These fails made people physically and financially sick. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for junk food and drink fails.
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00:00 "Crystal Pepsi. All the great taste of regular Pepsi, but without that troublesome opacity."
00:05 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for junk food and drink fails.
00:10 Fails include financial missteps, but also questionable dietary choices and
00:15 things that are just frankly kind of gross. "Those candy cigarettes with red tips."
00:19 Number 30. New Coke. Have you ever heard the expression, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it?"
00:27 Apparently, the Coca-Cola company had not back in 1985 when they decided to change the Coke formula.
00:33 "After a century of dominating the world's soft drink market, Coca-Cola is changing."
00:38 Sure, Coke had been losing market share to Pepsi, so maybe in their minds it was broke.
00:42 Either way, their fix kind of failed. "It's a hit, it's a Coke. Coke is hit."
00:49 While the initial response to the new taste was positive, once the Southern states got their hands
00:54 on it, the backlash was mighty. It was so intense that Coke brought back the old formula within
00:59 three months as Coca-Cola Classic. And remember when we said their fix kind of failed? Well,
01:05 the reintroduction of the Classic formula led to a very nice bump in sales.
01:09 "Is Coke nervous? Not at all. We've never had more fun in our life."
01:13 Number 29. Candy cigarettes. Kids today will know them as candy sticks,
01:18 but back in the 20th century, and even as far back as the late 1800s,
01:22 they were straight-up called candy cigarettes.
01:24 Many even had a red tip to mimic a lit cigarette. These things are pure sugar with very little
01:33 flavor. But if we were judging a product solely on its longevity, then candy cigarettes would not
01:38 have made the list. However, in this case, it's safe to call these things a failure to our children.
01:44 "Now each of these boxes are only about 25 cents versus the actual cigarette boxes which are
01:50 around six or seven dollars." Especially children of the previous generation who,
01:54 according to various surveys, were more likely to take up actual smoking if they'd been consumers
02:00 of candy cigarettes. "Candy cigarette?" "I don't want a candy cigarette, I want our Annie."
02:04 Number 28. 7-Up Gold. 7-Up has always been clear-colored, and its marketing slogan for
02:10 many years was "Never had it, never will," with the "it" being caffeine. "Never had it, never will."
02:16 This is important to note because 7-Up Gold was distinctly dark-colored and contained caffeine.
02:22 "Introducing 7-Up Gold." "Wow, thanks!"
02:26 If you're confused by the decision, you're not alone. Consumers in 1988 were seemingly just as
02:32 confused by it. They were so confused, in fact, that they basically decided that they never had
02:37 it and never would, with "it" being 7-Up Gold. The product was discontinued within a year.
02:42 "Wow, thanks. I think I love you."
02:46 Number 27. 3D Doritos. Sometimes, like with the first Avatar movie,
02:51 having something in 3D can actually make it a better experience.
02:53 And other times, it's just a gimmick. 3D Doritos is much more the latter. Don't get us wrong,
03:02 we love Doritos. But puffing them up didn't really add much to them besides being able
03:06 to fit fewer of them in a bag. "A whole new shape that begs to be eaten."
03:12 The original product had a decent six-year run from 1998 to 2004 before being discontinued.
03:18 However, in 2020, they were back, in both Chili Cheese Nacho and Spicy Ranch flavors.
03:23 And if nothing else, the return of the chip provided us with a great Matthew
03:27 McConaughey Super Bowl commercial. "Doritos, now in 3D."
03:30 Number 26. Cheez Whiz. This one might be a little controversial, as we know that
03:35 there are people out there that love Cheez Whiz. And those that love it, really love it.
03:40 "The waiting is over. Cheez Whiz Processed Cheese Spread."
03:43 But the fact is that this is a bright orange processed cheese spread.
03:47 And to call it cheese is a stretch, which is probably why they spell it with a Z.
03:52 Although, to be fair, it would seem that when the product was introduced in the 1950s,
03:56 it did contain a good amount of actual cheese.
03:59 We aren't sure when that changed, but it did, and it was noticeable.
04:05 Dean Southworth was on the development team that created Cheez Whiz. And in 2001,
04:09 he tasted the current product and exclaimed that it tasted, quote, "like axle grease."
04:14 Number 25. Pepsi Blue. In 2001, Mountain Dew introduced their Code Red flavor,
04:23 and saw a nice bump in sales. When Pepsi saw that, they decided that they too needed a
04:28 brightly colored version of their soda. And in 2002, the world got Pepsi Blue.
