- 6 months ago
Remember these major brands that vanished? Join us as we count down iconic companies that once dominated our lives but have now disappeared! From revolutionary tech pioneers to retail giants, these household names couldn't adapt to changing times. Which defunct brand do you miss the most? Let us know in the comments!
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00:00Kodak Gold. No other film gives you truer, more consistent color, picture after picture.
00:06Welcome to WatchMojo.
00:08And today, we're counting down our picks for the major brands that have disappeared or are much harder to find than they once were.
00:16Next time you're on the internet, go to thenewnetscape.com.
00:21Number 30, Palm.
00:22Before smartphones came along, the Palm Pilot was the ultimate in wireless tech.
00:27Check out this Palm handheld from CompUSA. It manages your calendar, gets email.
00:33Palm PDAs, that's Personal Data Assistance, were revolutionary, allowing users to connect to the internet from anywhere.
00:41That might sound unimpressive now, but when the Pilot 1000 was introduced in 1996, it was a big deal.
00:47The handheld device was similar to a smartphone, though its screen was grayscale and it used a stylus rather than a touchscreen.
00:55It's actually a real computer that happens to be the most popular handheld computer there is right now.
01:00Got about 11 million people using them out there.
01:02But it had familiar apps like email and even included a feature similar to Airdrop, which allowed users to send info to other pilots.
01:11When smartphones started to take off in the 2010s, Palm tried to pivot, but it just couldn't keep up with Apple.
01:19Production of the PDAs was discontinued in 2011.
01:22Number 29. Lehman Brothers.
01:25This investment bank was a cornerstone of global finance.
01:30Founded by Henry, Emanuel, and Mayor Lehman in Alabama in the 1840s, the business started as a dry goods store before transitioning to commodities trading.
01:40It was a manic Monday in the financial markets.
01:43The Dow tumbled more than 500 points after two pillars of the street tumbled over the weekend.
01:50Lehman Brothers, a 158-year-old firm, filed for bankruptcy.
01:54Eventually, it grew to become the fourth largest investment firm in the U.S.
01:58However, in the 2000s, the company made the fatal mistake of going all-in on subprime mortgages.
02:04When the housing bubble popped and the economy collapsed in 2008, Lehman Brothers went down with it.
02:11It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and its assets were liquidated.
02:15Brought down by bad mortgage investments, Lehman, which has 25,000 employees, will be liquidated.
02:21It's hard to feel sorry for execs, who raked in hundreds of millions while costing other people their houses, jobs, and retirement funds.
02:29Pop culture wasn't too kind to Lehman Brothers as a result.
02:33Number 28. Borders.
02:36The internet has not been kind to brick-and-mortar retail stores, especially bookstores.
02:41Borders provides a broad selection of books, music, and DVD.
02:45With the rise of Amazon and e-readers, far fewer people are shopping for books in person, and stores are forced to adapt or die.
02:54Borders was founded in 1971 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, by brothers Tom and Louis Borders.
03:00After opening their second location in 1985, the business took off, ballooning to more than 1,200 stores by 2003 and expanding all over the world.
03:09The company became a pioneer of the big-box bookseller concept.
03:14At its peak in 2003, Borders had more than 1,200 stores around the country, each with thousands of new titles.
03:22Unfortunately, 2006 was the last year the company turned a profit, and it filed for bankruptcy in 2011.
03:30You can still visit a Borders bookstore, but you'll have to travel to the Middle East to do it.
03:37Number 27. Hummer.
03:39In the 90s and early 2000s, Hummers were a bit like cyber trucks today.
03:45They were extremely conspicuous, not terribly practical, and people had strong opinions about them.
03:50Seeing the hulking proportions of a Hummer H2 SUV sitting next to you at a stoplight is a common and can be a humbling experience.
03:59But owners love these big utes and the image they project.
04:02The Hummer was actually a civilian version of a military vehicle called a Humvee.
04:07It was huge, lacked basic safety features like side airbags, and was a terrible gas guzzler with some models getting as little as 10 miles per gallon in the city.
