The 10 Most Overhyped Products

It's every marketer's nightmare. A company pours millions into a new product, markets it like it's going to be a sure thing, and watches the media frenzy build. When the product release finally comes, it's just a matter of sitting back and watching the sales pour in.

But the cash registers remain silent. Consumers recoil at the product. The company becomes an object of ridicule. It's officially an overhyped product.

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The curse of the overhyped product can seize companies of any size, and it's often impossible to see it coming. It happened to McDonald's with the Arch Deluxe and to Coca-Cola with New Coke, but it also happened to a little-known inventor with a zippy new product called Segway.

Minyanville combed through the recent history of product marketing to find the ten most overhyped releases. They were meant to be remembered as revolutionary. Instead they were mostly forgotten.

AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

1. Segway

It was going to reach $1 billion in sales faster than any company in history. It would be to the car what the car was to the horse and buggy. Its creator said he imagined his invention used the world over: from battlefields to factory floors. We were going to redesign our cities around it.

The subject of this fawning hype? An electric scooter called the Segway.

When the first Segways went on sale to the public on Amazon.com in November 2002, inventor Dean Kamen and his crew believed the two-wheeled wonders, developed at a cost of more than $100 million, would prove an engineering marvel. The Segway wouldn't just serve as some expensive toy for tech geeks with fat wallets, they told us. No, this machine would fundamentally transform how men and women traveled all over the world, as urban centers banished cars in favor of "empowered individuals" riding high on their futuristic scooters.

But, fast forward seven years, and Segway hasn't glided to the world-changing success its founders predicted. The technology worked and the machines proved as efficient and eco-friendly as the company envisioned. Kamen's company erected a factory in New Hampshire capable of pumping out 40,000 Segways a month, but by 2006, only 23,500 Segways had been sold. With a hefty $5,000 price tag, the Segway never lived up to the hype: Americans didn't buy the device in revolutionary numbers and, when traveling to work or the office, they still prefer a car, a bike, or their own two feet.

2. New Coke

In the mid-1980s, conspiracy buffs briefly shifted their attention from the grassy knoll to Atlanta to focus their fervid minds on Coca-Cola. Some believed that New Coke, rolled out on April 23, 1985 and all but obliterated by the return of the original version on July 11 of the same year, was an elaborate plot to goose sales.

It wasn't. Instead, it remains a classic tale of failed market research.

By the early 1980s, Pepsi was close to knocking Coca-Cola from its perch as the nation's leading soft drink. Worse, the sugared cola market continued to shrink as more consumers turned to diet drinks, citrus-based, and caffeine-free beverages. Coca-Cola needed something new and needed it fast.

It chose to think the unthinkable: change the formula for the "temperance drink" created by druggist John Pemberton. After extensive testing, the company developed a new drink that many considered tastier and smoother than the original and called it New Coke.

Coke enthusiasts protested and panicked, stocking up on the original formula before it was pulled from shelves. Coca-Cola fled to action. Just 79 days after it was discontinued, the original formula came back with a new name, Coke Classic. New Coke became Coke II and eventually faded into a distant, unpleasant memory.

AP Photo/Richard Drew

3. Arch Deluxe

The menu addition was unnecessary, the marketing strategy was ill-conceived and, above all, the burger wasn't tasty. McDonald's brief fling with the Arch Deluxe burger is not only regarded as one of the more curious and pricey endeavors in the fast food industry's history, but one of the most overhyped.

McDonald's enlisted Executive Chef Andrew Selvaggio to concoct a recipe that would appeal to a more sophisticated palate. Already hinting at disaster, tweaking and perfecting the sandwich lasted two years -- including two months solely for the mustard ingredient. In the end -- unbeknownst to both Selvaggio and McDonald's brass -- they created a wholly undelectable combination.

Promotion for the product's launch began in 1996 and would eventually cost the company $150 to $200 million. Completely abandoning the "family friendly" tone of its ads in the past, McDonald's began a campaign that purposefully scorned the unrefined taste buds of kids, who were the company's top customers.

Ultimately, the Arch Deluxe's taste was what mattered and, much to the restaurant chain's dismay, reviews weren't spectacular. The medley of McDonald's standard burger ingredients with peppered bacon, Spanish onions, and a mustard-mayo blend failed to win over most customers -- let alone the children. Aside from the unpopular taste, the Arch Deluxe sported a caloric level of 610 and a fat content of 32 grams, earning dour reviews from nutritional advocates. The Arch Deluxe was eventually discontinued, though company officials refused to chalk it up to poor sales.