From Harley Davidson-branded perfume to a lasagna produced by toothpaste maker Colgate, the corporate world is awash with ideas that fail to connect with consumers, and one museum curator hopes to inspire people with them.
The Museum of Failure in Helsingborg, Sweden features products that can be politely described as missteps.
Exhibits range from Blockbuster's DVD viewer to Bic's "For Her" pens and even a Donald Trump Monopoly board game.
"I got tired of all these success stories," said Samuel West, the museum's curator. "The same narrative, some guy makes a new product or invention, cashes in and becomes a millionaire and then says 'Hey look at me I'm successful.'"
West says 80 to 90 per cent of innovations, an all-encompassing term he uses for new products or inventions, fail.
"I was thinking, ‘Where are all these failures?’ They don't get the attention they deserve," he said.
He notes that Blockbuster's DVD viewer eventually contributed to the company's downfall. The company was loathe to innovate and expand to online streaming, instead putting their money in products like their DVD player which was just an extension of their current business plan.
But Blockbuster and other large companies' mistakes should provide inspiration for would-be innovators, West said.
"It's meant as inspiration. If you understand that in order to innovate you really need to accept failure as an option, then when you understand that and embrace that, then you won't be as afraid to try new things," he said.
Other products, like Colgate branded lasagna or Harley Davidson's perfume, are times when companies overextend themselves.
The perfume in particular had a lasting impression on West.
"When I got the bottle, I put some on. My intern said I stank like urine," he said.
But some companies are loathe to look back at their mistakes. The Colgate lasagna exhibit in the museum is a reconstruction as Colgate refused to participate.
The exhibit opens June 7.