04:17As gas prices began to spike in the 2000s and consumers became more conscious of the emissions they were pumping into the atmosphere, demand for Hummers dropped.
04:27The last Hummer was produced in 2010, but General Motors has since revived the brand as an all-electric vehicle.
04:35It's really going to show the way of the capability and recreate the franchise that we have today in internal combustion engines into the EV world.
04:44Number 26. Blockbuster.
04:46We know there's technically, still, one Blockbuster left in Bend, Oregon.
04:52In downtown Bend, Oregon, you can find the last Blockbuster on Earth.
04:56It even released a viral ad on Instagram during Super Bowl 57.
05:00But aside from that, this once-great video rental store has gone the way of the VCR, much like its competitor Hollywood Video.
05:08Founded in 1985, Blockbuster was a staple of family movie nights for decades.
05:13It started with tapes before expanding to DVD and video game rentals.
05:17At its height, it had more than 9,000 locations around the globe.
05:21But as you might guess, competition from Netflix and other streaming services eventually spelled the end.
05:28When Blockbuster originally filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy about six months ago, it said it would keep all 3,300 stores open.
05:36But tonight, as you can see, at this Easttown store, it just could not survive.
05:40The craziest part is that Blockbuster had the chance to buy Netflix for just $50 million in 2000 and turned it down.
05:48Bad move, Blockbuster.
05:49Number 25. Napster.
05:52If you were old enough to be on the internet in 1999, you were on Napster.
05:57It was the original peer-to-peer service for sharing MP3s, and it was huge.
06:02It's going into like a candy store.
06:03You've got thousands of songs, anything you want, as much as you want.
06:07Although it could take hours to download a single song using dial-up internet, that didn't stop music lovers from building a collection of thousands of tracks.
06:16The service was so popular that it often jammed up college dorms' networks, and with some experts estimating that the music downloads made up 60% of online traffic at the time.
06:27We will have to say, you can either stop doing this, or we'll have to disconnect the service.
06:33Of course, all of these songs were copyrighted, and creators weren't too happy with their work being shared for free.
06:39In 2000, Metallica and Dr. Dre sued the service for copyright infringement, and by mid-2001, it was forced to shut down.
06:47Number 24. Radio Shack.
06:50If your dad or grandpa was really into ham radio back in the day, you probably visited a radio shack at least once.
06:57I don't really know what radio shack sells.
07:02I guess that's the problem.
07:04I mean, electronics parts.
07:06The electronics retailer started in 1921 as a mail-order business for amateur radio hobbyists.
07:13It slowly expanded to nine large stores, but that model didn't work well for the brand, and by the 1960s, it was in financial trouble.
07:22Charles Tandy of Tandy Leather Goods bought it out in 1962 and reorganized it from a few big locations to multiple small ones.
07:30As technology evolved, Radio Shack started carrying computers, telephones, and VCRs.
07:35Their struggle hasn't been the real estate, their struggle has been what to put in the stores, and they have continued to make some boneheaded decisions, or just some bad bets.
07:44However, as with so many retailers, online shopping was its demise.
07:50It filed for bankruptcy in 2015 and 2017.
07:54Some locations remain today, but they bear little resemblance to the original brand.
08:00Number 23, Kmart.
08:02Like borders, there are still a few Kmarts out there.
08:06In the Virgin Islands and Guam.
08:08So here you have it, the last standing Kmart in the country.
08:12So attention, Kmart shoppers, there is a blue light special right here on Kendall Drive.
08:17Founded under the name Kreskys in 1899, the first true Kmart opened in San Fernando, California in 1962.
08:25Over the next 40 years, it expanded to thousands of stores, and its sales even outpaced Walmarts until 1990.
08:32But it was all downhill from there.
08:34It filed for bankruptcy in 2002, amidst the scandal in which the chairman and CEO were accused of misleading shareholders while spending the company's money on private jets and luxury yachts.
