Top 20 Brands That Don't Exist Anymore

After conquering the toy market with products like Lazer Tag and the Teddy Ruxpin bear, Worlds of Wonder earned exclusive retail sales and distribution for the uber-popular NES system. The money was flowing. Until, suddenly, it wasn’t. The unprecedented surge in video game sales quickly dwarfed the profits of traditional toys. Then, Nintendo decided not to renew their distribution deal, leaving Worlds of Wonder without a leg - or in this case, a product - to stand on. The stock crash of 1987 was the final nail in the coffin, and the company shut its doors for good. Both the Teddy Ruxpin and Lazer Tag sets have continued on in various forms, just not with Worlds of Wonder.

Evidently, the lifestyles of the rich and famous did not include Vertu. From their inception, the luxury phones were manufactured with an emphasis on style over function. And, to be fair, they definitely succeeded in becoming a status symbol. But, only because they were so ridiculously expensive, only the richest of the rich could afford one. Since Vertu phones also lacked features like GPS and Bluetooth, many felt the hefty price tag wasn’t worth it. Following years of messy finances, the company officially went under in 2017. Now that they’re off the market, Vertu phones have ironically become the commodity the company always wanted them to be.

The saddest part of this closure is that it had nothing to do with the product itself. Despite an overwhelmingly positive response, Alta Motors’ electric bikes just weren’t selling enough to keep the lights on. Their biggest issue may have been the continuing controversy between electric and gas-powered engines. In fact, Alta Motors’ bikes were banned from several official races for that very reason. As a result, price cuts and new models were only band-aid fixes for their unsustainable cash flow. When two partnership deals fell through, the company was left severely strapped for funds, and eventually ceased operations altogether in 2018 after just eight years of business.

70-plus years is a pretty good run for any car division, especially one that never found a consistent buyerbase. See, initially, the Mercury division of Ford was created as a mid-priced alternative to their other models. However, over the years, it underwent more rebrands and redesigns than you can count on one hand. It’s been a race-car, a sports vehicle, an economy ride, and more. They tried marketing it to men, and then to young drivers, and then to women. While these shifts occurred gradually across decades, the shufflings eventually began to limit the car’s appeal instead of widen it. By 2010, the continuously declining sales forced Ford to put the Mercury brand in park, permanently.

These days, a smartwatch that connects to your phone isn’t that crazy of an idea. But, back in 2014, Pebble burst onto the scene as one of the first to put it into practice. The results were instantaneous. At the time, the smartwatch was the most funded project in Kickstarter history. Unfortunately, after that amazing start, Pebble dropped like a stone. Amid shaky marketing and an unclear vision, the company consistently failed to hit sales goals. That, when paired with growing competition from the Apple Watch, spelled doom for the luxury armwear. The company shut down in 2016 and, interestingly enough, was acquired by Fitbit, who did not take on any of Pebble’s debt.

On paper, Solyndra’s high-class solar panels were cheaper, sturdier, and more efficient than anything else on the market. The pitch proved so enticing, they even garnered government support via a massive loan from the U.S. Department of Energy. However, Solyndra’s lead didn’t last long. Within a few years of its creation, the price of natural gas nosedived, removing any financial incentive to invest in renewable energy. As a result, Solyndra’s abrupt bankruptcy was about as ugly as it could get, including a full-blown government investigation into their purported excessive spending and misrepresentation of finances. While they’ve never been officially charged with any wrongdoing, something tells us Solyndra won’t be making more solar panels any time soon.

If you read magazines in the 1900s, odds are you read “McCall’s.” While its first issue technically dates back to 1873, it wasn’t until the 20th century that it became mandatory reading. As the so-called “First Magazine For Women,” McCall’s featured sewing patterns, short stories, home improvement tips, and more. You don’t just have to take our word for it, though. The numbers speak for themselves. At its peak, McCall’s had an unprecedented readership north of eight million. With that kind of support, it’s really no wonder it survived more than a century in print. Unfortunately, stiff competition over the years slowly whittled down its audience. In 2002, it shipped its final issue.

In 2006, Microsoft went up against Apple’s behemoth, the iPod, and lost. Badly. In their defense, the Zune portable media players had plenty of potential. They had functionality with the popular Xbox 360, innovative social features, and even a partnership with United Airlines. But, despite all of that corporate support, Zune failed to make a splash in the market. In the six years it stayed on shelves, it consistently sold less than its competitors, let alone the juggernaut that was the iPod. While several reviews praised its HD features, that wasn’t enough to move the bottom line, and Microsoft discontinued production in 2012.

Around the turn of the century, Elizabeth Holmes founded a revolutionary breakthrough for the healthcare industry. Theranos, as it was called, created technology that could perform rapid blood tests requiring very little of a sample, at a fraction of the cost. Mesmerized by the innovation, Holmes’ net worth skyrocketed to 4.5 billion dollars. The only issue? It was all a lie. Theranos’ supposed science was flimsy at best, and a complete fabrication at worst. The company and its incredible funding both went down in flames, but that was the least of Holmes’ issues. She still faced multiple counts of fraud, and was later sentenced to eleven years in prison. Given all that, don’t expect Theranos to resurface ever again.

In just six seconds, this video-looping app took the world by storm. Its short-form content was the very definition of addictive, and because of that, Vine’s viral videos quickly became a staple of pop-culture. However, it wasn’t long before rivaling social media platforms got in on the trend. When the likes of Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat added their own video-sharing features, “Vine” lost its reason to be - and most of its user base, too. By 2017, the app shut down altogether. At the very least, a comprehensive archive of its many videos still exists, ensuring we’ll never forget that it is Wednesday, my dudes.

