The Great Fail

This week’s minisode includes a failed prophylactics business, fake catering and grasshopper protein powders. Tune in on AdvertiseCast: https://www.advertisecast.com/TheGreatFail Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Before Best Buy, Target and Fry’s Electronics, there was Crazy Eddie, which created the blueprint for consumer electronic retailers. With their deep discounts and iconic Crazy Eddie ads, they were one of the top performers on Wall Street from 1984 to 1987. But beneath all the success, were internal rivalries, deep jealousy, plots of deceit and betrayal, and a huge family secret that would ultimate...

WeWork was one of the most highly anticipated IPOs in 2019. It received funding from the biggest investment banks and investment funds. Linked to celebrities like Ashton Kutcher, Hugh Jackman, and Mark Zuckerberg, the charismatic CEO Adam Neumann was on a trajectory to creating a movement for coworking space rentals across the globe. What would follow would be the crumbling of the WeWork brand, th...

By 1995, Calgary’s Bre-X became a $6 billion dollar company when it declared that it had discovered the world's largest gold mine within the jungles of Indonesia. What followed years later would entail all the elements of a Hollywood story: lies, betrayal, the collapse of an empire, and a badly decomposed body. Tune in on AdvertiseCast: https://www.advertisecast.com/TheGreatFail Learn more about y...

On its debut, it was heralded as one of the best inventions of 2013. Google launched Project Glass as its first wearable that would rock the world. Glass quickly became the must-have product for celebrities and CEOs, and was on a fast track to becoming a culturally defining device that would cross over to mainstream success. So how did it end up on the DOA list just two years after its launch? Tun...

In the 80's and early 90's, LA Gear became one of the most iconic brands with celebrity endorsements that included Michael Jackson, Paula Abdul, Hakeem Olajuwon, Joe Montana, and Wayne Gretzky. This quintessential company captured the hearts of men, women, and kids and for a minute, was third in sales behind Nike and Reebok. How one of the hottest companies, could commit a series of missteps that...

What makes greatness fail? How do some of the most successful brands, companies, ideas become obsolete? Welcome to The Great Fail, a podcast that examines and explores case studies of the most famous and infamous cases. Here we share stories that will irk you, shock you, and have you picking your jaw up from the floor. This isn’t your typical classroom lecture hall– the stories are delivered in a...