Although it never caught on, the Sony Betamax is looked back on fondly by technology enthusiasts. The home video format was released in 1975, as direct competition to the VHS format developed by JVC. Sony’s goal was to conquer the home viewing market, but we all know who came out on top. The VHS was the clear winner, although the Betamax had the superior viewing quality.
The problem was, that the Betamax tapes were bigger, which made them and their players more expensive to make. VHS tapes could also hold more video, two hours versus Betamax’s one. The final nail in the Betamax coffin was that Sony insisted on making the format proprietary, meaning only they could make the recording devices, which meant VHS grew at a much faster rate. Sony took the loss and began working on their next home viewing idea, the LaserDisc. Another product that failed to launch in the 70’s seems to have simply not had the touch.
The Ford Edsel
Ford launched the brand-new Ford Edsel automobile in 1958 and things went badly from the start. Despite spending years of time and money on consumer polling, the company didn’t really listen to what their customers were telling them and decided to continue with what they were already doing, which was to create an expensive car, which was not fuel-efficient.
To make matters worse, the stock market took a big dip right before Edsel’s big release. That meant that the middle-class families Ford was counting on to buy these cars couldn’t afford them as their investments were rapidly losing their value. The Edsel fiasco ended with Ford losing $350 million on a car that it had already spent $250 million to build. The cars stopped being sold in 1960. If that wasn’t bad enough, the next product on our list is the very essence of failure.
AromaRama
Going to the movies is an immersive experience, you sit in the dark, watch things on a big screen with sophisticated audio and are often surprised when the movie ends and you return to the real world. But some people thought that involving only the eyes and ears in the experience was not enough, and what was really missing is the sense of smell. We’re not sure we agree, but two companies, in 1959 and 1960, truly believed that this was the future of cinema and they were willing to put their money where their nose is. That was the start of the battle of domination over the smelly side of the movies.
Two companies, named AromaRama and Smell-O-Vision, began adding scents to the movies which changed according to the scene being played. Unfortunately, since the smells were distributed via the air conditioning vents, they were not distributed equally, and viewers did not share the same experience. Also, what these companies didn’t seem to take into account was that some scenes are better off unscented. As you already know, the idea didn’t catch on and soon movie theaters once again smelled only of popcorn. Some things were a flop in the movie theater, while others tried to take them home theater by storm but failed to make an impact.
Touch of Yogurt Shampoo by Clairol
In the 1970s, the natural beauty products trend was becoming increasingly popular. Ingredients such as fruit, honey, and surprisingly even beer, were being used in various shampoos. At the same time, yogurt was gaining a reputation as being really good for you. Shampoo company Clairol decided to monopolize on both trends and came out with Clairol’s Touch of Yogurt Shampoo. Unfortunately, while both trends were popular, that did not mean that people wanted them both together, especially when that meant putting an aged diary product on their heads.
This wasn’t Clairol’s only dairy-based disaster. They also launched the Touch of Buttermilk Shampoo during the 1970s. The company and its competitors have since decided that milk has no place outside the diary aisle. If putting yogurt in shampoo seems strange to you, wait until you see what Coke did to their soda.
New Coke
In the 1980s, everyone had an opinion on which was better, Coke or Pepsi. After completing rigorous taste tastes, Pepsi went public with results that proved that Americans preferred Pepsi’s sweeter soda recipe. Coke decided to respond, aggressively. In 1985, they released New Coke, the soda which promised to be sweeter than all others and was intended to replace the old recipe for good.
The only problem was that Coke lovers didn’t like New Coke. They said it didn’t taste good and they wanted their old coke back. It only took three months before the company got rid of the new recipe and went back to the old one. The original coke recipe is now known as Coca-Cola Classic and is beloved by many to this day. More than one cola company made some seriously bad gambles during the 1980s.