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Bizarre Product Decisions Famous Businesses Regretted

A person holds a Twitter Peek Device

The Twitter Peek Device was not a success

Creating an innovative product that makes your brand stand out is more complicated than you think.

Even some of the most famous brands find it a challenge.

A famous quote by John Lydgate says: "You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time."

That quote works perfectly as it doesn't matter how big a company is as sometimes, buyers just won't find the new product helpful or appealing, and there's not much the business can do about it.

From Heinz purple ketchup to Colgate frozen dinners, here are products that didn't work out.

Baby food for adults

Gerber, a baby food brand, decided to think outside the box.

You can imagine the conversations: "If babies really like our food, surely we can do the same for adults?"

And so in 1974, "Gerber Singles" was released.

The product targeted college students and adults who lived independently for the first time.

This was based on an assumption these people couldn't cook and so would be happy to live off mushed-up meals.

It was baby food for adults with flavors such as "creamed beef" and "Mediterranean vegetables."

However, the product wasn't popular, and with hardly any sales, it was discontinued soon after.

Colgate frozen food

Colgate is one of those brands that instantly makes you think of one particular product.

Unfortunately, that product is toothpaste - not food.

In 1982, Colgate made a frozen food line to expand its brand.

The decision had the effect of no one being interested in food they thought might taste like toothpaste.

Sales of Colgate's dental products also dropped - although it's not confirmed whether people thought they might taste like frozen food.

Pepsi A.M.

Unless you've got a massive hangover, the idea of waking up and drinking Pepsi isn't very appealing.

This product was made in 1989 when Pepsi decided its fizzy drink needed to be an early morning product.

The difference between the regular Pepsi and this product was that it had way more caffeine in it.

However, cracking open a can of soda so early in the morning was not something that proved overly popular.

Sales weren't great.

Pepsi A.M. was discontinued a year later.

The Twitter-only mobile phone

This is a really strange idea, considering everyone who uses Twitter almost certainly has it on their smartphone.

Twitter Peek was a Twitter-only mobile made in 2009.

It cost $200 and the screen only displayed the first 20 characters of each message, meaning a lot of slow scrolling to read a single tweet.

It also wouldn't access any linked website.

One tech reviewer wrote: "The TwitterPeek is so dumb it makes my brain hurt."

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Heinz purple ketchup

Back in the early 2000s, Heinz wanted to do something different to catch children's attention.

So, they came up with Ez Squirt.

The ketchup came in three colors: purple, green, and orange.

However, most people found this weird and not appealing.

They preferred the typical red ketchup, so a few years later, Ez Squirt was stopped.

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