04:33 "Pepsi Blue, a fusion of berries with a splash of cola."
04:35 However, while Code Red is still going strong today, Pepsi Blue was off store shelves in North
04:41 America by the end of 2004. Pepsi promoted the hell out of the new blue product. And while the
04:46 company saw growth, the product did go down as a failure. Not to mention the fact that they used
04:51 the Blue One coloring agent to get the soda's bright color, an agent that was, even at the time,
04:57 banned in numerous countries. That's two fails in one, Pepsi.
05:00 "Pepsi Blue, a new fusion of berry and cola."
05:03 Number 24. Lay's Cappuccino Flavored Potato Chips.
05:07 "How's this sound? Cappuccino flavored potato chips?"
05:10 In 2014, the Lay's Do Us A Flavor contest came down to four new flavors. Mango Salsa,
05:17 Cheddar Bacon Mac and Cheese, Wasabi Ginger, and Cappuccino. The winner was Wasabi Ginger.
05:23 But to say that Cappuccino just lost would not be doing it justice to some of the comments
05:27 Lay's got on their Facebook page regarding said flavor. How do "nasty" and "gross" sound?
05:33 Not good when talking about how something tastes, right?
05:35 The Today Show even did a taste test among their staff. And while one person called the
05:40 Cappuccino chips, quote, "not unacceptable," there was an acknowledgement of a rather
05:44 unpleasant aftertaste that stuck around for a while.
05:47 "That's terrible."
05:48 Number 23. Coors Rocky Mountain Sparkling Water.
05:51 The Coors Beer Brewing Company has been brewing their beer using Rocky Mountain
05:55 Spring Water for well over 100 years. "It's brewed with pure Rocky Mountain
05:59 Spring Water and its own special high country barley." So back in 1990, when the bottled water
06:04 industry was raking in the cash, Coors saw an obvious opportunity to get in on it. The problem
06:10 was that they kept the Coors name in the marketing and put it right there on the bottle as well.
06:14 We're sure it tasted fine, but with so many options out there, who would grab the bottle
06:18 of water with the beer name on it? Not many people, it turns out, because Coors Rocky
06:22 Mountain Sparkling Water was discontinued. "How'd you do it? How'd you do it?"
06:27 Number 22. Swedish Fish Oreos.
06:29 "The Swedish Fish Oreo. Yep, that's, you heard me right."
06:33 Yep, this was actually a thing. You know how Oreo loves putting out limited edition flavors?
06:38 Well, back in 2016, they gave us Swedish Fish Oreos, with a bright red Swedish Fish-flavored
06:44 cream sandwiched between two classic chocolate cookies. So what'd they taste like? Well,
06:49 according to various reviews, words like "waxy," "artificial cherry," "slimy," and "cough syrup"
06:55 were popular descriptors. "It's not like paint."
06:59 We appreciate Oreos' willingness to take chances and bring us all kinds of flavor options we never
07:04 would've thought possible. But they can't all be hits, and Swedish Fish Oreos was definitely
07:08 one of their bigger misses. "Do it, do it. It's gross."
07:14 Number 21. Surge Soda.
07:16 If imitation really is the sincerest form of flattery, then the Coca-Cola company was really
07:21 flattering Pepsi in 1997 with the release of Surge Soda. "Oh, Surge, life's a scream."
07:27 Mountain Dew, which was owned by Pepsi, was growing fast, and Coke wanted something to
07:32 compete with it. The original codename for the product was "MDK," or "Mountain Dew Killer."
07:38 But kill Mountain Dew it could not. "Speed to run!"
07:41 And by 2003, it was pretty much over. Not to say Surge didn't have its fans. In fact,
07:46 it had some very dedicated fans who were loud enough to get Coke to re-release Surge in 2015.
07:52 We're happy for these folks, but the aggressive marketing and the extreme sports?
07:56 It all feels like an off-brand Mountain Dew to us. "Surge is back."
07:59 Number 20. Pringles Restaurant Cravers.
08:04 Mozzarella Sticks and Marinara. We love a good serving of mozzarella sticks and marinara sauce
08:08 as much as the next person, but did we really need them in the form of a potato chip? Pringles
08:13 certainly thought so. The chip brand once launched a line of flavors dubbed "Restaurant Cravers,"
08:18 focusing on classic entrees and appetizers like onion blossom and Mexican layered dip.
08:23 Unfortunately, mozzarella sticks and marinara doesn't translate nearly as well to chip form.
