August 27, 1963 - E. I. Du Pont de Nemours and Company registered "Corfam" trademark first used August 15, 1962 (poromeric material-i.e. microporous and permeable coriaceous sheet material for genearlized use in the industrial arts); carbon-based, synthetic substitute for leather; January 27, 1964 - introduced Corfam for uses with shoes, handbags, belts, suitcases; company predicted that 25% of America's shoes would be made of Corfam by 1984; 1971 - production ceased; synthetic leather snubbed by customers despite one of best-prepared products in terms of market, technology development; described as "Du Pont's $100-Million Edsel" (Leonard Sloane, New York Times, April 11, 1971).

Advertising - Top 13 Worst Advertising Slogan Translations Ever (source: http://www.fanpop.com/external/14007)

1) Coca-Cola name in China was first read as "Kekoukela", meaning "Bite the Wax Tadpole" or "Female Horse Stuffed with Wax", depending on the dialect. Coke then researched 40,000 characters to find a phonetic equivalent "kokoukole", translating into "Happiness in the Mouth"; 2) General Motors's Chevrolet Nova car in Spanish in Central and South America: "No va", "It Doesn't Go"; 3) Dairy Association's huge success with the campaign "Got Milk?" in Mexico: "Are You Lactating?";4) American T-shirt maker's printed "I saw the Pope" (el Papa) shirts to promote Pope's visit read: "I Saw the Potato" (la papa); 5) Braniff Airlines new leather first class seats ad campaign (1977-78) in Mexican market: "Fly In Leather" meant "Fly Naked" (vuela en cuero); 6) Frank Perdue's chicken slogan, "It takes a strong man to make a tender chicken" in Spanish; "it takes an aroused man to make a chicken affectionate";7) Colgate introduced a toothpaste in France called Cue: name of notorious porno magazine; 8) Gerber used same packaging in Africa as in the US: smiling baby on the label in Africa indicated what was inside ( many people can't read); 9) Pepsi "Come Alive With the Pepsi Generation" slogan in Chinese: "Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back From the Grave";10) Coors's "Turn It Loose" slogan in Spanish: "Suffer From Diarrhea"; 11) Clairol's "Mist Stick," a curling iron in Germany: "Manure Stick"; 12) Electrolux vacuum in the U.S.: "Nothing Sucks like an Electrolux"; 13) Parker Pen's slogan "It won't leak in your pocket and embarrass you" in Mexico: "It won't leak in your pocket and make you pregnant."

March 2008 - Blender.com list of 20 worst mistakes in recording industry history: 1) major labels squashed Napster;  2) Decca Records A&R exec, Dick Rowe, passed on Beatles,  brushed off their manager, Brian Epstein; 3) Motown sold for pittance; 4) post payola - labels paid to get airplay for huge artists stations would have spun anyway; 5) Recording Industry Association of America sued 30 year-old, single mother of two, earning $36,000 a year, for illegally sharing mp3 files of 24 songs; 6) 1978 - Casablanca label shipped million copies of four solo albums by each member of Kiss ("shipped platinum"); hundreds of thousands unsold, returned; 7) 1962 - Bob Dylan got out of 1961 publishing deal with Leeds/Duchess (returned $1,000 advance); new publisher, M. Witmark & Sons, received 237 songs (worth $ tens of millions in future) in first three years; 8) Warner Music dropped Ice-T ("Cop Killer"); sold Interscope to rival Universal which soon became biggest record company in world; 9) 2005 - Sony BMG sold millions of CDs with copy-protection software that automatically installed a "rootkit" on users’ PCs; accused of spying on customers’ listening habits, forced to pay several million dollars to settle class-action lawsuits; 10) Columbia Records signed Alicia Keys for reported $400,000, tried to change her style; she left, signed with J Records, sold more than 20 million albums; dumped 50 Cent after shot nine times; became an unstoppable one-man money factory at Interscope; 11) David Geffen signed Neil Young; filed a $3 million breach-of-contract suit for not making "Neil Young" types of records; Young countersued for $21 million; settled out of court; 12) 1998 - Geffen Records paid Axl Rose $1 million to complete Guns N’ Roses (32 platinum hits) fifth album + million more if delivered soon; album never completed, at cost to Geffen of $13 million; 13) 1996 - Warner Bros. signed R.E.M. to 5-album contract for reported $80 million; most costly record deal in history, allowed R.E.M. to keep masters of all Warner releases; generated one of lowest returns, forfeited future revenues generated by band’s ’80s and early-’90s popular songs; 14) 1960 - Jerry Wexler (Atlantic Records) signed contract with  Stax label president Jim Stewart to market, distribute all Stax releases; 1967 - Atlantic became owner of any Stax release it handled (indicated by 'fine print') as Stax had signed away its catalogue and future; 15) 1999 - MCA gave Irish teen Carly Hennessy $100,000 advance, $5,000 a month in living expenses, apartment in Marina Del Rey, CA, spent roughly $2.2 million in all on her 2001 record debut; sold 378 copies, = label's cost of $5,820 per copy sold; 16) June 2001 - Reprise label (AOL Time Warner subsidiary) paid about $300,000 for Wilco album; didn't like it, fired band, let band keep masters to album; Wilco signed with Nonesuch (AOL Time Warner subsidiary); AOL paid twice; Wilco’s best seller to date; 17) Thomas Edison's Edison Records made two fatal errors - records worked only on Edison’s players, personal taste governed releases (no jazz, waltzes and foxtrots); October 1929 - closed; 18) 2000 - BMG forced Clive Davis, founder of Arista label in 1975, to retire (company policy); artists complained loudly; BMG gave Davis own label, J Records, invested $150 million; 2002 - BMG paid $50 million to buy J Record; 2004 - ousted Davis's successor at Arista, hired Davis as CEO of BMG North America; 19) early 1980s - music industry phased out vinyl singles in favor of cassettes and later, CDs; abandoned singles completely; consumers stopped going to record shops, illegally downloaded singles; 20) 1989 - A&R department at MCA Records signed Pretty Boy Floyd for about $1 million; debut album peaked at No. 130 on Billboard charts; 1991 - label dropped band; missed chance to sign Nirvana.