08:46In 2004, it merged with competitor Sears, but sales continued to decline.
08:52Kmart sales went into freefall, from $16 billion in 2009 to $5.8 billion in 2018.
08:58In 2018, Sears Holdings filed for bankruptcy, and by 2024, nearly every Kmart and Sears location had closed.
09:07Number 22, RCA.
09:09RCA, founded in 1919, the Radio Corporation of America was the biggest name in electronics manufacturing for years.
09:17It even started the first nationwide broadcast network, the National Broadcast Company, better known today as NBC.
09:24The TRK-12's debut launched NBC's scheduled programming and an industry that would transform the world.
09:31When television came along, RCA jumped into that venture too.
09:35It showed off its first TV at the 1939 World's Fair, and started experimental television broadcasts from NBC studios the same year.
09:43RCA remained profitable until the 80s, when General Electric bought it out for around $6 billion.
09:51GE promised that RCA operations would continue as usual, but that didn't happen.
09:56RCA audio, careful.
09:59It'll even make your parents' music sound great.
10:01Instead, the new owners broke up the company and sold it for parts.
10:06It turned out that General Electric had bought RCA just to get its hands on NBC.
10:11Number 21, F.W. Woolworth Company.
10:14Australian viewers might be wondering what Woolworths is doing on this list, but we're not talking about the supermarket chain down under.
10:23Woolworths have so much more for you.
10:25We're referring to the American company started by Frank Winfield Woolworth in 1879.
10:31For more than a century, Woolworths was a cornerstone of American retail.
10:36It found early success by selling goods at ultra-competitive prices.
10:41By 1912, it had almost 600 locations across the eastern U.S.
10:46In the 80s, it expanded into malls, opening smaller stores that specialized in sporting goods, jewelry, and more.
10:53This move away from its original format would be Woolworths' undoing.
10:57It began neglecting its department store operations, which were outpaced by competitors.
11:03In 1997, the company announced it would close the last of its U.S. locations.
11:09The retailer in March 1997 was pulled from the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
11:14It was a slow and sad fall from grace for a retailer that started all the way back in 1879.
11:19Number 20, Worlds of Wonder.
11:22Hi, I'm Teddy Ruxpin.
11:25Welcome to Worlds of Wonder and to the dawn of a brand new era in the evolution of toy.
11:32After conquering the toy market with products like Laser Tag and the Teddy Ruxpin Bear,
11:36Worlds of Wonder earned exclusive retail sales and distribution for the uber-popular NES system.
11:43It's a look that generates excitement and stimulates sales for the entire Nintendo product line.
11:49The money was flowing, until suddenly, it wasn't.
11:53The unprecedented surge in video game sales quickly dwarfed the profits of traditional toys.
11:58Then, Nintendo decided not to renew their distribution deal,
12:02leaving Worlds of Wonder without a leg, or in this case, a product, to stand on.
12:07The stock crash of 1987 was the final nail in the coffin,
12:11and the company shut its doors for good.
12:13Both the Teddy Ruxpin and Laser Tag sets have continued on in various forms,
12:18just not with Worlds of Wonder.
12:20Hi, my name is Teddy Ruxpin.
12:24Number 19, Vare 2.
12:26Evidently, the lifestyles of the rich and famous did not include Vare 2.
12:36From their inception, the luxury phones were manufactured with an emphasis on style over function.
12:42And to be fair, they definitely succeeded in becoming a status symbol,
12:46but only because they were so ridiculously expensive.
12:50Only the richest of the rich could afford one.
12:52Working with Google, we can now offer contemporary performance products,
12:57which has attracted a younger audience to the brand.
12:59Since Vare 2 phones also lacked features like GPS and Bluetooth,
13:03many felt the hefty price tag wasn't worth it.
13:06Following years of messy finances, the company officially went under in 2017.
13:12Now that they're off the market, Vare 2 phones have ironically become
13:15the commodity the company always wanted them to be.
13:18Working with Android has allowed us to build contemporary, powerful products
13:23for people looking for that everyday smartphone,
13:26but just that little bit extra bit of refinement or exclusivity.
