Top 10 Product Launches Gone Wrong

Released in 1975, the Sony Betamax was a type of cassette recorder that immediately found itself in a videotape format war. It was released around the same time as its big rival, VHS. Eager consumers debated which one was worth their hard earned money. And in nearly every way, the VHS was superior. It was cheaper, it had a longer recording time, and the picture and sound quality were on par with its competitors. Betamax couldn’t catch up right out of the gate. Unsurprisingly, VHS eventually won the format war and turned Betamax into an expensive niche product. The swift downfall of the Betamax is now the subject of case studies.

Before Clippy popped up as the paperclip assistant in Microsoft Office, there was Bob. Unfortunately, he wasn’t nearly as memorable. Microsoft Bob was launched in March of 1995. This software program was meant to help inexperienced computer users understand their devices better. Despite being widely publicized, Bob was immediately met with hostility. Ironically, some users actually found that Bob made navigating their computers more complicated. In the months after its launch it had abysmal sales that fell well short of Microsoft’s expectations. Poor Bob was discontinued less than a year after he appeared. He was soon derided as one of Microsoft’s biggest and most public failures.

The last thing that shampoo producers want is their clientele eating the shampoo and getting sick. However, that’s exactly what happened to Clairol’s Touch of Yogurt shampoo. This product was infused with actual yogurt. Oddly enough, it turns out consumers didn’t want to put anything yogurt related into their hair. And the reports of people consuming the shampoo because they believed that the inclusion of yogurt made it edible certainly didn’t help the poor sales. The product was a huge bomb for parent company Clairol and quickly faded into obscurity.

In 2010, the iPhone 4 received a massive number of pre-orders. But some unlucky consumers were soon frustrated by a falowed phone. While there were a few technical problems with the devices, the worst drawback led to Antennagate. Thanks to a bad antenna design, holding the phone in the bottom left corner often caused the signal to be lost. As calls were being randomly dropped left and right, the media quickly picked up the story. People even wanted to sue Apple for this design flaw. The company offered free bumpers to iPhone 4 owners to prevent the signal from cutting out. While Apple would later overcome this negative publicity, it was still an embarrassing launch for them.

Signed into law in March of 2013, the Affordable Care Act AKA Obamacare, promised to overhaul the United States’s healthcare system. HealthCare.gov was subsequently established to help the public receive health insurance. But when it first debuted, few users were able to access the website. Those that did make it through were met with countless technical glitches, endless wait times, and a broken system that made navigation extremely frustrating. It was a complete mess and was fiercely criticized in the media. By the end of the website’s first week, it was estimated that only 1% of its users were successfully enrolled. President Obama even appeared in a press conference where he admitted that the website was thoroughly busted.

Despite all the good Nintendo has done, the company’s made some pretty notable blunders. One of their biggest regrets came in the summer of 1995. The Virtual Boy promised to lead gaming into the future thanks to 3D graphics. However, the console didn’t get as much attention during production since the company was more focused on perfecting the Nintendo 64. This caused the Virtual Boy to be released in an unfinished state. It was expensive, playing it was uncomfortable, the games were bad and they weren’t even in 3D. Worst of all, the monochromatic red display could make players sick. Some experts worried that using the display could cause permanent brain damage! It still stands as Nintendo’s worst selling solo console for good reason.

When the original Kinect for the Xbox 360 first hit the market, it sold relatively well. But then Microsoft made a questionable decision. They announced that every Xbox One would be bundled with a Kinect. Players were worried about privacy, that the device required an always-on internet connection, and it originally needed to be on for the core Xbox One to even work. Furthermore, its inclusion resulted in the Xbox One being $100 more than the PS4. This strategy led to terrible initial sales for Microsoft. And since developers weren’t making a ton of great games for the Kinect, it was basically a $100 piece of decoration. It was quickly phased out and eventually forgotten.

This cautionary tale just goes to show how much Americans value Coca-Cola. When the soda company was falling behind, it decided to mix things up by introducing a new formula. But it only made things worse. New Coke was met with a mixed to harsh reception. In some regions of the U.S. some consumers saw the change to the formula as an offensive move. It was also mocked publicly everywhere from TV shows to sports games. As the company was bombarded with calls and complaints, some protestors even dumped the drink out on the streets. Old Coke was swiftly brought back to stop the backlash. In the end, New Coke became a cautionary tale for the old phrase “If ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

In November of 2019, Tesla unveiled its electric Cybertruck. It was meant to replace traditional gas-powered trucks while looking like something that NASA would send to the moon. Tesla already had to deal with people criticizing the truck’s physical design. However, things got worse after an on-stage accident. Vehicle designer Franz von Holzhausen demonstrated the truck’s strong “Armor Glass” windows by throwing a metal ball right at them. Hilariously, it shattered the glass and caused Elon Musk to try to deflect on stage. Tesla’s stock fell right after this embarrassing display. Maybe the company would’ve been better off, you know, just driving the car instead.

Apple thought they had a nightmare on their hands with the iPhone 4. But that was paradise compared with what Samsung had to deal with. Released in August of 2016, the Galaxy Note 7 immediately found itself in hot water thanks to a worrying design flaw. The phone’s internal battery was prone to overheating. This could result in the phone either catching fire or just straight-up exploding. The phones were recalled just two weeks after launch on September 2nd. Although Samsung gave the devices different batteries, the replacements were no better and the company was forced to stop production and service on all Galaxy Note 7s in October. The incident cost the company billions and a lot of good will.