20 Of The Worst Business Decisions Ever Made

Some things can seem like a good idea at the time, but retrospect is a wonderful thing. Having a business is all

about making decisions. In business, you can’t expect to be perfect all the time. Some of your decisions will be

great, and some of them not so much. 

To illustrate that point, here are 20 of the worst business decisions ever made as of April 2017. Maybe there’s

been more in recent times, if you know of any, let us know.

We’ve not these bad business decisions in a particular order, take a look:

1. Somebody Should Have Phoned Home

Back in 1981, Amblin Productions called Mars and had a proposition for them. They said they would use Mars’

M&M’s in their film, for promotion of their film on their packaging. Mars gave them a straight up no, so the

company used Reese’s Pieces instead.

The film was ET, which grossed nearly $800m en route to becoming one of the most important films in history.

As an upshot, Reese’s Pieces saw a 65% jump in sales in the months after ET was released! Those contributions
played a massive role in allowing the Hershey Company to grow from strength to strength. Over three decades

later, a lot of their success can still be attributed to this particular product placement.

Quite frankly, the deal can be considered out of this world! Still, M&Ms aren’t doing too badly in spite of the

notable blunder.

2. NBC and CBS Pass On Monday Night Football

Image 2 – Monday Night Football Logo

In the late 1960s, America loved Baseball. However, football was fast becoming America’s passion.

Commissioner Pete Rozelle approached NBC and CBS to see if they wanted to strike up a contract. He could

see the value in the show Monday Night Football. Both networks rejected the chance to strike a deal, as they

didn’t want to sacrifice already popular shows like the Doris Day Show.

Monday Night Football became one of the longest running, highest rated TV shows of all time. Nowadays,

ESPN pays close to $2bn per year for NFL rights, with Monday Night Football placing itself as the gem in the

crown. The fact that the broadcaster still manages to churn out such high profits from the weekly show

underlines that both NBC and CBS dropped the ball.

Conversely, CBS brought the Doris Day Show to its end in 1973.

3. Snoozing Motorola
Image 3 – Motorola Razr

Motorola used to be on top in the cell phone business; remember their Razr phone? However, they waited a

little too long to release their version of the smartphone, allowing iPhone and Blackberry to become the new

ones to watch.

Instead of focusing on customer experiences like they should have been, they focused on the aesthetic

appearance of the phone. Consequently, the company’s shares fell by 90% between October 2006 and March

2009. This equated to company losses of over $4.3bn! By January 2011, the business had become defunct after

over eight decades in the industry. “Hello Moto” had become “Goodbye Motorola.”

These days, Motorola Mobility is owned by Lenovo following their purchase from Google in 2014. The

Motorola brand is still hoping to one day reclaim the throne. Unfortunately, in a world dominated by Samsung

and iPhone, those dreams look very unlikely. They had the high ground while entering a golden era for cell

phone technology. Failing to capitalize is one of the biggest business errors of the century.

4. ABC Says No To The Cosby Show

ABC was the network that decided to take on Monday Night Football. The weekly sports show was no doubt

their most popular program by a considerable distance. Yet, they were still stuck in third place in the network

rankings and in need of something else to help them win the ratings war.

The Cosby Show was pitched to them, but the Entertainment Division President turned it down. They claimed

Cosby didn’t have a pilot or a script to show (whether this is true or just an excuse, nobody knows). The
program was a hit almost instantly, ranking number 3 in the Nielsen ratings and then taking the top spot for the

next five seasons. This catapulted NBC, who accepted the show, to the number one spot among the other

networks. The influence of their hit show could not be emphasized enough.

While ‘the Cos’ was drawing in up to 30 million per night, it’s fair to say ABC wasn’t. With the Cosby Show

and (CBS show) Magnum P.I winning the war, their presence in the most valuable time slot became almost

obsolete. The head of entertainment called comedy on network television dead at the time of rejection. Perhaps

the ABC man should have gone back to school.