13:30Number 18, Alta Motors.
13:32I think the doors are going to fly open for areas this bike can go, perform, compete,
13:37and that's going to open up, I think, a whole new avenue of rider.
13:41The saddest part of this closure is that it had nothing to do with the product itself.
13:44Despite an overwhelmingly positive response, Alta Motors' electric bikes
13:49just weren't selling enough to keep the lights on.
13:53Their biggest issue may have been the continuing controversy
13:55between electric and gas-powered engines.
13:58In fact, Alta Motors' bikes were banned from several official races for that very reason.
14:03First started hearing about them a year and a half ago
14:06and just kind of seeing tidbits here and there of the bike
14:08and honestly thought it was the most legit-looking electric dirt bike
14:12that I'd seen up to the point.
14:14As a result, price cuts and new models were only Band-Aid fixes
14:18for their unsustainable cash flow.
14:20When two partnership deals fell through,
14:22the company was left severely strapped for funds
14:24and eventually ceased operations altogether in 2018
14:28after just eight years of business.
14:31I think that there's definitely a future for them.
14:34Whether it overtakes all the gas-powered bikes, that's yet to be seen.
14:39Number 17. Mercury Automobile
14:43There's not a sharp corner in sight,
14:45and the drag coefficient of 0.32 makes this the slipperiest American sedan yet.
14:5170 years is a pretty good run for any car division,
14:54especially one that never found a consistent buyer base.
14:57See, initially, the Mercury division of Ford was created
15:00as a mid-priced alternative to their other models.
15:04However, over the years, it underwent more rebrands and redesigns
15:07and you can count on one hand.
15:09It's been a race car, a sports vehicle, an economy ride, and more.
15:13They tried targeting it to men, and then to young drivers, and then to women.
15:18This is a great find. They're a great find.
15:21Award-winning safety ratings.
15:23A brand-new hybrid.
15:25While these shifts occurred gradually across decades,
15:28the shovelings eventually began to limit the car's appeal instead of widen it.
15:32By 2010, the continuously declining sales forced Ford
15:35to put the Mercury brand in park permanently.
15:39Imagine that.
15:41Imagine yourself in a Mercury.
15:46Number 16. Pebble
15:48The idea was brought to life by people like you just a few months ago,
15:52and we're proud to say that Pebble is now ready for primetime.
15:55These days, a smart watch that connects to your phone isn't that crazy of an idea.
16:00But back in 2014, Pebble burst onto the scene as one of the first to put it into practice.
16:05The results were instantaneous.
16:08At the time, the smart watch was the most funded project in Kickstarter history.
16:13Your incredible support helped Pebble smash Kickstarter records not once, but twice,
16:18and ushered in a revolution in wearable technology.
16:21Unfortunately, after that amazing start, Pebble dropped like a stone.
16:25Amid shaky marketing and an unclear vision,
16:27the company consistently failed to hit sales goals.
16:30That, when paired with growing competition from the Apple Watch,
16:33spelled doom for the luxury armware.
16:36The company shut down in 2016,
16:38and interestingly enough, was acquired by Fitbit,
16:41who did not take on any of Pebble's debt.
16:44It's focused.
16:45It's not a miniature smartphone on your wrist.
16:47It's designed from the ground up to be a truly smart watch.
16:51Number 15.
16:53Solyndra
16:54Panels can be cost-effectively installed on typical big-box retail, warehouse,
16:59and other light industrial roofs not designed to support significant rooftop loads.
17:05On paper, Solyndra's high-class solar panels were cheaper, sturdier,
17:08and more efficient than anything else on the market.
17:11The pitch proved so enticing,
17:13they even garnered government support via a massive loan from the U.S. Department of Energy.
17:18However, Solyndra's lead didn't last long.
17:21There were going to be some companies that did not work out.
17:25Solyndra was one of them.
17:27But the process by which the decision was made was on the merits.