(Coca-Cola), Donald R. Keough (2008). The Ten Commandments for Business Failure. (New York, NY: Portfolio, 208 p.). Former President, COO at Coca-Cola; chairman of Allen & Company. Business failures. Responsible foe New Coke fiasco; how companies get into trouble, believe in infallibility; "how-not-to" book; commandments: Quit Taking Risks; Be Inflexible; Assume Infallibility; Put All Your Faith in Experts; Send Mixed Messages; and Be Afraid of the Future; "anyone who follows my formula will be a highly successful loser."

(One. Tel), Paul Barry (2002). Rich Kids: How the Murdochs and Packers Lost $950 Million in One.Tel. (Milsons Point, N.S.W.: Random House Australia, 392 p.). Murdoch, Rupert, 1931- ; Packer, Kerry; One.Tel (Firm); Telecommunication--Australia; Business failures--Australia.

Bill Adler, Jr. and Julie Houghton (1997). America's Stupidest Business Decisions: 101 Blunders, Flops and Screwups. (New York, NY: Quill, 238 p.). Consumer Goods, Product Management, Brand Management.

Merrill R. Chapman (2003). In Search of Stupidity: Over 20 Years of High-Tech Marketing Disasters. (Berkeley, CA: Apress, 252 p.). Computer software industry--Management--Case studies; Computer industry--Management--Case studies; Business failures--Case studies.

Matt Haig (2003). Brand Failures: The Truth About the 100 Biggest Branding Mistakes of All Time. (Sterling, VA: Kogan Page, 310 p.). Brand name products--Marketing; Brand loyalty; Brand choice.

Robert F. Hartley (1987). Bullseyes and Blunders: Stories of Business Success & Failure. (New York, NY: Wiley, 253 p.). Industrial management--Case studies; Marketing--Management--Case studies; Success in business--Case studies; Business failures--Case studies.

Jill Herbers (1994). The Business Disaster Book of Days: The World's Greatest Financial Mishaps, Follies, & Remarkable Events. (Seacaucus, NJ: Carol Pub. Group, 162 p.). Business--Humor.

Adam Horowitz and the editors of Business 2.0 (2004). The Dumbest Moments in Business History: Useless Products, Ruinous Deals, Clueless Bosses, and Other Signs of Unintelligent Life in the Workplace. (New York, NY: Portfolio, 208 p.). Industrial management--History--Anecdotes; Business failures--History--Anecdotes; Business history--Anecdotes.  

eds. Forest W. Horton Jr. and Dennis Lewis (1991). Great Information Disasters: Twelve Prime Examples of How Information Mismanagement Led to Human Misery, Political Misfortune and Business Failure. (London, UK: Aslib, 218 p.). Errors, Popular -- Case studies.