08:28 The joy of mozzarella sticks is rooted in texture. Why disrespect the cheesy,
08:33 gooey nature of this timeless appetizer by turning it into a powder-coated chip?
08:37 That's just blasphemy.
08:39 Number 19. Pepsi A.M.
08:41 When it comes to revolutionizing the concept of the morning beverage, there have been far
08:46 more spectacularly bad ideas. There are a lot of people who struggle to face the day without a
08:50 morning dose of caffeine. Hoping to cash in on this demand, and maybe even convert some coffee
08:55 drinkers, Pepsi unveiled Pepsi A.M. in 1989. To be clear, this wasn't some revolutionary new type of
09:02 beverage. It was good old-fashioned Pepsi-Cola with the caffeine level jacked way up.
09:06 If your stomach is churning at the thought of starting your day with soda, you are not alone.
09:15 It was discontinued just one year later.
09:17 Number 18. Lay's Wow Chips
09:20 It's amazing how far some companies will go just so they can plaster their food with healthy
09:25 phrases like "sugar-free" or "zero calories." Unfortunately, changing a tried-and-true recipe
09:34 is risky business, as Frito-Lay learned the hard way with their Wow Chips lineup.
09:39 In 1998, Frito-Lay made special bags of Lay's, Doritos, and Ruffles that were fat-free. But
09:45 this supposed benefit came at an immense cost. Since the chips were made with Olestra instead
09:50 of regular cooking oil, customers not only digested fewer calories than regular Lay's,
09:55 they also began suffering from stomach cramps and diarrhea. Around 2004,
09:59 Frito-Lay renamed the lineup as "Lite" with a slightly new formula.
10:04 Number 17. Hubba Bubba Bubble Jug
10:06 Wow. The Hubba Bubba brand has certainly put out some strange products beyond their standard gum.
10:11 Some have really resonated with consumers like bubble tape. But the Hubba Bubba Bubble Jug?
10:17 Not so much. These miniature containers housed a powder that would turn into gum when chewed.
10:22 In other words, it was kind of like a Frankenstein Pixie Stix. What makes the product off-putting
10:26 is that you're basically chewing pure sugar to the point where it becomes a homogenous,
10:30 chewy substance. And while the gum that you wind up with is basically the same old Hubba Bubba,
10:35 that initial mouthful of chunky powder is a serious turn-off.
10:38 Number 16. Budweiser Extra
10:42 Can we just keep it to one vice at a time? In the early 2000s, when energy drinks were all the rage,
10:47 the quote-unquote "king of beers" decided to jump on the bandwagon by pumping a variation of their
10:52 ever-popular beer full of caffeine. Boasting 6.6% alcohol and a hearty dose of caffeine,
10:58 the beverage was certainly sending your body mixed messages. Leaving aside the fact that
11:03 numerous studies have proven caffeinated alcoholic beverages to be incredibly dangerous,
11:07 this brew was just downright disgusting. Oh, they also like to refer to it as Budweiser B to the E,
11:13 like someone's deeply uncool uncle. You know, just to make you cringe twice as hard while drinking it.
11:18 Number 15. Colgate Kitchen Entrees
11:22 Just as we blasted Coors for not being smart enough to realize that keeping the Coors name
11:26 on their sparkling water bottles was a bad move, so too do we need to give Colgate their due.
11:31 We're talking about Colgate Kitchen Entrees. Yes, the toothpaste company making frozen dinners.
11:37 At least Coors had a connection to the Rocky Mountain water. The only connection Colgate has
11:43 to frozen food, or any food for that matter, is brushing it off our teeth before we go to bed.
11:48 At least, from what we can tell, the frozen lasagna did not taste minty-fresh.
11:56 Number 14. True Blood
11:58 For starters, can you say false advertising? This carbonated beverage is not in fact blood,
12:04 human or otherwise. It is, however, a tie-in to the hit HBO series True Blood,
12:09 and the blood beverage that the vamps in the show consume to quench their insatiable thirst.
12:13 For die-hard fans of the series, this remarkably accurate-looking replica is sure to get their
12:19 hearts pounding. Unfortunately, the marketing department decided to treat this beverage as
12:23 more of a collector's item than a viable product, slapping on a hefty price tag that scared away
12:28 many would-be faux vampires. Oh, and did we mention that most bloodsuckers in the show
12:33 couldn't stand the stuff? Not exactly a great endorsement.