17:30Within a few years of its creation,
17:32the price of natural gas nosedived,
17:34removing any financial incentive to invest in renewable energy.
17:38As a result,
17:38Solyndra's abrupt bankruptcy was about as ugly as it could get,
17:43including a full-blown government investigation
17:45into their purported excessive spending
17:47and misrepresentation of finances.
17:49While they've never been officially charged with any wrongdoing,
17:53something tells us Solyndra won't be making more solar panels anytime soon.
18:0114. McCall's
18:03If you read magazines in the 1900s, odds are you read McCall's.
18:08While its first issue technically dates back to 1873,
18:12it wasn't until the 20th century that it became mandatory reading.
18:15As the so-called first magazine for women,
18:18McCall's featured sewing patterns, short stories, home improvement tips, and more.
18:23You don't just have to take our word for it, though.
18:25These numbers speak for themselves.
18:28At its peak,
18:29McCall's had an unprecedented readership north of 8 million.
18:32With that kind of support,
18:33it's really no wonder it survived more than a century in print.
18:37Unfortunately,
18:37stiff competition over the years slowly whittled down its audience.
18:41In 2002, it shipped its final issue.
18:44Number 13. Zune
18:47This is actually showing a photograph right here.
18:49I can flip through the photos here.
18:50Three-inch screen, pretty bright, pretty sharp.
18:53In 2006, Microsoft went up against Apple's behemoth, the iPod, and lost.
18:59Badly.
19:00In their defense,
19:00the Zune portable media players had plenty of potential.
19:03They had functionality with the popular Xbox 360,
19:07innovative social features,
19:08and even a partnership with United Airlines.
19:11But despite all of that corporate support,
19:13Zune failed to make a splash in the market.
19:16Experience the ease of quick play,
19:18which puts your favorite media at your fingertips.
19:20In the six years it stayed on shelves,
19:22it consistently sold less than its competitors,
19:25let alone the juggernaut that was the iPod.
19:28While several reviews praised its HD features,
19:31it wasn't enough to move the bottom line.
19:32And Microsoft discontinued production in 2012.
19:36Finding music on your player is pretty easy.
19:39There are several different ways to do it.
19:40If you want to search by letter, you can do that here.
19:42We're looking for most death.
19:44Number 12. Theranos
19:46People don't even know that they have a basic human right
19:51to be able to get access to information about themselves and their own body.
19:58Around the turn of the century,
19:59Elizabeth Holmes founded a revolutionary breakthrough for the healthcare industry.
20:04Theranos, as it was called,
20:05created a technology that could perform rapid blood tests requiring very little of a sample,
20:10at a fraction of the cost.
20:12Mesmerized by the innovation,
20:14Holmes' net worth skyrocketed to $4.5 billion.
20:17The only issue?
20:18It was all a lie.
20:19Our dream for Theranos is that every single day,
20:22someone's life is better because they can afford access to health information
20:26they couldn't afford before.
20:28Theranos' supposed science was flimsy at best,
20:31and a complete fabrication at worst.
20:34The company, and its incredible funding, both went down in flames.
20:37But that was the least of Holmes' issues.
20:40She still faced multiple counts of fraud,
20:42and was later sentenced to 11 years in prison.
20:45Given all that,
20:46don't expect Theranos to resurface ever again.
20:50We were trying to take this forward,
20:54and at that time,
20:56we thought that we were doing the right thing.
20:59Number 11, Vine.
21:02You only have six seconds to get the set up for the joke and the punchline.
21:06I think people who are watching it,
21:08sometimes they don't have the time to sit down and watch a five-minute YouTube video.
21:11In just six seconds, this video-looping app took the world by storm.
21:15Its short-form content was the very definition of addictive.
21:19And because of that,
21:20Vine's viral videos quickly became a staple of pop culture.
21:23However, it wasn't long before rivaling social media platforms got in on the trend.
21:28When the likes of Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat added their own video-sharing features,
21:33Vine lost its reason to be,
21:35and most of its user base, too.
