Remember Pizza Spins? Neither Do We.
Grocery stores have seen their fair share of ill-advised products on their shelves over the years. There was baby food for adults, Crystal Pepsi, which is not as cool as it sounds, and don't forget about Magic Dunkers. These products didn't land with shoppers, and for good reason. Here are 20 foods that should never have been in grocery stores.
1. Gerber Singles
This product was wild. In the 1970s, Gerber launched "Singles", which were ready-to-eat meals in glass jars for single adults and college students. As it turns out, adults didn't want to eat baby food and found the texture and appearance to be unappetizing.
2. Bambeanos
In 1975, Colgate-Palmolive brought Bambeanos to market. It was roasted flavored whole soybeans, and was marketed as a snack food. It was pulled from shelves the following year due to low sales, and some of the side effects, like flatulence, were not appreciated by consumers.
3. Screaming Yellow Zonkers
If you went grocery shopping in the late 1960s and 1970s, you might have come across Yellow Zonkers. While it had a good run, this sugar-glazed popcorn was discontinued in 2007 due to low demand. While it had fun packaging, this snack food never grew in popularity outside of a small cult following.
4. Crystal Pepsi
Launched in 1990, Crystal Pepsi was supposed to be all the rage, but it landed with a thud. This clear cola was designed to tap into the transparent product craze but failed quickly and has since become a pop culture joke. Consumers couldn't care less about the novelty, and the feedback on its taste was mixed.
5. OK Soda
OK Soda was added to grocery store shelves in 1993 and was aimed at Generation X consumers. It had cynical advertising and weird flavors. It only lasted two years, as consumers didn't want a soda that talked down to them, or even insulted them. Sometimes a product can fail simply because it's too ironic.
6. Doritos 3D
Doritos 3D was a big swing by Frito-Lay. These were triangular, puffed Doritos, and they came with a lot of fanfare in 1998. Unfortunately, the product never recovered from novelty burnout. They were briefly revived years later, only to eventually be discontinued again.
7. Pizza Spins
This snack from the 1960s was pizza-flavored, crunchy wheels. Needless to say, consumers didn't fall in love with their texture and taste, and by 1975, the product was gone from shelves and our collective memory. This product proves that an odd shape won't lead to sales.
8. Heinz EZ Squirt Ketchup
Heinz introduced this product in 2000, and consumers were confounded by seeing ketchup in weird colors like purple, blue, and green. It was marketed to kids, but the popularity quickly turned into novelty, and kids moved on to the next thing. Parents also found it to be messy and gimmicky.
9. Magic Dunkers
"Oreo Magic Dunkers" from Nabisco were cookies that changed the color of milk when dunked. They sound fun, but the coloring issues meant people only bought them once to see what all the buzz was about.
Gerardo Covarrubias on Unsplash
10. Freshen Up Gum
Freshen Up Gum was "the gum that goes squirt". Released in 1975, this gum had a liquid center that squirted when you bit down on it. There was initial consumer interest, but most came to dislike the messiness, and the novelty of the surprise wore off fast.
11. Cup Noodles Pumpkin Spice
In 2021, Nissin released a pumpkin spice flavor for its Cup Noodles, and it went about as well as you would expect. It was divisive upon release and caused a bit of a backlash. It was discontinued due to low sales, especially with respect to repeat buys.
12. Oreo O's Cereal
Post introduced Oreo O's cereal to consumers in 1998. While it was available until 2007, it never dominated the cereal category. Changes in licensing and cost to produce also contributed to its downfall.
13. Pac-Man Pasta
This product was canned pasta that was shaped to resemble Pac-Man. The pop culture crossover never took the world by storm, proving that consumers want more than a gimmick.
14. Odwalla
Odwalla was a juice and smoothie blend that was acquired by Coke in 2001. It was discontinued in 2020 due to low sales and pandemic-related supply issues. Despite its production and supply problems, it's a product that never fully caught on with consumers.
15. Doritos Guacamole Flavor
A guacamole-flavored Dorito sounds like a logical pairing, but consumers disagreed. Its appearance came quietly, and it then disappeared without a trace, partly due to competing flavors.
16. Keebler Magic Middles
These shortbread cookies with a fudge or peanut butter center were removed from listings due to changing snack trends, even though it did have its fans. A push toward healthier snacks and the competition of the category was the nail in these elves' coffins.
17. Altoid Sours
A Wrigley product, Altoid Sours were hard candies that departed from the product's traditional mint profile. They couldn't find its footing in the niche sour candy market, and the contrast of Altoid with a different flavor than mint confused consumers.
18. French Toast Crunch
A cereal that was meant to be French toast in cereal form, it did develop a bit of a following but only lasted for roughly 10 years. It was an odd mix of textures that couldn't sustain any positive sales.
19. Philadelphia Cheesecake Snack Bars
A snack bar flavored like cheesecake, this product was discontinued because consumers found the artificial taste to be unpleasant. This snack bar was a bad idea from conception.
20. Josta
One of the first sodas with guarana, Josta was brought to market in 1995 by Pepsi. It only lasted a few years as the company grossly overestimated its potential mass appeal.
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