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

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  (#6) Google+

  • Social networking service

  Google+, one of the search giant's attempted forays into social media, seemed like a good idea when it launched in 2011. The social network would integrate with all of Google's other services, and allow users to sort their friends into "Circles" for group video chats, or "Hangouts."

  Google+ began as an invite-only platform, a requirement the company may have kept up for too long, because too few people joined or used the social network. Google+ also had strict rules requiring real names only. Turns out, not everyone wants their actual name and email account linked to their social media. These aspects, along with an awkward user experience and interface (instead of "liking" or "favoriting" a post, you had to "Plus One" it), doomed Google+ from the start.

  Also, Google+ was simply too late to the game. By 2011, Facebook and Twitter were already social media behemoths, and Google+ didn't offer anything new. But Google didn't give up on Google+ until 2018, when a bug caused a private data leak. The company assured everyone it was no big deal - no one was using Google+ anyway.
• 

  (#7) Nivelle Offensive

  • Military Conflict

  In late 1916, Gen. Robert Nivelle was promoted to commander-in-chief of the French armies on the Western Front in WWI. In 1917, he came up with a plan that would finally break through the German trench system. The Allied forces had been struggling for three years, and previous offenses, such as the Somme campaign, had disastrous casualty rates. 

  Nivelle's plan was a massive onslaught of 1.2 million men to break the German lines. The main push would be by French troops in the Aisne region, with supporting strikes by British troops at Arras, Vimy Ridge, and at Bullecourt on the Hidenburg Line. The idea wasn't so different from the failed Somme offensive, but Nivelle planned to use artillery in a new way.

  Newly developed tanks would use a curtain of artillery fire to protect the soldiers moving forward. Nivelle was regrettably boastful about his strategy and how successful it would be. Staking his reputation on it, he claimed the Nivelle offensive would end WWI in 48 hours and result in only 10,000 casualties to the Allies. 

  But the Germans deduced the location beforehand, bolstered their troops, and built more trenches accordingly, and the few French tanks ended up being too slow and vulnerable to be game-changers. Rather than two days, the Nivelle offensive ended up lasting three weeks (from April into May). And instead of 10,000 casualties, the toll was over 300,000.

  French divisions began to mutiny in early May, and eventually 68 divisions revolted in some form. Stories of the failed campaign included French troops showing up at the front lines drunk without weapons.

  Nivelle finally called off the offensive but was still fired. While the offensive wasn't completely useless (they'd captured around 20,000 Germans along with 147 German artillery devices), Nivelle's gross overestimation of the maneuver's success led it to be seen as a catastrophic failure and cautionary tale for future commanders. Had Nivelle cut his losses sooner, when it was quickly clear that the plan had gone awry, a lot of lives might have been saved. 
• 

  (#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.
• 

  (#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.
• 

  (#2) The Opening Of Al Capone's Vaults Revealed Nothing Inside

  On April 21, 1986, millions of TV viewers tuned in live to watch host Geraldo Rivera and an excavation crew blast through concrete walls at the Lexington Hotel in Chicago, supposedly to uncover a secret "vault" associated with notorious gangster Al Capone.

  Camera crews and a crowd of excited onlookers (including Mr. T) watched the spectacle from the streets, hoping to catch a glimpse of the cadavers or wads of cash that were sure to be inside. Instead, the contents were a big fat nothing.

  The Lexington was formerly a luxury hotel, opened in 1892 and built for the World's Columbian Exposition the following year. It hosted many famous guests, such as Grover Cleveland and Booker T. Washington, before Capone set up shop in the hotel in 1928. Capone moved his headquarters into the fourth and fifth floors, and supposedly ran the place. Rumors swirled of secret tunnels and storage spaces built to accommodate "Public Enemy No. 1."

  Years before the vault opening, Chicago Tribune journalists had reported on a mysterious 6-by-6-foot concrete-filled space beneath the hotel. A masonry expert believed the shoddy job had been done in the '30s and couldn't explain why it would exist.

  In 1982, a nonprofit began the work of rehabbing the Lexington to its former glory, renewing interest in the alleged vault. A Los Angeles Times piece called it “Chicago’s equivalent of King Tutankhamun's tomb.” Tribune Entertainment picked up the story and signed on Rivera, who'd recently been fired from ABC, as the host for a live excavation.

  Rivera, too, got caught up in the hype, fully expecting the space to contain something. But after the initial blast, the dig wore on and uncovered nothing but a few small glass bottles. Rivera recalled:

  As the program is unfolding and it becomes more and more likely that I'm not going to find anything, there was a terrible, terrible sinking feeling, "My God, the whole world is watching."... As I approached the low point in realizing, recognizing that I'm not going to find anything, I thought that my public life was over.

  After the big letdown, Rivera was so worried that he skipped the after-party to go to a nearby Mexican restaurant and do tequila shots with the excavation crew. But while it may have been a huge disappointment to everyone watching, The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults topped local TV ratings history - three out of four televisions in Chicago tuned into the event, and it was huge nationally, as well. While no one found Capone's money, the ratings still made the event a lucrative endeavor.

  The Lexington Hotel was eventually torn down in the '90s.
• 

  (#11) The Dan-Versus-Dave Showdown Never Happened

  Before the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Reebok came up with what seemed like the perfect advertising campaign. The company had recently lost its short-lived advantage over Nike, and needed more than a typical shoe ad - it needed a pop-culture phenomenon.

  Enter Dan O'Brien and Dave Johnson, two Americans favored to win gold in the Olympic decathlon. Although both were impressive athletes in the track and field world, they were largely unknown to most Americans. Rather than focusing on one, Reebok had the idea to sign on both athletes and create the greatest national rivalry since the Cola wars: Dan versus Dave. Who might win was anyone's guess; Johnson boasted a 3-2 lead over O'Brien in direct competition, while O'Brien held a higher best score in the decathlon.

  Reebok launched a $30 million ad campaign during the 1992 Super Bowl. The ads featured both decathletes wearing Reeboks, showcased their rivaling stats, and repeatedly stated, "This summer they'll battle it out in Barcelona for the title of World's Greatest Athlete."

  But five weeks before the Olympics, at the US Olympic trials, O'Brien performed poorly in the pole vault and failed to even qualify. The advertisements quickly shifted to show O'Brien cheering on Johnson instead. Perhaps it was the pressure of becoming overnight household names; Johnson took home bronze rather than gold at Barcelona. O'Brien later did make it to the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, where he won gold. He was also later endorsed by Nike.

  While the Dan-versus-Dave rivalry turned into a big letdown for American viewers, it was still a highly successful advertising campaign for Reebok. O'Brien and Johnson remain friendly former competitors who keep in touch.

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