21:36Right, so they're kind of shifting what Vine currently is into a new Vine camera situation.
21:44By 2017, the app shut down altogether.
21:48At the very least, a comprehensive archive of its many videos still exists,
21:53ensuring we'll never forget that
21:54it is Wednesday, my dudes.
21:57It is Wednesday, my dudes.
21:59Ah!
22:02Number 10, Tab.
22:04When someone says they want a tab,
22:09it usually means they're going to order more at an establishment
22:12and want to keep a tally so they can pay later.
22:15Give me a tab.
22:16Tab?
22:17I can't give you a tab unless you order something.
22:19Right, give me a Pepsi-free.
22:21You want a Pepsi, pal?
22:22You're going to pay for it.
22:24Look, just give me something without any sugar in it, okay?
22:26Not for Coca-Cola.
22:28In 1963, they introduced their very first diet beverage known as Tab.
22:32Considered very popular in the 60s and 70s,
22:35they spawned various flavors of the drink, including root beer and ginger ale.
22:40Tab's outrageously satisfying.
22:43Yet when Diet Coke hit the market in 1982, Tab started to take a hit.
22:47The company began producing less and less of it as interests shifted,
22:51and Coke eventually announced in 2020 they were discontinuing the brand.
22:55There are, however, pockets of places here and there that still carry the cult favorite
22:59as of this writing, but those are rare, and the soft drink is pretty much retired.
23:04Petition to save Tab was signed by several thousand people, but to no avail.
23:09Coke is putting Tab on ice.
23:12Number nine, Bugle Boy.
23:14Excuse me.
23:16Are those Bugle Boy jeans that you're wearing?
23:18Yes.
23:20They are Bugle Boy jeans.
23:22Fun fact.
23:23Bugle Boy founder William C.W. Mao actually started his entrepreneurial career in electrical
23:29engineering.
23:30When outed from his company due to an SEC inquiry, Mao shifted gears and started making clothing.
23:35But you gotta start somewhere.
23:37I mean, take your clothes, for example.
23:41If you just get out of that monkey suit, you might get a positive attitude going.
23:47I mean, the world could be your oyster.
23:49Best known for their jeans and earworm-inducing commercials, Bugle Boy was also responsible
23:55for one of the surprising trends of the 1980s, parachute pants.
23:59Parachute pants?
24:01Yeah.
24:02Does everybody parachute?
24:04Between the denim trousers and the ballooning slacks, the company sold nearly a billion dollars
24:09worth of product.
24:10Despite its success, the company had difficulty staying up with the ever-changing trends of
24:14youth culture.
24:15They eventually went bankrupt in 2001.
24:22Excuse me, are those Bugle Boy jeans?
24:25Number 8.
24:26Compaq
24:26Founded in the early 80s, this thriving computer company sold IBM PC-compatible devices, with
24:33PC standing for personal computer under their own name.
24:36So, if you're looking for a powerful portable computer that doesn't smell, we suggest you
24:41buy the Compaq Portable 2.
24:43Of course, choice.
24:49Sorry, I was miles away.
24:50Of course, the choice is yours.
24:52A few notable devices included one of the first portable computers and the Compaq Presario,
24:57which featured a long line of desktop and laptop computers.
25:00In fact, the Compaq Presario can even answer your computing questions.
25:05Oh, and if you happen to have a phone, it can answer that, too.
25:09By 1994, they had lapped IBM and Apple in the home computer market.
25:13The most powerful PC in the world, the most powerful portable in the world, and the most
25:19powerful mid-range PCs in the world, all have one thing in common.
25:23They come from the company whose annual sales reached a billion dollars, faster than any
25:30other in history.
25:31However, with the market shifting and some bad management decisions, Compaq's star began
25:36to fall.
25:37In 2002, they were acquired by Hewlett-Packard, and the last Compaq-branded devices were discontinued
25:43in 2013.
25:45Number 7.
