GOOGLE WHO?

Remember New Coke? Neither do we… 10 of the worst business decisions ever

Image: Peggy_Marco

Everyone makes bad decisions, and that is not necessarily a terrible thing. Mistakes serve a purpose as valuable lessons that show us where and what needs improvement. But not all mistakes are the same. When it comes to business decisions, analyzing things in hindsight can make intelligent people seem dumb because they failed to recognize the potential behind what, at the moment, was nothing but promises.

Listed below, you will find ten of those decisions that cost millions and even billions of dollars to its makers. In the way of a black swan event, those decisions seem terrible now but, at the time of their making, were perfectly reasonable. Faced with these choices, what would you have done differently?

Image: Delaney Van

Back in the day when Blockbuster was a huge behemoth company synonymous with video entertainment, the idea of paying for a subscription to choose a limited number of movies on your TV seemed ludicrous, at least for the Blockbuster people.

In the late 1990s, an Internet upstart named Netflix began offering this exact service. And when Netflix executives flew down to Texas to make an offer to Blockbuster CEO in which, for $50 million, Netflix would join forces with Blockbuster and help it launch its own online service, the big suit laughed Netflix out of the office. Who's laughing now?

Image: Ralston Smith

Passing an offer to showcase your product in one of the most legendary movies of all time does not seem like the most intelligent business decision. But, let’s face it, not everybody thought E.T. was going to be the huge blockbuster it ended up being.

And maybe that's what Mars candy executives were thinking back in 1980 when they passed on the offer to feature M&Ms in a new movie. Steven Spielberg was directing — he had already received Oscar nominations for both "Jaws" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" — but his latest film, "1941," had been a flop. So, that was a no-go for the candy makers.

Image: Markus Spiske

A brand so huge that is very much remembered even when most of us haven’t used a single one of its products in decades, Kodak has been synonymous with photographs for over 100 years.

In 1975, one of its engineers successfully built the world's first digital camera, but the company stalled its release, afraid to abandon the film-and-paper product line that had brought it success. By the time Kodak finally shifted to digital in the late 1990s, the megapixel revolution had long passed by, and the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2012.

Image: James Yarema

Attempting to rewrite the recipe for success does not seem like the most sound business decision ever, right? Well, maybe if things had turned otherwise, we might be praising the courage of those same marketing executives who worried that kids were drawn to the syrupy-sweet kick of Pepsi and began tinkering with the original Coke recipe.

After two years of experimental batches, New Coke came out. On April 23, 1985, American consumers popped open their first cans of New Coke. Within days, hundreds of letters and phone calls poured into Coke's headquarters demanding a return to the old formula. On July 11, less than three months after its debut, New Coke was pulled from the shelves and replaced with Coca-Cola Classic.

Image: Artem Beliaikin

Being honest in the clothing retailer business is not always the best marketing strategy, apparently. In 2012, a newly hired J.C. Penney CEO admitted that stores attract customers with "fake prices." If J.C. Penney wants to sell a shirt for $10, it tags it at $20 and then marks it down 50 percent during a weekend blowout sale. Sweet deal, right?

His strategy was to stop the promotions and replace them with "everyday low prices." But the loyal shoppers missed their coupons and sales and hit the Internet to complain. The CEO was fired after only 17 months on the job, and J.C. Penney quickly brought back the sales and phony jacked-up prices.

Image: Chris Boyer

Western Union is a big company known as a fast way to send money around the world. But that wasn’t always the case. In the 19th century, the company got big with its telegram service. Before telephones, a telegram — transmitted by telegraphs using Morse code — was the fastest way to send a message across cities, states, and even countries.

When Alexander Graham Bell patented the first telephone in 1876, he wanted to sell it to Western Union, but the executives at the telegram giant didn’t like it. After the telephone caught up with the public, WU tried to copy the design but Graham Bell sued, won, and went on to rule American telecommunications for a century.

Image: Greg Bulla

The bargain of the century is a tag that has been attached to quite a few events in history, but this one could very well take the prize home. In 1999, Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin offered to sell their search technology to Excite for $1 million but dropped the price further when Excite showed no interest.

As we have said before, the benefit of hindsight makes us believe that the people at Excite didn’t have a clue about anything in life. But, to that company's credit, Google was just an unproven bundle of algorithms back in 1999, not the world-dominating technology goliath it is today.

Image: Panos Sakalakis

Before all the social networks we have today, there was MySpace. Back in 2004, everybody had a MySpace profile and befriended everybody else. By 2005, MySpace was the fifth most-viewed Internet domain in America.

And then, News Corp billionaire Rupert Murdoch came along and bought MySpace's parent company in 2005 for $580 million. Mr. Murdoch promised huge revenues to Wall Street and filled the site with ads that alienated users, who flocked to Facebook.

Image: Minha Baek

Quite probably, there is no bigger mistake in the history of record label mistakes than this one here. In 1962, Decca Records had the opportunity to sign a little-known band called The Beatles. Ring any bells?

After a lackluster audition, Decca decided to pass, famously declaring that "guitar groups are on the way out." The Beatles went on to become the best-selling music act of all time. As for Decca Records, they’ll be forever remembered for making perhaps the worst decision in the history of music.

Image: Peter Secan

Imagine naming a car after the founder’s son and then having that same car fail miserably on the market. Well, that happened. In the late 1950s, Ford introduced the Edsel, a new car named after Henry Ford’s son.

Despite the huge marketing campaign, the Edsel was a commercial disaster, being overpriced, overhyped, and overall underwhelming in design. The whole thing lost $250 million of Ford’s money on the Edsel, a massive fortune even for a car company back then.

