Shelved: 10 foolish food flops

From ill-conceived brand extensions to wrongheaded reformulations, these wacky grocery store additions just didn't pass the taste test.

By Len Penzo, Len Penzo dot Com

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71Comments
Harlz
Jun 14, 2012 10:36PM
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Pepsi A.M. was just ahead of it's time. Toss in some B12 vitamins and its ON!
kingcabo
Jun 15, 2012 1:04PM
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In 1998 I was a college student  working a summer job for a Philadelphia swimming pool installation company.

 

Picture a nice warm late afternoon summer day in the Philadelphia suburbs. Lunch that day was a sandwich, carrots, and a bag of the new Frito Lay Wow chips.   

So there I was working on my last job of the day when a horrific rumble went through my stomach. It felt as if a bucket of water ran from my stomach into my bowels. ( I look back on this moment and I believe I truly know how Harry felt while he was going on his date in Dumb and Dumber-the moment when his face turns from smiling to dismay)

I had only minutes to run to the truck and grab a five gallon bucket and find a hidey hole. I was able to find a spot behind the customer's shed hidden behind some bushes and a solid fence. I got my pants down with only seconds to spare before my bowels exploded.

 

Not my proudest moment. I am sorry if that offended anyone but that story had to be told.

Thanks Frito Lay! Thanks alot

BlkMomba
Jun 15, 2012 1:01AM
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I always thought that Soylant Green was way ahead of its time, very tasty as long as you didnt mind a few bone fragments now and then
Jason Vinson
Jun 25, 2012 10:48AM
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Coors already sells bottled water, it's called Coors light, tap water in a can.
td00
Jun 15, 2012 1:24PM
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Wow, no mention of Pepsi Clear!
Someone (normfromWindhamME)
Jun 15, 2012 11:07AM
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Yeah, New Coke, the "classic" (no pun intended) corporate eff up. I bought a bottle when it first came out just to see what the fuss was all about. I took one sip and said to my wife "Tastes like Pepsi". Just another example of what happens when companies violate the old rule: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!'.
1337 one
Jun 15, 2012 12:27PM
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Regarding New Coke:
The reason it succeeded in blind taste tests was because the same reason people chose Pepsi when they did the Pepsi challenge.  A majority of people enjoy sweet tasting items, Pepsi was sweeter, so in a blind tatse test Pepsi won (most of the time). With the blind test New Coke (which was now sweeter), it would beat Pepsi. The only problem was that once it wasn't 'blind' people (I being one of them) you associate a particular taste with that nice red can you're holding, and that wasn't it.

Muskie Man
Jun 15, 2012 9:35AM
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Many people don't know this, but the control tip is really what drove the success of Heinz EZ Squirt ketchup more than the color.  It gave kids more control to decorate their foods. Also, I don't know that I'd characterize it as a flop - it lasted 6 years on shelf which is a pretty decent life cycle for most new products.
Buzzy McFly
Jun 15, 2012 1:07AM
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Crystal Pepsi was one of the biggest failures of all time, But yet its not on the list, Hmmm 
skibum609
Jun 15, 2012 11:46AM
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Beer isn't really a food, but the biggest flop in history was Sclitz brewing Company altering the brewing process of their beer because they were at maximum capacity and demand was going through the roof.  Very few people today realize that in the 70's, when Budwesier was still king of the Beer hill on earth, that Schlitz beer, was number 2 in the world and gaining fast.  The altered brewing process changed the taste, killed the brand and in a year they were off everyone's radar forever, even though they eventually went back to the old way.  The beer that made Milwaukee famous had a chance to be number one, but failed.
Someone
Jun 15, 2012 12:45AM
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I mean, could you imagine seeing a 2 year old holding a bottle of Coors water and not knowing it was water? 
And if Pepsi A.M. were re-released I'm pretty sure the sales would skyrocket because I know a lot of people who only drink soda for breakfast [myself included].
jimmy1960
Jun 15, 2012 11:38AM
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pancake sausages yummy
CFLINN
Jun 15, 2012 2:10PM
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Does anyone remember the old New York Selzter water that came in the small glass bottles?
Swanny711
Jun 15, 2012 12:18PM
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Where is the Crystal Pepsi???
spotmefive
Jun 14, 2012 10:10PM
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Remember the Chun King chow mein and crispy-fried noodles kit in two cans?  And Woody Allen pitching it on TV ads?
Only problem was that is was no good to eat.

hammer331
Jun 15, 2012 11:29AM
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Bring back Fizzies. Those flavor tablets that you dropped into a glass of water.
DAVID T REDSTONE (Antediluvian)
Jun 15, 2012 2:28AM
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Doesn't coors already sell bottled and canned spring water? What's Coor's Light if it's not bottled water? It CERTAINLY isn't beer.
Gaseoustania
Jun 14, 2012 10:27PM
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The pancakes and sausage is actually not that bad of an idea. I think the things that stopped it were the fact that the sausage tasted awful and that most people only eat stuff on a stick when they have to, usually at the fair. I can see blue french fries (made from the same potatoes as the JetBlue potato chips) catching on. 
Michael Pinholster
Jun 15, 2012 10:12AM
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Where is "Crystal Pepsi"?

Not only did it flop for Pepsi...

It crushed Van Halen since their song was the one on the commercial.
You know...that "Right Now, Not Tomorrow" song.

Many rockers felt it was the official "Van Halen really sold out" moment.

Jus Sumbudy
Jun 14, 2012 10:04PM
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Coke didn't make New Coke just to compete with Pepsi. Heck, maybe Pepsi wasn't in the equation at all. New Coke contained more sodium and more caffeine than the original, and the sugar increase was there to cover it up. What happens when you consume a diuretic (caffeine) with sodium? You get thirstier and drink more (source of this information: Dr. Robert Lustig in his lecture, "Sugar: The Bitter Truth").

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