25:46Pontiac
25:47In the 1920s, GM discovered a major price gap between their Chevrolet and Oakland-branded
25:57vehicles, prompting the birth of the 1926 Pontiac.
26:00By 1929, the Pontiacs were outselling the Oaklands enough that they discontinued the latter
26:05in 1931.
26:07Since then, Pontiac grew to become a major success for GM.
26:10Notable entries include the 69 Pontiac GTO, the Grand Am, the Fiero, and the Firebird Trans Am.
26:16However, the turn of the century was not good for GM as they faced bankruptcy.
26:24In a bid to rescue GM, the U.S. government will be investing $30 billion in the company
26:29on top of the $20 billion already lent to it.
26:32Having already taken Oldsmobile out of the picture in 2004, Pontiac largely saw its end
26:37in 2009 when the company pulled the plug on the long-standing brand in an effort to
26:42keep themselves afloat.
26:43We just didn't have a strategy that we were satisfied with that could allow us to win
26:47with the Pontiac brand.
26:48Number 6.
26:50Kudos
26:50Candy bars come and go, but some have stood the test of time.
27:01Mars, Kit Kat, and Twix are just a few who've hung on over the years.
27:05Kudos, on the other hand, did not.
27:07It was a granola bar snack introduced by Mars in 1986 with a Simply Kudos offshoot that was
27:13meant to address the high calorie count in the original.
27:20Oddly enough, in 2017, a post on the company's Facebook page confirmed the brand had been
27:26discontinued.
27:27No official reason has ever been given and the fans of the granola snack were left scratching
27:31their heads.
27:32All may not be lost as Mars apparently re-registered the brand trademark in 2020.
27:37Maybe we'll see it again someday.
27:39Number 5.
27:40Orbitz
27:41We have no idea what this company was thinking when they released their beverage back in 1997,
27:46but to no one's surprise, it didn't last.
27:49Made as a clear, non-carbonated fruit drink, Orbitz became infamous for the reaction it spawned
27:54from onlookers.
27:55If it had been released today, we're sure the likes of YouTube and TikTok would be filled
28:00with reaction videos of people trying to figure out exactly what the orbs floating in the drink
28:05were.
28:06Not only did it look like a lava lamp to go, the drink itself tasted poorly, and the orbs
28:11were apparently even worse.
28:16This is a drink we, thankfully, kicked into orbit.
28:20Number 4.
28:21Netscape Navigator
28:22She was 18 years old.
28:23She doesn't even know what Netscape is.
28:25Unless you used the internet in the 90s, or recognized the icon from a quick scene in
28:30Captain Marvel, you've probably never heard of this browser.
28:34At a time when the World Wide Web was just starting out, web browsers were few and far
28:39between.
28:40Netscape reigned king for a while until Microsoft came onto the scene, and the browser wars
28:45began.
28:46You can get unlimited internet access for only $9.95 a month.
28:50Well, what about all those other low-cost guys?
28:52Don't you want an ISP that's fast, safer, reliable, and more secure?
28:57Netscape won the first few rounds, but by the time Internet Explorer 3.0 and 4.0 came
29:02out, Netscape was already lagging behind.
29:05And it didn't help that Microsoft included Explorer with every version of Windows.
29:09Everything has to change faster, obviously.
29:11You know, look at Netscape.
29:12It was born and died.
29:14I don't want to use the word died.
29:15They wouldn't like that word.
29:16But it basically was born and overtaken within four years.
29:20That's pretty fast.
29:21Netscape came to an end in 2007, but left JavaScript as a legacy since it's used by virtually every
29:28web page out there.
29:29Number three, Enron.
29:31There's one thing that I hope we can achieve.
29:34It is to create an environment where employees can come in here and realize their potential.
29:40It's a wild ride.
29:41Enron is a name that went down in history as one of the biggest financial scandals to
29:46rock the United States.
29:48Known mainly as an energy company, Enron grew by leaps and bounds as it began to diversify
29:53its portfolio beyond just the basics of energy.
29:56Sure, that all sounds great as many companies broaden out.