12 alternative wonders of the world you must see before you die

Image: jplenio

When most people hear "wonders of the world," they picture the Eiffel Tower, the Great Wall, or Rome’s Colosseum. Yet beyond these well-known icons lies a whole collection of places just as awe-inspiring. Some were shaped by human hands, others carved by nature itself, but all carry stories that stir the imagination. From towering cliffs to hidden temples, these 12 alternative wonders prove that marvels can be found in every corner of the globe.

Image: Pixabay

Standing on a rocky tidal island off the coast of Normandy, this abbey looks like it rose straight from the pages of a fairy tale. Construction began in the Early Middle Ages and continued well into the 1500s, giving it both religious grandeur and the solid defenses of a fortress. During times of conflict, the walls of Mont Saint-Michel protected pilgrims who came to pray.

Fun fact: When the tide rolls in, the causeway disappears, and the island appears to drift on the waves, wrapped in a dreamlike glow.

Image: Chait Goli

In the heart of Barcelona stands Antoni Gaudí’s most famous work, a church unlike anything else on Earth. Construction began in 1882, and more than 140 years later, it remains a work in progress—almost a living sculpture that grows with each passing decade.

Its towers stretch toward the sky, decorated with intricate carvings and dazzling stained-glass windows that bathe the interior in color. Once La Sagrada Familia is finally complete, it will claim the title of the tallest church in the world, a fitting crown for a masterpiece that blends architecture, faith, and imagination.

Image: LinedPhoto

One of Iceland’s most iconic landmarks rises like a sculpture shaped by fire and ice. This remarkable church in Reykjavík was designed to mimic the basalt columns formed by cooling lava, giving it a jagged, frozen appearance.

Towering 244 feet into the sky, it is one of the tallest buildings in the country. Inside, visitors can ride an elevator to the top, where breathtaking views reveal a patchwork of brightly painted rooftops, the harbor, and the surrounding volcanic landscape.

Image: mingche lee

This Gothic marvel took more than six hundred years to complete, and the result is nothing short of astonishing. Rising skyward with countless spires, statues, and gargoyles, it resembles less a single building and more like a stone forest carved by hand. Every figure tells its own story, turning the cathedral into an immense open-air sculpture museum.

Climbing to the rooftop terraces, visitors can actually stroll among the spires themselves, surrounded by breathtaking views and centuries of artistry.

Image: Antonio Sánchez

Balanced atop towering rock pillars nearly 1,800 feet high, these monasteries seem suspended between earth and heaven. First built in the 14th century, they were so isolated that monks had to haul food and tools using ropes, pulleys, and even large nets.

The remoteness provided both safety and solitude, turning the site into a sanctuary in every sense of the word. Today, six monasteries remain active, welcoming visitors with sweeping views of the valley far below.

Image: Bart Wellens

Built in the 1200s, this remarkable wooden church stands without a single nail holding it together. Its construction cleverly borrowed techniques from Viking shipbuilding, blended with medieval Christian artistry, to create something truly unique.

The roof is decorated with dragon-like carvings, giving the entire structure an almost mythical appearance. Standing before this church, you might feel as though you’ve stepped into the pages of a fantasy story where history and legend meet.

Image: TopSphere Media

Standing proudly on the Acropolis of Athens, the temple of Erechtheion is instantly recognizable for its Caryatids—graceful female figures carved in stone that serve as columns.

Built around 400 BC, it carries layers of history and legend. According to myth, this was the sacred place where Athena’s olive tree first sprouted after her legendary contest with Poseidon. Few places in the world blend mythology and reality so seamlessly, allowing visitors to walk where gods and mortals once crossed paths.

Image: Mike van Schoonderwalt

The world’s largest Buddhist temple rises like a stone mountain, built from more than two million blocks carefully stacked into terraces shaped like a pyramid. Dating back to the 8th century, its walls are covered with thousands of intricate carvings and serene statues of Buddha, telling stories etched in stone.

For centuries, this masterpiece was swallowed by the jungle and forgotten, until explorers rediscovered it in the 19th century, revealing one of the greatest treasures of ancient Asia.

Image: Victoriano Izquierdo

This Moorish palace in Granada, Spain, is a true jewel of Islamic architecture, where every wall and arch seems alive with color and pattern. Built in the 14th century, its courtyards are lined with flowing fountains, and its halls sparkle with delicate tilework, graceful calligraphy, and stone carvings so fine they resemble lace.

Once a royal residence and fortress, it later inspired countless writers and travelers—Washington Irving among them—who wove its beauty into timeless tales.

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Towering nearly 660 feet above the surrounding jungle, this massive rock fortress has dominated the landscape for centuries. In the 5th century, a king constructed his palace atop it, complete with gardens, water fountains, and elaborate terraces—many of which still function today.

Visitors who make the steep climb are rewarded with breathtaking vistas of the forest below, as well as ancient frescoes and rock paintings that reveal the artistry and vision of a long-gone civilization. It’s a true blend of natural wonder and human ingenuity.

Image: Lauren Lopes

Carved into the granite face of the Black Hills in South Dakota, four U.S. presidents—Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln—gaze out over the landscape. Each head soars about 60 feet high, roughly the height of a six-story building, making the monument impossible to miss.

Sculptors worked for 14 years to bring this vision to life, and even though the project was never fully completed, Mount Rushmore has become one of the most recognizable and celebrated landmarks in the United States, a true symbol of history and national pride.

Image: Welmoed Wigarda

Rising dramatically from the Bavarian Alps, this 19th-century castle famously inspired Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty Castle. Neuschwanstein’s soaring towers and turrets overlook dense forests and sparkling lakes. Though its appearance is medieval, it was surprisingly modern for its time, boasting running water and other innovative comforts that made it a marvel of both design and engineering.

Visitors today are enchanted by its blend of fairy-tale charm and real-world ingenuity.