Museum of Failure celebrates unsuccessful innovations

(2 Jun 2017) LEADIN:
Many museums celebrate our greatest achievements, but now one in Sweden is showcasing a selection of innovation failures.
Helsingborg's Museum of Failure presents an amusing look at brand innovations that aimed for the stars... but missed.
STORYLINE:
Green Heinz ketchup? Fat-free Pringles? Colgate frozen lasagna? A doggie woof-translator? You don't need to be an expert to know they weren't successful.
Which is why these wild creations - along with around 60 others - are star artifacts at Helsingborg's new Museum of Failure, a wacky parade of unsuccessful products from years gone by.
It's the brainchild of 43-year-old curator and clinical psychologist Samuel West.
The idea came to him when holidaying in Croatia and he quickly purchased the internet domain name. West later realised he'd accidentally misspelt 'museum' - a sure sign his project would succeed.
"In innovation, we know that 80 to 90 percent of innovation projects they fail and you never read about them, you don't see them, people don't talk about them," says West.
"And if there's anything we can do from these failures is learn from them. But, you can't learn from them, if you can't talk about them or see them."
Many featured products show companies attempting to diversify their brand and break from what they're traditionally known for. There's Coca-Cola's 'BlaK' coffee beverage and Pepsi's 'Crystal' clear soda.
Iconic American motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson makes an appearance, but there's not a bike in sight. Instead, there's a men's eau-du-toilette, launched in the mid-90s.
"They launched this cologne and people, the fans, hated it," explains West.
"They said: 'You're Disneyfying our brand,' They had Christmas ornaments, Barbie dolls, all kinds of other stuff with the Harley-Davidson logo and it sort of trivializes the brand and it wasn't popular amongst their core fans."
Even one of the world's best-known businessmen makes an appearance - President of the United States Donald Trump.
The 'I'm Back And You're Fired' board game from 2004 looks like Monopoly, but players use 'T' branded pieces and the paper notes are adorned with Trump's image.
"It's a boring version of 'Monopoly,' it's simplified so stupid people can play it, but it's also horribly boring," says West.
"And the game is full of Trump's logo, picture of Trump on the money, anecdotes, stories about how successful Trump is, the game is horrible."
Perhaps surprisingly, the Museum of Failure is also home to some high-tech devices, including Google's 'Glass' headset, with augmented reality display and in-built camera.
"The problem was Google released it too early, it was still a prototype, so it as full of bugs, there weren't any applications, it wasn't really useful in anyway," says West.
"On top of that, the Google Glass had huge privacy issues, so they were banned from cafes in San Francisco and people (that) used Google Glass were called 'Glass-holes'."
Of course, many of the brand's featured in West's collection of failures will dispute their place - it's the equivalent of a Hollywood actor being nominated for a 'Razzie' award.
Segway may feel particularly aggrieved to see its two-wheeled electric mobility device making an appearance, but West claims it's justified given how revolutionary developers first thought the vehicle would be.
"It was an innovation, and it failed to meet those expectations that they had from the start," explains West.
"The Segway was supposed to revolutionize the way we transport people, it was supposed to be to the car, what the car was to the horse and buggy.
"And we all know that the Segway today is used by tourists before the go get drunk."
The bulky black device paved the way for the iPhones and iPads millions use today.


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