5. The Beatles Rejection

wikipedia.org

The Beatles auditioned at London’s Decca Records before they were big, hoping to secure a contract. The

executive in charge of talent said their sound was no good. He declared that they sounded too much like ‘The

Shadows,’ who were supposedly a popular band at the time.

Executives went as far to say that groups were out, especially four piece groups with guitars. He signed a local

act from London instead; Brian Poole and The Tremeloes. Meanwhile, the Beatles were signed by Brian Epstein

and went on to become the best-selling band in history. Moreover, the Fab Four started a revolution that

changed pop culture forever.

Billions of Beatles albums have since sold worldwide, and they continue to sell to this day. Meanwhile, I had to

Google Brian Poole and the Tremeloes to find out that their best song was Twist and Shout. Unfortunately, the

best version is by the band that Decca Records rejected.

6. The ‘Novelty’ Telephone

Image 6 – Alexander Graham

In 1876, Western Union boasted the telegraph, which was the most advanced communication tech available at

that time. The company president, William Orton, was offered the patent on the telephone for $100,00 (the

equivalent of around $2 million right now). He didn’t only reject it; he dismissed it completely.

He thought it was a ridiculous idea, and wrote personally to the creator Alexander Bell, asking what they could

do with an electrical novelty toy. He also said it had no commercial possibilities. It took only two years for the

telephone to take off, and Orton spent the rest of his life unsuccessfully trying to challenge Bell’s patents.

As for the novelty toy, it changed global communications forever.

7. NEW Coke
Image 7 – NEW Coke

We all know what Coke tastes like. Many people have an almost emotional relationship with the drink and the

brand. Coke had a centennial anniversary in 1985 and to celebrate they came up with ‘New Coke.’ Most of the

formula was the same, but there must have been a notable change in taste as the sales dropped by 20%.

Many customers were perplexed by the change, particularly as the company had already established its place as

a global giant. It didn’t take long before Coke realized their error and returned to the formula and taste that

people love and know best. They even slapped ‘Classic’ on the can, which many believe saved the brand. The

Coca-Cola Company defiantly continued to produce the new version for some years, before admitting defeat in

2002.

Thank God they did; otherwise, we could all be drinking Pepsi.

8. Greedy Fox
Although merchandising wasn’t very big at the time of the Star Wars release, 20th Century Fox still made a

huge mistake here. Worse still, they have been paying for it ever since. They got George Lucas to take a pay cut

of $20,000 in exchange for all of the merchandising rights to Star Wars, and all of the sequels thereafter.

Since then, Star Wars has grown into the most iconic film franchise ever. The initial trilogy has grossed billions

in while the ninth blockbuster film is currently in production. Meanwhile, merchandise sales have earned

billions more, making Lucas worth a reported $5.2bn himself.

For the sake of twenty grand, Fox missed out on a commercial phenomenon.

9. Blockbuster Would Rather Not Netflix and Chill

Back in 2000, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings asked the Blockbuster executives to publicize it in their stores.

Netflix proposed that they would help Blockbuster to sell their brand online too. This essentially equated to

Blockbuster being offered Netflix for a mere $50 million. Blockbuster were quick to say no and slam the door

in Hasting’s face. Bad move.

Less than a decade later, in 2010, Blockbuster filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In a cruel twist of

fate, the popularity of Netflix had been the main contributing factor. Nowadays, Netflix has over 90 millions

users worldwide and boasts assets worth over $13.5bn.

Blockbuster, meanwhile, has closed operations in most major territories. The once colossal brand is now

resigned to appearing in internet memes about life in the 80s and 90s.

10. That’s NOT A Kodak Moment

Image 10 – Kodak Logo

When was the last time you spotted somebody with a Kodak camera? Well, if Kodak had a little more urgency

about them, we could all be using Kodak smartphones right now.

The company has the credit for being the first company to hold the patent for digital technology (which also has

a lot to do with the smartphone) in 1975. But the camera giant decided to sit on their hands instead. They finally

decided to pursue digital photography when it was far too late, leaving far too much ground to make up. They

filed for bankruptcy in January 2012.

