Category: Flops

Don’t Be Like Larry, Don’t Miss Out On FTX Fraud

FTX’s ad [on Super Bowl LVI (2022)] featured comedian and actor Larry David (in his first appearance in a commercial) in period costume dismissing various technological and societal achievements in history, including the wheel, American independence, Edison’s incandescent light bulb, the Walkman, and finally, cryptocurrency. The ad was directed by Jeff Schaffer, whom David had worked with in the past on Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Ironically, the company would go bankrupt later that year.

FTX Trading Ltd., commonly known as FTX (short for “Futures Exchange”), is a bankrupt company that formerly operated a cryptocurrency exchange and crypto hedge fund. The exchange was founded in 2019 and, at its peak in July 2021, had over one million users and was the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume.

A cryptocurrency, crypto-currency, or crypto is a digital currency designed to work as a medium of exchange through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it. On 11 November 2022, FTX Trading Ltd., a cryptocurrency exchange, which also operated a crypto hedge fund, and had been valued at $18 billion, filed for bankruptcy.

In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right.

Bryan Cranston plays MegaForce for your Atari VCS

Bryan Lee Cranston (born March 7, 1956) is an American actor, voice actor, screenwriter, director and producer. Cranston is best known for portraying Walter White in the AMC crime drama series Breaking Bad, Hal in the Fox comedy series Malcolm in the Middle and Dr. Tim Whatley in the NBC comedy series Seinfeld. He started working regularly in the late 1980s, mostly doing minor roles and advertisements.

Megaforce (or MegaForce), is an action film made in 1982 directed by former stuntman Hal Needham. The film featured a “phantom Army of super elite fighting men whose weapons are the most powerful science can devise”, including realistic 3-D holograms and combat vehicles such as a motorcycle called the “Delta MK 4 Megafighter” equipped with missile launchers. A video game based on the film was released in 1982 on the Atari 2600.

The Atari 2600, or Atari VCS before 1982, is a home video game console released on September 11, 1977 by Atari, Inc. The unit was originally priced at US$199 ($774 adjusted for inflation), and shipped with two joysticks and a Combat cartridge (eight additional games were available at launch and sold separately).

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (formerly known as Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation with hyphen used from its inception until 1985), also known as 20th Century Fox, 20th Century Fox Pictures, 20CFFC, TCF, Fox 2000 Pictures or simply Fox is an American film studio, distributor and one of the six major American film studios.

Give A Wendy’s Hamburger A Little Nibble

In May 1987, Wendy’s International followed up the “Where’s the Beef?” campaign with the US television commercial “Give a little Nibble”. The tag line was to be a catchy phrase that would capture the attention of consumers and help make Wendy’s major player on the fast-food scene once again. This television commercial was a flop and sent Wendy’s hunting for a new advertising agency. The “nibble” spots were meant to emphasize Wendy’s better-tasting hamburger. They showed customers ripping off chunks of meat from an absurdly large hamburger.

Raw hamburger may contain harmful bacteria that can produce food-borne illness such as Escherichia coli O157:H7, due to the occasional initial improper preparation of the meat, so caution is needed when handling it.

Kevin Costner spends his time with the Apple Lisa

The Apple Lisa was a personal computer designed at Apple Computer during the early 1980s. [It] turned out to be a commercial failure for Apple, the largest since the Apple III disaster of 1980. The intended business computing customers balked at Lisa’s high price and largely opted to run less expensive IBM PCs, which were already beginning to dominate business desktop computing.

Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is an Academy Award-winning American film actor, director and producer. One of Costner’s most successful films was Dances with Wolves (1990), which won seven Academy Awards, including (Best Picture and Best Director). Costner made his film debut at age 19, in the 1974 film, Sizzle Beach, U.S.A., although the film was not released until 1986. Costner then appeared in a commercial for the Apple Lisa in 1983.

Aren’t You Hungry For Burger King, Herb?

Beginning in the early 1980s, [Burger King’s] advertising began to lose focus; a series of less successful ad campaigns created by various agencies continued for the next two decades.

Where’s Herb? was a television commercial campaign for the fast food chain Burger King in 1985 and 1986. The television commercials featured a fictional character named Herb, who was described as never having eaten a Burger King burger in his life. Burger King spent over $40 million on the Herb advertisements; however, the advertisements were not successful, and are widely cited as a flop.

[The Whopper] is often at the center of advertising promotions, product tie-ins, and corporate practical jokes and hoaxes.

The McLean Deluxe is 91% fat free

The McLean Deluxe was a hamburger marketed as a healthy alternative to McDonald’s regular menu. It was released in the United States in 1991. It had a reduced fat content compared to other McDonald’s hamburgers. This was achieved through the addition of carrageenan to the meat.

Irish moss [is a species of red alga] and is a major source of carrageenan, which is commonly used as a thickener and stabilizer in milk products such as ice cream and processed foods including luncheon meat.

Kevin Darwin Greene (July 31, 1962 – December 21, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a defensive end and outside linebacker for the Los Angeles Rams, Pittsburgh Steelers, Carolina Panthers, and San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1985 through 1999. Greene used a multi-component diet to help his performance. Greene died of a heart attack at the age of 58 at his home in Destin, Florida, on the morning of December 21, 2020.

The National Football League (NFL) is the largest and most prestigious professional American football league, consisting of thirty-two teams from American cities and regions. The league’s teams are divided into two conferences: the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC).