Top 10 Funniest Company Origin Stories

Years before Instagram became the go-to photo-sharing service, Flickr reigned supreme. Founded in 2004 by Stewart Butterfield and Caterina Fake, the image and video hosting site provided a platform for basically anyone with a camera to share content online. But the story of how it all came about is rather interesting. Inspired by the card game Neopets, Butterfield and Fake created the aptly titled Game Neverending, which featured an interactive tool for players to share pictures. While the neverending game was pretty much dead on arrival, the photo-sharing tool was reworked into what became known as Flickr. Although the platform isn’t nearly as popular these days, its co-founders were able to milk over $20 million from it after selling it to Yahoo!.

If you own a car, chances are there is a tree-shaped air freshener dangling from your rear-view mirror. The popular accessory was invented in 1952 by German-Canadian chemist Julius Sämann. Sämann was discussing with a milk truck driver who complained bitterly about the foul smell of spilled milk in his vehicle. To get rid of the odor, Sämann experimented with different ideas until he came up with the perfect solution. He extracted fragrant oils from Canadian Alpine trees, which he then soaked absorbent cardboards in. Today, the company has made sales of over one billion units. Their success just goes to show that you shouldn’t cry over spilled milk because it could be the inspiration for a million-dollar invention.

Many know TGI Fridays as a classic American restaurant chain serving everything from burgers to salads, and even seafood. But its history is a lot more fascinating than you’d ever imagine. Back in the ‘60s, Alan Stillman was a single perfume salesman living in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, who found it hard to meet women. Knowing his neighborhood housed a lot of models and airline stewardesses, Stillman opened TGI Fridays, hoping to create the go-to bar for single people who were ready to mingle. And it became just that. Although the atmosphere there is a lot different these days, it’s still amusing to think of the beloved food chain as a thriving singles bar.

As a company, streaming giant Netflix has undergone a tremendous evolution over the years. It first began as a DVD rental service, which introduced a streaming option along the line, before foraying into film and TV production itself. The idea for the company first came when co-founders Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph were carpooling home from work. It’s often alleged that Hastings was inspired to create Netflix after their eventual rivals Blockbuster charged him a $40 late fee for renting the movie “Apollo 13”. While this story may or may not be true, Netflix soon became an immense success and contributed to Blockbuster’s ultimate downfall.

Adidas and Puma are two of the largest sports brands in the world, but they probably wouldn't be in existence today if not for a heated family feud. Adolf and Rudolf Dassler had previously worked together as the Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory, which was originally started by the former. However, after the Second World War, a heavy dispute arose between the siblings for reasons that are still unclear, even to their descendants. Some theorize that in a bid to get rid of him, Adolf had provided information to American troops that led to Rudolf’s imprisonment during the war. After his release, Rudolf went his separate way and formed Puma, while Adolf rebranded their original company into Adidas.

Although they now produce a wide variety of cereal and other convenience foods, Kellogg’s is still widely known for its original product - corn flakes. The invention of the now ubiquitous breakfast cereal is attributed to brothers John Harvey and William Keith Kellogg. According to multiple publications, John was so uncomfortable with the idea of sex and self-pleasure, that he practiced abstinence, even though he was married. Apparently, he believed that meats and spicy foods encouraged sexual desires, while less tasty alternatives could potentially curb them. This led to his discovery of corn flakes, which grew to be immensely popular and set the stage for what became the Kellogg Company.

In 1902, five businessmen in Two Harbors, Minnesota came together to form the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company. Their goal? To drill the earth for Corundum, a highly valuable mineral used in making sandpaper. However, by the time operations began, they were puzzled to find that the compound present in the mine was actually Anorthosite, which was practically worthless. Notwithstanding, they forged ahead with sandpaper production, making use of raw materials imported from other countries. Since then, the company has produced a vast array of commodities, ranging from masking tape to Post-it notes and N95 masks. By their 100th anniversary, the executives finally realized they weren’t doing a lot of mining anymore, so they rebranded as 3M Company.

The year was 2000. Singer, dancer and actress Jennifer Lopez attended the 42nd Grammy Awards wearing a green Versace silk chiffon dress. Immediately Lopez stepped onto the red carpet at the ceremony, she captured everyone’s attention, and managed to hold it long after the event was over. Google was inundated with requests for the look, which they referred to as “the most popular search query” they had received up until that point. Prior to that event, search results were just a long list of blue links, but after Lopez’s unforgettable appearance, the company began working on an added picture feature. In July of 2001, Google Images was created.

The 2004 Super Bowl will always be remembered for the infamous Nipplegate controversy. While performing during the halftime show, Justin Timberlake accidentally ripped off a part of Janet Jackson’s costume, revealing her breast for a split second. The live incident was met with national outrage and led to numerous developments in the media. Perhaps one of the most monumental, yet least known of those, was the birth of YouTube. The online platform was founded by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim, who had a hard time finding clips of the controversial affair, as well as the horrifying Indian Ocean tsunami. This created the need for a video sharing platform, which they filled by launching YouTube in February 2005.

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, or NASCAR, was formed in 1948 by a mechanic named Bill France Sr. Today, the company oversees a variety of races that are watched by fans all around the world, but its roots trace back to a forbidden trade from the Prohibition era. Back then, bootleggers who distributed illegally obtained booze, modified their cars in a bid to achieve faster speeds and outrun the police. Even after prohibition was repealed, these drivers continued racing when they discovered that people were eager to pay just to watch them. In the mid-1930s, France Sr. became involved in these races and eventually came up with the idea to unify the competitions under a single body called NASCAR.