12:36 Number 13. Tato Milk Chocolate Bars
12:39 How do you like your chocolate bars? You like 'em loaded with peanuts or crispy rice? Drizzled in
12:44 caramel? Coating cookie bits? Well then, Tato Milk Chocolate Bars are not the decadent sweet you've
12:49 been searching for. While most chocolate companies offer a variety of products in which chocolate is
12:54 combined with peanut butter, wafers or other candy, Tato chooses to load its chocolate bars
12:58 with its own cheese and onion crisps. We're no stranger to sweet and savory treats like Ben and
13:03 Jerry's late-night snack ice cream, but chocolate with chips that taste like cheese and onions?
13:08 Count us out.
13:09 Number 12. Maxwell Ready-to-Drink Coffee
13:13 Introducing a beverage that nobody needed. Making coffee simple. Add hot water to ground coffee
13:18 beans in a filter and voila. Alternatively, stop at a drive-thru on your way to work.
13:22 If you're really pressed for time and don't care about quality or taste whatsoever,
13:26 instant coffee can be made, well, instantly. With these options available, taking coffee and putting
13:32 it in a cardboard carton, to then be poured out into mugs and reheated in the microwave had no
13:37 justifiable reason to exist. In the end, it wasn't quicker or more convenient, and it certainly did
13:43 not deliver a superior taste to a fresh-brewed pot. Number 11. Burger King Shake 'Em Cheesy Fries
13:53 When Taylor Swift tells us to "shake it off," we listen. But in the early aughts,
13:57 when Burger King wanted us to shake up our fries, people were not as keen to obey.
14:02 This is how it worked. First, you dump your fries into the bag. Then, you add as much
14:07 dehydrated cheese powder as you want, shake it all up and voila, cheesy fries. Not to mention
14:16 the cheese powder all over your fingers, and if you weren't careful, everything else. It
14:21 didn't take long for Burger King to shake this one right off of their menu.
14:25 Number 10. Veo Once again, the leading soft drink
14:30 manufacturer makes an appearance. Veo is a flavored, carbonated milk beverage, which the
14:35 Coca-Cola Company introduced to American markets in 2009. To the shock of nobody who wasn't working
14:41 for Coca-Cola, it was deemed a failure and soon pulled from production. In their defense,
14:46 such beverages do succeed elsewhere in the world. In Japan, they're actually quite common.
14:51 This is simply a case of trying to push a market way outside of its comfort zone. That being said,
14:56 an updated Veo has since been introduced in India in 2016, where the product has seemingly fared
15:02 better. Number 9. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Pies
15:06 The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have had their faces slapped on a wealth of food products over
15:10 the years. From cereal to cookies and even Chef Boyardee, marketing efforts seem to suggest that
15:15 the iconic turtles are fond of more than just pizza. However, not every TMNT-endorsed product
15:20 is created equal, with one of the worst offenders being Hostess's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Pies.
15:26 While the vanilla pudding filling is enough to sell any kid, one look at the pie outside of
15:30 the packaging will make you question what exactly you're putting in your mouth. They couldn't just
15:34 make 'em turtle-shaped cupcakes, huh? Number 8. Coca-Cola Black
15:39 How do you connect with trendy young adults? How about making a mysterious black edition of your
15:43 cola? Sure, that's great and all, but if you really want to get the people talking, you better drop a
15:48 letter. And randomly capitalize the K. Silly branding aside, Coca-Cola Black just didn't work.
15:54 Why? Because its whole gimmick was that it was coffee-flavored. Consider it
16:00 Coca-Cola's own attempt to capture the coffee-drinking market. They gave it a sophisticated-looking
16:13 bottle that screamed "flavored coffee" and hoped to connect with the masses. Connect, they did not.
16:18 It earned a few devotees, but mostly people preferred to keep their coffee and cola separate.
16:23 It only lasted two years. Number 7. The Thanksgiving Dinner Holiday Pack
16:29 Jones Soda has managed to coexist with the heavyweights by carving out a niche for themselves
16:33 with their unique photography-based bottle designs and willingness to embrace odd flavors. Yes,
16:38 they offer up standards like root beer and cream soda, but they also do unusual flavors like peanut
16:43 butter and jelly, chocolate, and fufu berry. It's the specialty in holiday releases where
16:47 things get really odd. The 2007 Gingerbread Man flavor? That we can get behind. This Thanksgiving
16:54 sampler? Not so much. The 2005 National Pack comes with the following flavors, turkey and gravy,
17:01 brussel sprouts with prosciutto, cranberry, wild herb stuffing, and pumpkin pie. The 2006 variety
17:07 added an antacid flavor. Yikes, not exactly refreshing. Number 6. Ghostbusters Key Lime
17:14 Slime Twinkies Speaking of Hostess, the company behind Twinkies has gone through some bizarre
17:19 flavors over the past decades, especially when it comes to cross-promotional products.
