Bic has built its brand on the convenience of disposable products. Disposable razors? Disposable lighters? Convenient and affordable. Disposable underwear? Just plain weird. Other than the disposability factor, consumers could not find a link between the underwear and Bic's other products. With out a unifying factor, people were just confused. In addition, the idea of buying intimate attire from a company that also produces pens apparently does not appeal to most women.



Cosmopolitan Yogurt

Cosmopolitan has 58 international editions, is published in 36 languages and is distributed in more than 100 countries, making it one of the most dynamic brands on the planet. You could say it's got this "magazine thing" down pat. All the more reason why it should stick to what it does best. One thing Cosmo does not do best is brand and sell yogurt. Yes, yogurt. From the time of its release, the yogurt was supposedly off of the shelves in 18 months.


 
Life Savers Soda
According to Wrigley.com, chocolate maker Clarence Crane invented Life Savers in 1912 as he searched to find a sweet treat to withstand the summer heat better than his chocolate. Because of their resemblance to life preservers the brand name Life Savers was chosen. Since then, Life Savers have become the No. 1 brand across non-chocolate candy and mints. That success, however, did not translate to its fizzy drink venture. Life Savers Soda failed even though it had fared well in taste tests. According to one brand critic "the Life Savers name gave consumers the impression they would be drinking liquid candy."

Clairol's Touch of Yogurt Shampoo

The shampoo failed to attract consumers (in 1979) largely because nobody liked the idea of washing their hair with yogurt. Of those who did buy it, there were even some cases of people mistakenly eating it, and getting very ill as a result. The "Touch of Yogurt" concept is made even more remarkable because three years earlier Clairol introduced a similar shampoo called the "Look of Buttermilk." This product instantly bombed in test markets where consumers were left asking: what exactly is the "look of buttermilk" and why should I want it?




Coors Rocky Mountain Spring Water

If you're one of the most popular beer brands in the world, it's a pretty safe bet that even your most loyal consumers would not be interested in buying bottled water from you. Case in point -- Coors Rocky Mountain Spring Water. Spring water from the Rocky Mountains is indeed used during the brewing process of some Coors products. However, when bottled alone, it's missing one key ingredient -- alcohol. Apparently Coors customers just weren't that into buying water when it wasn't enhanced by additional ingredients.

Colgate Kitchen Entrees

In what must be one of the most bizarre brand extensions ever Colgate decided to use its name on a range of food products called Colgate’s Kitchen Entrees. Needless to say, the products did not take off and never left U.S. soil. The idea must have been that consumers would eat their Colgate meal, then brush their teeth with Colgate toothpaste. The trouble was that for most people the name Colgate does not exactly get their taste buds tingling.



Kellogg's Breakfast Mates

The idea behind Kellogg's Breakfast Mates was fairly simple -- pack a box of cereal with milk and a spoon, and you have a tasty meal on the go! Hey, it worked for Lunchables, right? Unfortunately, Kellogg's failed to take two things into account. First of all, though the milk included in the Cereal Mate did not require refrigeration, no one likes the idea of warm milk. And second, the ads showed parents sleeping while children helped themselves to Cereal Mates -- but the packaging was not child-friendly. The confusion associated with Breakfast Mates led to its ultimate failure.



Pepsi A.M. & Crystal Pepsi

In the late 1980s, Pepsi came up with the brilliant plan to cater to the breakfast cola drinker, under the assumption that because Pepsi contained caffeine, it must be a natural substitute for coffee. Well, you know what they say about assumptions -- but needless to say, Pepsi AM was not successful, and neither was Pepsi's later foray into clear cola, Crystal Pepsi. Apparently, when it comes to cola, the consumers know what they want -- they want it brown, and they want to drink it all day long.



Frito Lay Lemonade

Frito Lay Lemonade might seem like a good idea: Eating salty corn chips makes you thirsty, and lemonade can cure that thirst. Unfortunately, when people think Fritos, "thirst-quenching" is not an adjective that comes to mind. Therefore, Frito Lay's "logical" brand extension turned out to not be so logical after all.


Maxwell House
Ready-to-Drink Coffee

The way Maxwell House described its ready-to-drink coffee sounded appealing enough -- it was "a convenient new way to enjoy the rich taste of Maxwell House Coffee." Just one problem -- the coffee could not be microwaved in its original container, virtually canceling out any "convenience" it may have offered. If you can pour the "ready-to-drink" coffee into a mug and microwave it, you can certainly pour yourself a mug of coffee from a coffeemaker. And that's just what consumers continued to do.