Manly motorcycle company Harley Davidson tried to connect to its feminine side in 1994, and unsurprisingly the results were an unmitigated disaster. They came out with a cologne called Legendary Harley-Davidson, which we would have to assume smelled like burned rubber and engine grease. The sales were underwhelming, but you can’t say that they gave up on the idea quickly, they released their last perfume in 2005, under the name Black Fire.
Since that time, all their fragrances have been discontinued. The company also tried to branch into other off-brand products in the 1990s, such as wine coolers and aftershave, but could not make them sell. Seems like they should stick to what they know.
Windows Vista
Microsoft launched their Vista operating system in 2007 as the logical continuation to Windows XP, but consumers found it to be anything but. The system was slammed by both users and critics for doing everything worse than Windows, reducing PC performance and causing a variety of connectivity issues.
It only took a few months before Dell began offering their new laptops with Window XP and not Vista. In 2012, Microsoft ended mainstream support for Vista and ended all support in 2017, marking the official close to the unsuccessful endeavor.
Colgate Kitchen Entrees
Here is another company that veered too far from its brand. In 1982 Colgate, known for its toothpaste brand, decided to put other things in the mouth of its consumers, namely, frozen dinners which it marketed as Colgate Kitchen Entrees. They were hoping to jump on the prepared foods bandwagon but instead were left by the side of the road.
We have no idea what the quality of the product was because it seems like consumers were unable to make the leap. The Colgate logo seems to have made them wary and the entrees couldn’t compete with other well-established food brands. Not only was the launch unsuccessful, it actually drove down Colgate’s toothpaste sales as well.
Persil Power
Unilever released its powerful new detergent, Persil Power, in 1994. It had a newly patented stain removal formula known as the Accelerator. The company was so certain of its new formula, that they went out and spent $300 million on marketing the new product without doing any real test marketing. They would end up paying big time for that overconfidence.
When consumers began using Persil Power, it soon became apparent that the detergent was damaging clothes when used in high temperatures. After only nine months on the market, Persil Power was pulled from the shelves and replaced with Persil New Generation, which did not include the Accelerator formula.
DH 106 Comet
Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was the air travel that most of us grew up with. In 1949, De Havilland introduced the Comet, the very first commercial airliner. It was a marvel of innovation, but sadly after just a few years, the Comet was plagued by unexplained crashes, planes which overran the runway and one memorable mid-air explosion.
De Havilland was working hard to redesign the ill-fated plane but was never able to recover after the incidents had damaged their reputation. American companies Douglas and Boeing stepped in and have over time become synonymous with air travel.