Random Things That Were Hugely Hyped But Then Massively Flopped (11 items)

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  (#8) The Chevy Chase Show

  • TV Program

  In 1993, the Late Show with David Letterman and Late Night with Conan O'Brien premiered, and both went on to have long, successful runs. But the same year, a much less remembered (and much less successful) late-night talk show debuted: The Chevy Chase Show.

  Fox had hoped to get in on the late-night game that year with its own hit show. The network's first hosting pick was reportedly Dolly Parton, and when that didn't work out the company settled on Chase.

  The actor had made a name for himself on Saturday Night Live as a funny but also notoriously difficult person to work with. After hitting peak film success in the '80s, Chase had some box-office busts in the '90s before Fox slated him to deliver late-night ratings gold. The network paid him $3 million, built him his own theater, and made giant advertisements of a gap-toothed Chase "ready to fill the late-night gap." 

  Although Chase might have had the comedic chops for SNL and Caddyshack, his stint as a talk show host was a failure. Lackluster interviews like a segment with Goldie Hawn alienated the audience because the duo came off as celebrity pals taking an inside trip down memory lane; that's not even mentioning the still-discussed "dance party."

  And though Chase's "News Update" segment was a rip-off of SNL's "Weekend Update," Chase flubbed many of his punchlines. As a host, he was nervous and awkward. Tonight Show giant Johnny Carson said Chase "couldn't ad-lib a fart after a baked-bean dinner." Critics agreed. Time's harsh assessment was, "Nervous and totally at sea, Chase tried everything, succeeded at nothing."

  Although Fox had promised advertisers 5 million viewers per episode, the result was an average viewership of less than 3 million per episode. The show was canceled after five weeks and Fox appears to be permanently scarred from the endeavor - the network has yet to try a nightly talk show since. Chase later blamed Fox, claiming he had hoped to do a more experimental variety show reminiscent of Ernie Kovacs, rather than celebrity interviews.
• 

  (#3) Juicero Made An Unnecessary Product

  In 2016, Silicon Valley juice start-up Juicero launched to much anticipation after raising $120 million from investors. But just 16 months later, Juicero had run out of juice - the company became defunct in 2017.

  Juicero was meant to capitalize on the cold-pressed juicing craze. It was a Wi-Fi-connected juicer with accompanying "produce packs" that allowed for "farm to glass" juice. One simply placed their produce pack flavor of pre-chopped fruits and veggies into the Juicero, and the machine would pour out fresh juice at the push of a button. Founder Doug Evans, who likened himself to Steve Jobs, called it "the first at-home cold-pressed juicing system." The sleek $400 machine was supposed to have a pressing power of 3 to 4 tons of pressure - enough to lift two Teslas. 

  In April 2017, however, Bloomberg News released a video that showed Juicero's produce packs didn't require the accompanying $400 machine - you could just squeeze the juice packs by hand into a glass. The company hurriedly pointed out that Juicero had many uses beyond squeezing the juice; it also scanned a QR code on the pack that would tell you if your juice was expired. Or, you could look at the expiration date on the juice pack.

  Juicero quickly became the laughingstock of the start-up world and a perfect example of creating a "solution" to a problem that didn't exist in the first place.
• 

  (#5) Crystal Pepsi

  In 1992, Pepsi marketing executive David Novak had a lightbulb idea. He'd seen the recent popularity of caffeine-free sodas like Slice, and clear sodas like Clearly Canadian. If he could create a Pepsi-Cola product that was both, surely he'd strike gold.

  The goal was to create a clear, preservative- and caffeine-free soda that tasted similar to original Pepsi. Also of the utmost importance was a clear bottle to show off the new clear look.

  Food scientist Surinder Kumar (the innovative mind we can all thank for Nacho Cheese Doritos), brought in to help with the project, was doubtful for a number of reasons. The brown color of cola prevents sunlight from spoiling the drink, which is why clear drinks like Sprite and 7UP are packaged in green bottles. Also, he was supposed to replicate a clear version of the caramel-flavored Pepsi, yet he wasn't even allowed access to the original Pepsi recipe. Kumar also balked at the idea of marketing Crystal Pepsi as a healthier "pure" alternative to regular colas. Crystal Pepsi had about the same amount of calories and was still made with high-fructose corn syrup.

  Despite these issues, Kumar came up with a recipe, and Crystal Pepsi was rushed to market. A commercial aired during the 1993 Super Bowl, and soon the soda was flying off shelves across the nation. A lot of people wanted to try it - at least once.

