Hilarious Business Fails to Cheer Up Your Bad Day
We get it. Its winter, the streets are icy and that makes the commute a nightmare. Let’s not even get into the construction in Montreal! The economy isn’t as robust as it could be, so things in the office are a bit slow. Your mind is less on productivity and more on that Christmas shopping list you need to get to. The long, cold days of winter can be tough on small businesses, so we are here to cheer you up with spectacular fails that prove it doesn’t matter how big or small your company is – everyone makes (funny) mistakes.
Ben & Jerry’s has a Flavour Graveyard
The ice cream giant is known to take risks with flavour profiles, but sometimes the ice cream aficionados go a little too far. The graveyard sits on a hill overlooking the factory, and each dearly departed flavour has its own headstone. Some of the flavours that had ice cream lovers saying “what?” instead of “wow” include Wavy Gravy, Holy Cannoli and What a Cluster.
McDonalds McFlubs
McDonalds may be a household name, but that doesn’t make them immune to mistakes. The expensive and inexplicable McLobster is one of their most notable fails. Then there is the McGratin Croquette that was created for the Japanese market. Made of deep fried macaroni, shrimp and mashed potatoes, most Japanese said “Sayonara” instead of “yum” to this strange sandwich. And let’s not get started on the ill-fated hula burger! Innovation is great, but like McDonalds, you need to know when to let an idea go quietly into the night. Or, more realistically, get pulled from your product line and live on in infamy on the Internet.
IHOP Falls Flat
In 2015, pancake powerhouse IHOP sent out a tweet showing a stack of pancakes with a very strategically placed dollop of butter, and wrote, “flat but has a GREAT personality.” Faster than the PR department, legal team and anyone with actual sense in the company could yell, “delete the tweet,” the Internet blew up with outrage. The company issued an apology, admitting that they weren’t acting as their breast…er…best…selves and noted that their tweet was immature.
The Kardashian Kard Krashes
You wouldn’t think that spelling normal sounding hard-c words with a K could help you build your brand, but if you are a Kardashian, you may as well trademark the letter. What the glorious K can’t do, however, is get you into the credit card market. The Kardashian clan’s (klan’s…) prepaid credit card was yanked unceremoniously off the market after a mere month. The Kardashian Kard was dubbed as “the worst credit card ever” for its high and complicated fees, its targeted audience of financially uneducated young adults and its hints that with this card, impressionable tweens could live the Kardashian lifestyle. Understandably, parents and advocacy groups were less than impressed.
Some mistakes are very funny and are easy to bounce back from, but others – especially accounting and tax mistakes – can land you in very hot water. Don’t be the company that makes the mistake of unpaid taxes, poor budgeting or being caught in a cash crunch. Let AF Accounting guide you through all your small business accounting needs, so you can afford to take chances while inventing new and exciting products and services.
