For globally realise brands , image is everything . Sneaker giantNike , for example , is improbable to ever get into the home base appliance industry ; Maytag will probably not be propose automobiles .
But some marque have attempted to diversify , banking on their name realization to propel them into a Modern securities industry . More often than not , they simply roll up confusing consumer . Take a facial expression at eight products that pass on brands an identity element crisis .
1. Bic Pantyhose
In 1950 , a French fountain pen manufacturer named Marcel Bich experience an chance tomarketplastic ballpoint penitentiary , a cheap choice to the revolutionary ballpoints firstintroducedin 1945 . Bich ’s saving modelling was just 19 cents , compared to $ 12.50 for the expensive edition ( or about $ 180 in today ’s dollars ) . exchange the spelling of his last name for what should be obvious reasons , Bic and his companionship became synonymous with stationary and , later , disposable razors . focus on personal care token prompted the company toreleasea line of pantyhose in 1976 . In trial run markets , the company dubbed it “ Fannyhose ” because , according to Bic , it declare oneself more space for thebuttocks .
The merchandising was rather unusual overall . Bic opted to sell the pantyhose in authority supplying storehouse on the theory they would be regarded as an office necessity for escritoire . One pair cost 99 cent . Promotional tie - IN with Bic pens were also vagabond out . But Bic hit a snag — the low - price pantyhose market was dominated by firebrand likeL’Eggsand No Nonsense and consumers really did n’t see the pauperization to shop for wearing apparel bearing a Bic logo . The hose all but evaporate by 1979 .
2. The Apple Video Game Console
It ’s laborious to overstateApple ’s dominance in the technology grocery store — unless you guess back to 1995 , when the company waslookingto branch out of the personal computer aisle and into the moneymaking video game manufacture . The Apple Pippin was a biz console fabricate by Bandai that used Apple ’s Mac operating organisation . The companies hope it would become a multimedia hub for the home , able-bodied to work games as well as function as an educational tool .
So what happened ? For one matter , the Pippin carried a muscular price tag . It retail for $ 600 , or about double the $ 299 monetary value point of Sony ’s PlayStation , which had debuted just a few months prior . Only about 42,000 cabinet were sold before Apple directed their attention elsewhere . ( Pippin , incidentally , is avarietyof apple . )
3. Topps Comic Books
For decades , Toppsruled the trading card diligence with their line of play card , Garbage Pail Kids , and other wax packs . In 1992 , they scuffle a Modern hand , this one comprise ofcomic books . The move was anattemptto capitalize on the explosion of the amusing industry , which had become a $ 320 million writing style thanks to payable issues and the success of Tim Burton’sBatmanfilms . The companionship put out titlesbasedonJurassic Park , The X - Files , and Zorro , among others , but the waning comic market did n’t provide them much elbow room to grow . The imprint folded in 1998 , though Topps stillpublishesGarbage Pail Kids comics on function .
4. Life Savers Soda
In 1912 , chocolate maker Clarence Crane need to come up with a treat that was more heat - repellent in the summer month . Using a machine that normally produced medicinal pill , Crane roll up out a hard candy and then punched a hole in the middle of it , whichresembleda life preserver . He dubbed themLife Savers , and they ’ve become a staple fibre of candy aisle everywhere . In 1970 , Life Savers attempt tomigrateto soft drink shelves with a line of sodas based on popular flavors . The drinks disappeared and thenreappearedin 1999 , but people did n’t seem to respond to a fluent version of the hard candy . It has n’t surfaced since .
5. Hello Kitty Beer
The endurably adorableHello Kittyhas enchanted youngster everywhere for ten , which makes the precocious felid a puzzling option to endorse an alcohol-dependent beverage . license from Sanrio , the possessor of Hello Kitty , the beer wasreleasedin 2013 by Shanghai KT and brew by Long Quan . A variety of different savour , include passionateness fruit , peach , banana , and lemon tree lime tree were available . While just 2.3 percent inebriant by mass , the beer wassaidto be so placid that over - indulging could be a trouble . The potable was only available in China .
6. Cosmopolitan Yogurt
Cosmopolitanhas been a popular periodical with high brand recognition , and it would be easy to think theCosmoname being used for twirl - off publications , book , and more . But National Magazine Company , which publishedCosmoin the UK , went in a different counselling . In 1999 , theylauncheda production line of yogurts in the hope of breaking into the lucrative wellness food market . Shoppers did n’t seem to make the connection between the mag and a dairy product , and the air was junk in 2001 .
7. Harley-Davidson Cologne
When multitude think of Harley - Davidson , their mother wit computer storage may involve the aroma of burn rubber , gasoline , and other noxious expelling . Yet the company seemed engrossed onmarketinga melodic line of colognes and perfume in 1996 in the hopes people would associate Harley motorcycles with a pleasant scent . With fragrances like Destiny and Hot Rod , the brand want to capitalize on the lifestyle commitment of riders . The thought taper off .
8. IKEA Inflatable Furniture
Swedish home supply giantIKEAhas made a cottage manufacture out of cheap ready - to - get together furniture . In1998 , they debut acollectionof inflatable furniture they dubbed the a.i.r . pipeline — not the kind find in plaything departments for Thomas Kid , but factual credit card lounge and chairs that rate in Leontyne Price from $ 40 to $ 200 . IKEA ’s feeler was in using different air bedroom that purportedly increased comfort . Consumers could use a hair drier to inflate the pieces , a process that could take up to 30 hour . Once inflated , a cloth slipcover would give it the appearance of conventional article of furniture .
This did n’t work as well as planned . “ What was a comfortable sofa on Monday was a amorphous piece of stale fabric on Friday , ” author Stina Holmbergwrotein the 2018 bookDemocratic Design . “ And to be honest , it was n’t even that comfortable . And then there was the strait when you sat down , a strait of something not at all glamourous . ”
IKEA customer seemed pose by the musical theme of fit their abode with a college dorm esthetic , and the zephyr line was quickly leave out . IKEA Swedish meatballs , however , persist very much a thing .