29:59That's our vision.
30:00We're trying to change the world.
30:02The problem for Enron was that as large as they were, much of their financial success
30:07was due to creative accounting.
30:09In basic terms, they said they were doing fine, all the while hiding massive debts and
30:15liabilities from everyone.
30:16I understand how upper management would allow.
30:18It's because Enron actually used the same estimates in their earning reports, which magically
30:24transformed themselves into revenue, which translates directly into higher stock prices for
30:29investors.
30:29And higher bonuses and stock option payouts for execs.
30:33Everybody wins.
30:35They filed for bankruptcy in 2001, and a full investigation into their practices was launched.
30:39Like most things that end terribly, it didn't start out that way.
30:43It started with a lot of people who thought they were changing the world.
30:47And over time, they became victims of their own hubris, victims of their own greed.
30:51And so it's like taking so much promise and possibility and looking at it in a mirror and seeing
30:55the flip side reflected back at you.
30:57Number two, Kodak.
30:59Life is filled with moments just waiting to be taken.
31:03Trademarked in 1888, Kodak is a name synonymous with photography.
31:08For years, the term Kodak moment referred to a perfect instant to capture in a photo.
31:13Aren't all your moments worth Kodak film?
31:15Kodak cameras hit the market shortly after the company was formed and became the de facto standard for all things photography for decades.
31:23In 1975, they produced the world's first digital camera, but scrapped it for fear of losing their film camera business.
31:30It's sort of the classic innovator's dilemma problem.
31:34If you have this great cash cow, which is your film camera business, and you're one of the dominant players there, you're reluctant to totally disrupt it yourself.
31:44Company executives held the line on film photography, but did eventually give in and join the digital revolution, which helped the company for a short time.
31:53A combination of both market growth, the explosion of the smartphone, and other competitors eventually pushed Kodak out of photography.
32:00And it now only operates as a print company after filing for bankruptcy in the early 2010s.
32:06Years, the company's advertisements urged people to seize the Kodak moment to capture memories.
32:12Now it looks like Kodak has let its moment pass it by.
32:301. Pan Am
32:34Air travel in the mid-20th century was a whole other world.
32:44Pan American World Airways, or Pan Am, practically held a monopoly on international travel at the time.
32:50They were also responsible for shifting the types of aircraft being flown to much larger planes, such as the Boeing 747.
32:57They had an advanced collection, top-notch service, and were not owned by any government entity.
33:03It was second to none.
33:04I didn't think you'd even see it in some of the finest restaurants.
33:07That state-of-the-art fleet of planes ultimately hurt them, however, when the 1973 oil crisis struck.
33:13No one was flying, and the company was taking a hit.
33:16Their accumulating debt and failure to adapt to an ever-changing industry saw them sell off their assets to various other airlines as they went under in 1991.
33:25It broke people's hearts, really.
33:27Not just the people that work for the airline, but for many other people that flew it and knew it.
33:33And it was the flagship airline of America.
33:36Which of these major brands would you like to see make a comeback?
33:40Let us know in the comments below.
33:42Polaroid's SX-70 Solar.
33:45The finest instant camera ever made.
33:47Polaroid's SX-70 Solar.
33:49Polaroid's SX-70 Solar.
33:50Polaroid's SX-70 Solar.
33:51Polaroid's SX-70 Solar.
33:52Polaroid's SX-70 Solar.
33:53Polaroid's SX-70 Solar.
33:54Polaroid's SX-70 Solar.
33:55Polaroid's SX-70 Solar.
33:56Polaroid's SX-70 Solar.
33:57Polaroid's SX-70 Solar.
33:58Polaroid's SX-70 Solar.
33:59Polaroid's SX-70 Solar.
34:00Polaroid's SX-70 Solar.
34:01Polaroid's SX-70 Solar.
34:02Polaroid's SX-70 Solar.
34:03Polaroid's SX-70 Solar.
34:04Polaroid's SX-70 Solar.
34:05Polaroid's SX-70 Solar.
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