic,” cementing New Coke as one of the most infamous product flops of all time. Pepsi wasn’t all top-10 hits either. They tried to compete with coffee as a source of caffeine in the morning. Pepsi AM was an epic face plant, but nothing could match Coca-Cola's self-immolation.

Have we been unfair to the Yugo or New Coke? Did another ’80s product deserve the crown of 80’s biggest belly flop? Let us know in the comments below!