When someone says they “want a tab,” it usually means they’re going to order more at an establishment and want to keep a tally so they can pay later. Not for Coca-Cola. In 1963, they introduced their very first diet beverage known as Tab. Considered very popular in the ‘60s and ‘70s, they spawned various flavors of the drink, including root beer and ginger ale. Yet when Diet Coke hit the market in 1982, Tab started to take a hit. The company began producing less and less of it as interests shifted, and Coke eventually announced in 2020 they were discontinuing the brand. There are however pockets of places here and there that still carry the cult favorite as of writing, but those are rare and the soft drink is pretty much retired.

Fun fact: Bugle Boy founder William C. W. Mow actually started his entrepreneurial career in electrical engineering. When outed from his company due to an SEC inquiry, Mow shifted gears and started making clothing. Best known for their jeans and earworm-inducing commercials, Bugle Boy was also responsible for one of the surprising trends of the 1980s: parachute pants. Between the denim trousers and the ballooning slacks, the company sold nearly a billion dollars worth of product. Despite its success, the company had difficulty staying up with the ever-changing trends of youth culture. They eventually went bankrupt in 2001.

Founded in the early ‘80s, this thriving computer company sold “IBM PC compatible” devices - with PC standing for Personal Computer - under their own name. A few notable devices included one of the first portable computers and the Compaq Presario, which featured a long line of desktop and laptop computers. By 1994, they had lapped IBM and Apple in the home computer market. However, with the market shifting, and some bad management decisions, Compaq’s star began to fall. In 2002, they were acquired by Hewlett-Packard, and the last Compaq-branded devices were discontinued in 2013.

In the 1920s, GM discovered a major price gap between their Chevrolet and Oakland branded vehicles, prompting the birth of the 1926 Pontiac. By 1929 the Pontiacs were outselling the Oaklands enough that they discontinued the latter in 1931. Since then, Pontiac grew to become a major success for GM. Notable entries include the ‘69 Pontiac GTO, the Grand Am, the Fiero, and the Firebird Trans Am. However, the turn of the century was not good for GM as they faced bankruptcy. Having already taken Oldsmobile out of the picture in 2004, Pontiac largely saw its end in 2009 when the company pulled the plug on the long-standing brand in an effort to keep themselves afloat.

Candy bars come and go, but some have stood the test of time. Mars, Kit Kat, and Twix are just a few who’ve hung on over the years. Kudos, on the other hand, did not. It was a granola bar snack introduced by Mars in 1986, with a “Simply Kudos” offshoot that was meant to address the high calorie count in the original. Oddly enough, in 2017 a post on the company’s Facebook page confirmed the brand had been discontinued. No official reason has ever been given and fans of the granola snack were left scratching their heads. All may not be lost as Mars apparently re-registered the brand trademark in 2020. Maybe we’ll see it again someday.

We have no idea what this company was thinking when they released this beverage back in 1997, but to no one’s surprise, it didn’t last. Made as a clear, non-carbonated fruit drink, Orbitz became infamous for the reaction it spawned from onlookers. If it had been released today, we’re sure the likes of YouTube and TikTok would be filled with reaction videos of people trying to figure out exactly what the “orbs” floating in the drink were. Not only did it look like a lava lamp to-go, the drink itself tasted poorly, and the “orbs” were apparently even worse. This is a drink we thankfully kicked into orbit.

Unless you used the internet in the ‘90s, or recognized the icon from a quick scene in “Captain Marvel,” you’ve probably never heard of this browser. At a time when the World Wide Web was just starting out, web browsers were few and far between. Netscape reigned king for a while until Microsoft came to the scene and the “browser wars” began. Netscape won the first few rounds, but by the time Internet Explorer 3.0 and 4.0 came out, Netscape was already lagging behind. And it didn’t help that Microsoft included Explorer with every version of Windows. Netscape came to an end in 2007, but left Javascript as a legacy since it’s used by virtually every webpage out there.

Enron is a name that went down in history as one of the biggest financial scandals to rock the United States. Known mainly as an energy company, Enron grew by leaps and bounds as it began to diversify its portfolio beyond just the basics of energy. Sure, that all sounds great as many companies broaden out. The problem for Enron was that as large as they were, much of their financial success was due to “creative accounting.” In basic terms, they said they were doing fine, all the while hiding massive debts and liabilities from everyone. They filed for bankruptcy in 2001, and a full investigation into their practices was launched.

Trademarked in 1888, Kodak is a name synonymous with photography. For years, the term “Kodak moment” referred to a perfect instant to capture in a photo. Kodak cameras hit the market shortly after the company was formed, and became the de facto standard for all things photography for decades. In 1975, they produced the world’s first digital camera, but scrapped it for fear of losing their film camera business. Company executives held the line on film photography, but did eventually give in and joined the digital revolution, which helped the company for a short time. A combination of both market growth, the explosion of the smartphone, and other competitors eventually pushed Kodak out of photography, and it now only operates as a print company after filing for bankruptcy in the early 2010s.

Air travel in the mid-20th century was a whole other world. Pan American World Airways, or Pan Am, practically held a monopoly on international travel at the time. They were also responsible for shifting the types of aircraft being flown to much larger planes such as the Boeing 747. They had an advanced collection, top-notch service, and were not owned by any government entity. That state of the art fleet of planes ultimately hurt them, however, when the 1973 oil crisis struck. No one was flying, and the company was taking a hit. Their accumulating debt and failure to adapt to an ever changing industry saw them sell off their assets to various other airlines as they went under in 1991.