17:23 We can tolerate flavors like orange cream pop, peppermint, and even pumpkin spice,
17:27 but there was something about their Ghostbusters Twinkies that really threw us off. In addition to
17:32 a white fudge marshmallow flavor, Hostess put out Key Lime Slime Twinkies as a promotional deal for
17:36 the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot. We suppose the key lime flavor fits with Twinkies' cakey nature,
17:43 but something about that green filling made these snacks seriously unappealing,
17:47 and oddly familiar. It just looks wrong.
17:53 Number 5. Crystal Pepsi Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is the highest
17:57 grossing movie in the Indiana Jones franchise, and who doesn't love Crystal Gale? However,
18:02 not all things Crystal are a success. Allow us to take you back to the early 90s when North
18:07 America was going crazy for clear. Clear soap, clear mouthwash, and even clear beer.
18:13 Not to be outdone, Pepsi jumped headfirst into this fad with Crystal Pepsi. Sure, it did taste
18:18 a little different from regular Pepsi, and it did have those awesome commercials with that Van Halen
18:23 song. And yes, consumers did associate Clear with a more pure product, but they also associated a
18:32 certain taste profile with Pepsi that the Crystal version did not match. It was discontinued within
18:37 two years. Number 4. Ranch Dressing Soda. Like Jones, Lester's Fixins is known for taking soda
18:50 pop to strange and often exciting new places. This soda is without a doubt meant as a novelty,
18:55 but it makes you stop and wonder, how far is too far? Some of their concoctions are bizarre,
19:04 but nonetheless inspire a desire to give them a try. Take bacon, PB&J, and pumpkin pie. Ranch
19:09 flavor, on the other hand? The mere thought of it makes your stomach do somersaults. Based on
19:14 their advertising, weird is clearly the angle they were going for. With this particular flavor,
19:21 we wish they hadn't been so successful in achieving that goal. The smell is apparently repulsive,
19:26 and the flavor has been described as, at best, unremarkable. Number 3. Easy Squirt Ketchup.
19:33 Most people agree that ketchup is already perfect in its own right. Whether you're using it for
19:38 your fries, burgers, or a massive plate of crispy tater tots, ketchup arguably makes everything
19:43 taste better. But what happens when you decide to mess with an already winning formula? You wind up
19:48 with the sort of failed product line that Heinz had on their hands with the Easy Squirt Ketchup
19:52 in the early 2000s. For a limited time, kids could drizzle a rainbow of ketchup on their food.
19:58 Unfortunately, the color just made the food look less appetizing. To adults, at least. Yeah,
20:03 it was still ketchup, but its appearance did not sit well with customers.
20:13 Number 2. Shrek Twinkies. Yep, we knew something felt off about those Ghostbusters Twinkies,
20:19 and this was the reason. In 2001, dozens of food companies had their own cross-promotional deal
20:25 to make disgusting Shrek-themed products. But of them all, Shrek Twinkies were arguably the worst.
20:30 For starters, the green filling was unsettling, and it didn't help that the front of the box
20:43 proudly advertised "Ogre Green Creamy Filling." If you were one of the poor unfortunate souls who
20:48 bought a package, you probably realized your mistake after opening one of these foul sweets
20:53 and discovered the Twinkie looked worse than what was on the box. And to think,
20:57 they brought it back to promote Shrek 2.
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21:21 Number 1. Cocaine. This drink promised serious levels of energy,
21:27 and was not afraid to invoke highly addictive illicit drugs to make that clear.
21:32 The can even featured a font that looked like bumpy lines of white powder.
21:35 The marketing was so problematic, the FDA actually had it banned on the grounds that
21:39 Redox Beverages was "illegally marketing the drink as both a street drug alternative
21:44 and a dietary supplement." They compromised and rebranded it as "No Name" before eventually
21:55 reverting back to the original name. Branding aside, this drink is also a bad idea for consumers.
22:00 The caffeine and taurine levels are drastically higher than the competition,
22:04 so much so that doctors have publicly warned against drinking it.
22:08 What are your feelings on these fails? Let us know in the comments.
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22:24 [Music]