  One of the main problems with Crystal Pepsi was simple: It just didn't taste good. Kumar didn't have enough time to perfect the recipe, leaving it with an unusual aftertaste that didn't taste like regular Pepsi. The bottling issue was a problem, too. In the short nine months between Novak's pitch and Crystal Pepsi's launch, the company didn't have enough time to test the product's shelf life. Sunlight, did, in fact, cause Crystal Pepsi to spoil. Dwindling sales proved that while Crystal Pepsi had success as a new fad, consumers quickly returned to drinking their typically brown-colored soda.

  Despite the initial excitement, Crystal Pepsi went down in history as one of the biggest product failures of all time. 
• 

  (#1) Fyre Festival

  In 2017, thousands of eager festivalgoers flocked to the Bahamas for what was supposed to be a luxury-filled weekend of partying with Instagram influencers and listening to big-name artists like Migos, Blink-182, and Tyga.

  Instead, festival attendees found themselves stuck camping out in a makeshift construction site on rain-soaked mattresses and eating cold bread-and-cheese sandwiches. The headlining acts and A-listers were nonexistent.

  It turned out that festival organizer Billy McFarland had spent a great deal of money promoting the festival (flying out famous supermodels for a video shoot) and less time actually planning it. McFarland had spent about six to eight weeks planning a seriously involved endeavor that would really take at least a year to pull off.

  While McFarland has described Fyre Festival as merely a case of biting off more than he could chew, he repeatedly lied to investors and misled ticket-buyers about the festival. He also ended up stiffing many of the Bahamian vendors who contributed their services to the event. McFarland eventually pled guilty to multiple charges of wire fraud and was sentenced to six years in prison.
• 

  (#10) Chris Gaines

  • Band/Musician

  In 1999, country superstar Garth Brooks decided to try his hand at being a rock star, as well. Brooks debuted a "greatest hits album" of his new rock alter ego: Chris Gaines (AKA Garth Brooks rocking a wig and a soul patch). What followed was collective crickets. 

  So who was Chris Gaines, other than a nearly unrecognizable Garth Brooks playing dress-up? The persona, and his elaborate backstory, were created to get Brooks fans interested in hearing the country singer perform music of a different genre, and to publicize Brooks's new movie with Paramount Pictures, The Lamb.

  Set to be released the following year, The Lamb was to star Garth Brooks as Chris Gaines, and the studio figured a Gaines album would introduce the character and create buzz for the film. Instead, it just created a lot of confusion. As one reviewer put it, fans "didn't think that [Brooks] was playing a role; they simply thought he'd lost his mind."

  It seemed the world simply wasn't ready for Chris Gaines. While the album, Garth Brooks in... the Life of Chris Gaines, wasn't a total flop, it paled in comparison with the commercial success of Brooks's other albums, and failed to meet the high expectations of Paramount. Though Brooks made several television appearances as Gaines, The Lamb was scrapped, and the imaginary rocker became a bizarre blip on the radar of Brooks's career. 
• 

  (#4) Segway

  • Websites

  In 2001, the tech world broke the news of a top-secret invention created by an eccentric millionaire that would change the world as we knew it. The invention, known only as "IT" at the time, received massive fanfare before most people even knew what IT was. Steve Jobs said IT would be "as significant as the personal computer" and Jeff Bezos called IT "revolutionary."

  In December 2001, inventor Dean Kamen unveiled his creation (literally - it was hidden behind a curtain) on Good Morning America: the Segway. Diane Sawyer's foreboding response? "That's it? That can't be it." 

  The Segway ended up being a massive bust, especially when compared with the grandiose predictions. Founders estimated they would sell 10,000 Segways a week, reaching $1 billion faster than any company had ever done. In reality, the company sold fewer than 10,000 units in the first two years.

  As a new technology, the Segway was innovative. The two-wheeled scooter operated according to movements in the human body. But one of the Segway's biggest problems was that nobody really needed one. It was marketed for general personal transportation when people already used cars or bikes, and weren't willing to drop $5,000 on a scooter they'd have to lug into their office building every day. Plus, American cities weren't designed with the Segway in mind, so there wasn't a viable way to drive, charge, or park it. 

  As Bezos also predicted when he called the product "revolutionary," it was too revolutionary for the USA. Had Segway focused on more niche markets (such as the mall cops who use them today), the company might have had more success introducing the product.

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