At least we have some pictures to remember them by. Maybe if they’d pursued with the digital tech that they

invented, they’d still be at the top of the photography pyramid.

11. They Should Have Asked Google What To Do

Image 11 – Google Founders

By 1999, Google was already fast establishing itself as one of the major search engines. With the internet

growing at a rapid rate around the turn of the century, it didn’t take a genius to realize a $750,000 investment

would pay dividends. Sadly for Excite, they still passed up that golden opportunity.

Fast forward to 2017 and Google is one of the biggest companies on the internet. It’s the second most valuable

brand on the planet and is worth close to $200bn. Meanwhile, the operation continues to buy out smaller

ventures and grows year on year.

Ironically, only a quick Google search confirmed that Excite still exists. Considering it was once one of the

leading operations in early internet technologies, it’s limited success is astonishing. The fact it still hasn’t

discontinued its search engine is almost a parody of its own errors.

12. Microsoft Deemed Too Steep

Image 12 – MSDOS
In 1979, Bill Gates was a fresh-faced 23-year-old set to achieve the status of a billionaire. A businessman

named Ross Perot, whose electronic data systems were worth $1bn, was offered to buy Microsoft for $40-

$60m. Despite viewing the company as an attractive prospect, the entrepreneur refused to meet those prices. He

said it was too steep, especially as the company had not yet reached its peak.

Perot was right, Microsoft hadn’t reached its peak. The computer giant currently has a market capital of around

$343 billion according to Forbes Magazine. It is widely accepted as one of the most important brands on the

planet.

Ross Perot has since been quoted saying that it is one of the worst business decisions he ever made. Cheers

Ross, we couldn’t have worked that one out ourselves.

13. J.C. Penney Gets Rid Of Their Fake Pricing

Image 13 – J.C. Penney Store

The pricing tactic of J.C. Penney can be frowned upon, but it certainly helps them to sell clothing. They used to

make sure their items were all marked down from a higher price, although the item would never have been sold

at that price in the first place. This led customers to believe that they were getting a real bargain, instead of

simply buying cheap clothing.

The New CEO that came in 2012, Ron Johnson, decided to make J.C. Penney look ‘less desperate’ by starting a

new, more honest pricing system. This didn’t go down well with J.C. Penney fans, and they complained all over

the internet. This harmed sales figures and brand reputation in one fell swoop.
Johnson was fired after 17 months, and J.C. Penney brought back their fake pricing system. Perhaps honesty

isn’t always the best policy.

14. The Death Of MySpace

Image 14 – MySpace Logo

Before Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and all of the popular networks, there was MySpace. The network went

mainstream in 2004, with 1 million users just one month after it was launched. For internet users of a certain

age, Tom Anderson was their first ever social friend. Moreover, his goofy profile pic is one that haunts is to this

day.

Rupert Murdoch, News Corp Billionaire, bought it and attempted to make it too profitable too quickly.

Essentially, over-saturating the site with annoying ads would prove to be its downfall. The year 2008 was

Myspace’s peak, with 75.9 million unique visitors. But it just couldn’t survive following the launch of

Facebook, especially as the ads alienated users.

Murdoch sold Myspace in 2011 for just $35 million, after buying it years for $580 million. The tycoon has

made many great decisions in his time; this was not one of them.

15. Edwin Drake Fails To Patent His Oil Drill

Image 15 – Edwin Drake

You may not know the name Edwin Drake, but in 1858 he could have been one of the wealthiest men in

America. He was determined to find a way to get to the oil that everybody wanted. So he partnered up with a

blacksmith from the area and together they made a drill that did just that.

It took them weeks to come up with the perfect design, and it eventually helped them get to the black gold that

they so desperately wanted. There was just one major problem; Drake hadn’t secured a patent. In spite of his

success, he was later fired and then lost all of his money on Wall Street.

Failing to secure a patent on his drill has cost Drake and his family millions of dollars. Meanwhile, the oil

industries are worth billions thanks in part to the Drake legacy.

16. Schlitz Beer Goes To…Schlitz

Image 16 – Schlitz Logo

In the 1970s, Schlitz was one of the biggest beer manufacturers of all time. They came second only to

Budweiser and boasted a rich history stretching back over a century. In a bid to meet growing demands, Robert

Uihlein, Jr made the decision to use cheaper ingredient to increase production speeds. Sounds good on paper,

doesn’t it?

Unfortunately, even a drunk person couldn’t handle the resulting product. The beer started to form floaties in

the bottom, which would then congeal into a thick mucus. Schlitz didn’t recall these beers, even after realizing

the terrible mistake. They eventually gave in, but not before 10 million cans had been shipped. By this time, the

damage had been done.

The company and its assets were sold as profits sank to the bottom of the barrel. Considering the profits to be

had by some of the beer manufacturing giants, the Milwaukee company had a shocker.

17. Atari Doesn’t Like Apples

Image 17 – Atari Logo

Nowadays, Apple is the biggest brand on the planet. But once upon a time, the operation was completed from a

garage. During those humble beginning, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak wanted to sell their personal computers

to Atari. However, the then-computing giant rejected the offer.

The two Steve’s subsequently said that Atari could have the computer as it was built from their parts, and asked

to work for Atari instead. They still said no. After some rocky moments during the first 20 years, Apple became

the biggest brand in computing and consumer electronics. Atari, meanwhile, is still best known for Pong.
Atari is still in existence, but they never truly recovered from the video gaming crash of 1983. If only they’d

branched out by taking the Apple.

18. The M*A*S*H Drop Out

Image 18 – M*A*S*H Cast

In 1972, M*A*S*H was a surprise hit for 20th Century Fox. However, a few big stars dropped out after a

couple of seasons and this made Fox panic. They decided the show wouldn’t live much longer and sold rights to

the old seasons to various local TV stations, for a total of $25 million dollars.

The show’s popularity didn’t fade, and the show continued for a total of nine years and 251 episodes. Television

stations raked in $1m per episode while Fox Television didn’t see any of those revenues. Moreover, reruns of

M*A*S*H are still broadcast even to this day.

In fairness, though, at least the production company continued to provide great episodes until the very end.

19. Quaker Oats Buys Snapple

Image 19 – Snapple Logo

Buying out a company for $1.7bn is a brave call at any time. Doing it when it’s reportedly worth less than that

figure is even braver still. However, doing so when the brand in question is already in free-fall crosses the line

of bravery into stupidity. That’s exactly what Quaker did with Snapple.

The food company couldn’t save the floundering Snapple brand. They messed up the branding and couldn’t

persuade distributors to keep Snapple in spite of their offers and the stockpiled up. This led to it entering dollar

stores while vast quantities ended up in landfills.

Snapple was being given away on the street for free as sales still plummeted in 1996. Eventually, Quaker sold

the brand to Triarc for $300 million. That’s $1.4 billion less than they paid for it 28 months previously.

20. The K-Mart Wal-Mart War

Image 20 – K-Mart Logo

The war between K-Mart and Wal-Mart embodies the importance of customer service perfectly. As the two

companies went head to head in the 1980s, K-Mart went for an aggressive publicity campaign to raise

awareness of their store. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart (not having the cash to do the same) focused on their stocked

shelf efficiency and immediate checkouts instead.

Wal-Mart won the war and K-Mart haven’t been able to keep up since. Today, Wal-Mart is the far superior

company with over 11,000 stores and 2.3 million worldwide employees. Despite losses in recent times, it

generates nearly $500bn in revenue. In comparison, K-Mart draws in around $25bn from 735 scores.
K-Mart had all the assets to win the war but was let down by poor tactics. Subsequently, they couldn’t find a

way through the Wal.

No one can expect to make the right decision all the time. However, it just goes to show that a little curiosity

and open-mindedness, and a little less rigidity and stubbornness could take you places! These decisions may

have been some of the worst ever made by some entrepreneurs, but they turned out to be pretty good for others!