Famous Food Flops
By Sian on May 04, 2009 with Comments 9
Millions of new products get introduced through out North America every year. Here are a few food duds that I have come across. Some of them bring back memories, others are before my time. Some of them lasted several years, others only weeks. One thing is guaranteed is that they are all no longer on the shelves and I’m sure the manufactures would like us to forget about them all together, but they are good for a giggle so let’s take a look anyway:
Gerber…for College Students?
Gerber, the well known baby food company, launched a campaign to market “Gerber Singles” aimed at college students or for the single person living alone. Mush from a jar? For adults? WTHeck? Perhaps they were envisioning the popularity and convenience of spam?
Jell-O Flavors
Jell-O has been around for a long time and boy is it yummy…well usually. Did you know that some flavors that the company launched unsuccessfully include these unique dessert flavors:
- celery
- chocolate
- coffee
- cola
- pickle
Don’t sound much like dessert to you? Me either. Yuck!
Fruit flavored Potato Chips
Hostess is forever infamous for the brief and much-lamented mid-1970′s introduction of orange, grape and cherry flavored potato chips. Even a complete potato chip lover, I could not munch these down. However, the UK has some very bizarre chips selection or as they call them Crisps such as:
Crispy duck and hoisin duck
Builder’s breakfast
Chili and chocolate
Smoked ham and Pickle
Roast beef, mashed potatoes with gravy
I would love to try those ones just to see if I could guess what they were (besides the chocolate one)
A product before its time…Pepsi A.M. The precursor to Red Bull?
It contained more caffeine than a regular Pepsi and was marketed as a morning drink. It only lasted on the market for 2 years. They might have been on to something. It was like the first energy drink way before Red Bull. Maybe the crazy 1980′s wasn’t ready for it and to market it as an AM drink was really wrong. I think I will stick with coffee. Anyone going to Starbucks? I’ll take a Skinny tall latte, thanks!
Can you think of any others that you have seen disappear off the shelves?
Filed Under: Fueling up
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I remember all the soda flops- Crystal Pepsi, Pepsi Clear. I have seen some odd candy & gum flavors too!
Oh the memories- imagine they had those candy popeye cigerettes that puffed out smoke – we have come a long way
Oh my gosh, “Cough Whip”!? I don’t remember ever hearing about it, but that sounds absolutely DISGUSTING!
And the “new Coke”/ “Classic Coke”/ “Cherry Coke” thing… although their “Coke Zero” is doing pretty well. Maybe because its not a new flavor?
About popcorn…I was just in our local movie rental store and they are STILL selling Halloween popcorn (hello, it is May!!!) and it is bright ORANGE! EEEW!
How about the new formula Coke which brought about the awkward “Coke Classic”?
Not exactly a food, but remember Cough Whip? It was an over-the-counter medication for flu/cold/cough—you ate it by the spoonful. Similar in consistency to Cool Whip. Yuck!
came to your blog via a friend who has you on her google reader. two food items of days gone by that still make me laugh: Crystal Clear Pepsi and PopSecret PopQuiz colored popcorn!
Ben and Jerry’s has an entire flavor “graveyard” of all their flavors that failed to sell or even make it to the production stage. This is interesting though. Love the blog design i need someone to make me one like this!
I love Gerber! always had. In fact, years ago I and my father would always eat all my baby-sister’s Gerbers and nothing left nothing for her (lucky enough, she hated Gerber). So I’m all for it.