Business
Rent-a-Drunk
For only $3 a night, Colin White would rent out one of the drunks from his pub to liven up a party.So his employees could legitimately claim to be professional drunks.
Asbury Park Press - Nov 26, 1971
Posted By: Alex - Wed Jan 11, 2023 -
Comments (3)
Category: Business, Inebriation and Intoxicants, Jobs and Occupations, 1970s
Follies of the Madmen #551
Posted By: Paul - Thu Dec 29, 2022 -
Comments (4)
Category: Business, Advertising, Robots, Women, Twentieth Century
Hair Rental—You know it makes sense
These hair rental ads ran for about five years in British papers. So I assume the company must have done decent business.I've heard of wig rentals, but for some reason the idea of toupee rentals seems weirder.
Sunday London Mirror - Mar 11, 1973
Posted By: Alex - Tue Dec 06, 2022 -
Comments (2)
Category: Business, Headgear, 1970s, Hair and Hairstyling
SHT and SCAT
In his 1983 book Big Business Blunders: Mistakes in Multinational Marketing, David Ricks tells the following story:I've been able to find ads for SHT, such as the one below, but none exactly like the one that Ricks describes. Which doesn't mean the ad doesn't exist. Just that it isn't in any journals archived online.
However, among the ads for SHT that I was able to find, I found one that actually improves (and possibly complicates) Ricks's story. Because it turns out that Sumitomo had another product, Sumitomo Calcium Treatment, that it abbreviated as SCAT.
Once I could accept as an honest mistake, but coming up with scatalogical abbreviations twice seems intentional. I'm guessing either someone at Sumitomo thought it was funny, or someone at the Japanese agency was having a joke at their expense.
Posted By: Alex - Sun Nov 27, 2022 -
Comments (1)
Category: Business, Products, Odd Names, Excrement, 1980s
Harley-Davidson Perfume
Classic business failure: "Hot Road," an eau de toilette released by Harley-Davidson in the mid-1990s and quietly discontinued a year or two later. It wasn't exactly an "on brand" product.More info: Milwaukee Magazine
image source: parfumo.net
Posted By: Alex - Sun Sep 18, 2022 -
Comments ()
Category: Business, Products, Success & Failure, 1990s, Perfume and Cologne and Other Scents
A Touch of Magic
Posted By: Paul - Fri Jul 01, 2022 -
Comments (1)
Category: Business, Advertising, Cryptozoology, Surrealism, 1960s, Dance, Cars
Follies of the Madmen #532
No mincing words here!Source.
Posted By: Paul - Sat May 14, 2022 -
Comments ()
Category: Body, Business, Advertising, Fashion, Underwear, Magazines, Rants, Warnings, Jeremiads, Prophecies and Cassandra-like Figures
Follies of the Madmen #529
Synesthesia in advertising.
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Apr 07, 2022 -
Comments (1)
Category: Business, Advertising, Fey, Twee, Whimsical, Naive and Sadsack, Children, Cereal, 1900s
Secretarial Sadism
Posted By: Paul - Tue Mar 01, 2022 -
Comments (4)
Category: Business, Advertising, Sadism, Cruelty, Punishment, and Torture, Women, Twentieth Century
Follies of the Madmen #526
Are these supposed to be 18-year-old coeds at university? If so, why do they look 45?From the SATURDAY EVENING POST for 1/14/1961.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Feb 17, 2022 -
Comments (8)
Category: Business, Advertising, Stereotypes and Cliches, Soda, Pop, Soft Drinks and other Non-Alcoholic Beverages, 1960s, Women
| Who We Are |
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |