Episode Details

Everyone knows the Colgate frozen lasagna story. Except the lasagna never existed — the box was a mock-up built by the Museum of Failure in 2017. What Colgate actually sold was dried chicken and crabmeat entrees, test-marketed in one Wisconsin city, and later a soybean snack pulled for causing flatulence. This episode digs into big brands' forgotten product disasters: Harley-Davidson's Black Fire cologne line, which ran for nearly a decade before being quietly shelved, and Bic Cristal for Her, the pink pen that cost more and became a national punchline. Along the way: why brand loyalty can turn on itself, why gender segmentation works in razors but not pens, and what corporate erasure looks like when a company denies a product that never existed to avoid discussing the one that did. Key sources: • Museum of Failure — https://museumoffailure.com/exhibition/colgate-kitchen-entrees • Museum of Failure — https://museumoffailure.com/exhibition/harley-davidson-perfume • Prospect Magazine — https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/philosophy/39799/what-a-viral-fake-lasagne-taught-me-about-failure Episode #349104 — open it directly at myweirdprompts.com/349104