Philip J. Kaplan (2002). F'd Companies: Spectacular Dot.com Flameouts. (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, p.). Business failures--United States--Case studies; Internet industry--United States--Case studies; Electronic business--United States--Case studies. See also John Cassidy ("Dot.con").

Danny Miller (1990). The Icarus Paradox: How Exceptional Companies Bring About Their Own Downfall: New Lessons in the Dynamics of Corporate Success, Decline, and Renewal. (New York, NY: HarperBusiness, 306 p.). Business failures--United States--Case studies.

Paul C. Nutt (2002). Why Decisions Fail: Avoiding the Blunders and Traps that Lead to Debacles. (San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 332 p.). Emeritus Professor, Faculty of Management Sciences, Fisher College of Business (Ohio State University). Decision making. 400 decisions made by top managers (products and services, pricing and markets, personnel policy, technology acquisition, strategic reorganization); 2 of 3 decisions based on failure prone, questionable tactics; key errors, successful alternatives.

James Robert Parish (2006). Fiasco: A History of Hollywood’s Iconic Flops. (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 368 p.). Motion pictures--California--Los Angeles--History; Motion pictures--United States--Plots, themes, etc. Most sensational failures in modern Hollywood history.

David A. Ricks (1983). Big Business Blunders: Mistakes in Multinational Marketing. (Homewood, IL: Dow Jones-Irwin, 158 p.). Export marketing; International business enterprises.

--- (1999). Blunders in International Business. (Malden, MA: Blackwell Business, 172 p. [3rd ed.]). International business enterprises--Management--Case studies; Business failures--Case studies

Joel E. Ross and Michael J. Kami (1973). Corporate Management in Crisis; Why the Mighty Fall. (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 263 p.). Industrial management--United States--Case studies; Big business--United States--Case studies.

Scott A. Sandage (2005). Born Losers: A History of Failure in America. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 384 p.). Associate Professor of History (Carnegie Mellon University). Social values--United States--History--19th century; Losers--United States--History--19th century; Failure (Psychology)--United States--History--19th century; Capitalism--Social aspects--United States--History--19th century; Identity (Psychology)--United States--History--19th century; Stigma (Social psychology); Social status--United States--History--19th century. 

Jagdish N. Sheth (2007). The Self-Destructive Habits of Good Companies…And How to Break Them. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Wharton School Publishing, 304 p.). Charles H. Kellstadt Chair of Marketing in the Goizueta Business School (Emory University). Success in business; Business failures--Case studies; Industrial management. 7 bad practices that can lead to failure (denial, arrogance, complacency, incumbency, competitive myopia, volume obsession, territorial impulse). 

Robert Sobel (1999). When Giants Stumble: Classic Business Blunders and How to Avoid Them. (Paramus, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 350 p.). Business failures--United States--Case studies; Success in business--United States--Case studies. 

Ed. Daniel F. Spulber (2002). Famous Fables of Economics: Myths of Market Failures. (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 312 p.). Elinor Hobbs Distinguished Professor of International Business and Professor of Management Strategy at the Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern University). Business failures--History; Economic policy--History.

Walter Stewart (2005). Belly Up: The Spoils of Bankruptcy. (Toronto, ON: McClelland & Stewart, 293 p.). Bankruptcy--Canada; Bankruptcy--United States; Corporate debt--Canada; Corporate debt--United States; Faillite--Canada; Faillite--États-Unis; Sociétés--Dettes--Canada; Sociétés--Dettes--États-Unis.

Trevor Sykes (1988). Two Centuries of Panic: A History of Corporate Collapses in Australia. (Boston, MA: Allen & Unwin, 593 p.). Business failures--Australia--History; Corporations--Australia--History; Businesspeople--Australia--History.

--- (1996). The Bold Riders: Behind Australia's Corporate Collapses. (St. Leonard's, NSW, AU: Allen & Unwin, 654 p. [2nd ed.]). Business failures--Australia; Capitalists and financiers--Australia; Corporations--Australia.

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Business History Links

101 Dumbest Moments in Business              http://www.business2.com/dumbest/                                                     In a perfect world, a list like this would not exist. In a perfect world, businesses would be run with the utmost integrity and competence. But ours is, alas, an imperfect world, and if we must live in one where Enron, Geraldo Rivera, and Cottonelle Fresh Rollwipes exist, the least we can do is catalog the absurdities.