“Tater Tots,” a registered trademark, originally failed because people thought the product was too cheap. Popularity rose after the price was raised.
100 Mind-Blowing Product Facts
Despite the name, Thomas’ Breads English Muffins aren’t British; the product was invented in the U.S.
Uncle Ben’s rice was air-dropped to World War II troops. German chemist Erich Huzenlaub invented a process of parboiling rice to keep more nutrients in the rice and lessen the cooking time. The “Huzenlaub Process” had another unexpected benefit: It stopped bug infestations. The quick-cook, bug-free rice was a big advantage during World War II, and converted rice (as it was then known) was air-dropped to American and British troops. After the war, the company rebranded itself and became Uncle Ben’s Original Converted Brand Rice, named after one of the company’s best rice suppliers. The product hit grocery store shelves in 1947.
Yes, bleach expires. Did you know that household bleach expires? It’s news to us, too! This home cleaning product lasts about six months.
M&M’s stands for “Mars & Murrie’s.” The two ‘M’s on this candy staple represent the names of Forrest E. Mars Sr., (founder of Newark Company), and Bruce Murrie (son of Hershey Chocolate’s president William F. R. Murrie). One of the little-known fun facts about M&M’s is that it’s made with Hershey’s chocolate. Another fun fact? It’s a copycat product! Mars only had an idea for the product from seeing its British predecessor, Smarties.
The foil seals on medicine bottles were placed due to poisoning incidents. The Tylenol poisonings of 1982 were a widespread crisis that involved U.S. consumers dying or falling ill from Tylenol. It was later found that the bottles had been laced with potassium cyanide. To restore the faith of the public in the product and the company, Johnson & Johnson patented the seal to prevent further tampering incidents. This is also the thought behind the “Do not accept if seal is broken.” warnings that we see with other products.
Ben & Jerry’s learned how to make ice cream from a $5 course at Penn State. The titular Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield were childhood friends. Although Greenfield finished college, he was unable to pursue med school. Cohen, on the other hand, dropped out of school. In 1977, Cohen and Greenfield completed a course on ice cream making from Pennsylvania State University’s Creamery. One of the fun facts no one knows about this famous product: Have you ever wondered why Ben & Jerry’s is so chunky? Ben Cohen has a condition where he can’t smell or taste anything. Instead, he relied on food textures texture to provide variety in his diet. This led to the company’s trademark chunks in their ice cream.
Bubble wrap was originally designed to be used as wallpaper. Bubble wrap was born in 1957 when engineer Al Fielding and Swiss inventor Marc Chavannes tried creating a textured wallpaper. However, their product was rejected. They also tried marketing it as a greenhouse insulator, but the material still fell short. However, when IBM released a new computer, Fielding and Chavannes pitched their concept as a protective covering for computer shipments. From then on, bubble wrap was adopted as the go-to protective wrap. The third time’s the charm, I guess.
Pineapples are named after pinecones. This is mainly due to the similarity of its spiky outer skin. Pinecones are also the product of the pine tree.
A janitor invented the flaming hot Cheetos. One of the janitors working at the Frito-Lay plant in Southern California pitched the idea of adding chilli powder to the regular product. Top Brass liked the idea and so did many consumers. This leads the janitor to a generous promotion where he is now an executive for PepsiCo.
People born blind experience dreams of emotions, sounds and smells instead of images. Dreams are a product of our subconscious that is influenced by the stimuli we encounter in waking hours. For people who were born blind, their dreams manifest in other sensations such as smells and sounds.
A Coca-Cola employee offered to sell Coca-Cola’s secrets to Pepsi. Snitches get stitches, yet it seems this Coca-Cola employee forgot when they tried to betray Coca-Cola. In 2006, a secretary at Coca-Cola HQ was arrested for stealing a sample of an unreleased product and attempting to sell it for $1.5m to Pepsi. However, the two soda companies instead got the FBI involved. In the end, the thief was arrested.
The longest TV ad of all time is 14 hours long. Created for a product that supposedly “lasts forever,” this Old Spice commercial features actor Terry Crews and is airing for “an eternity” online. Since TV airtime is particularly expensive, a 14-hour version was aired in Brazil, on December 8, 2018, and earned the Guinness World Record for the longest TV ad ever.
Abercrombie & Fitch paid MTV to make sure the cast of Jersey Shore doesn’t wear their clothes. You’ve heard of sponsorship deals, but how about getting paid not to use a certain brand or product? Reality TV is almost like the epitome of all the evils of humanity. Simply put, it’s a very messy place. So, to protect its brand image, Abercrombie & Fitch offered a hefty sum just to ensure that The Situation and other cast members would switch to other brands. Yikes.
Grass flip-flops are an actual product you can buy. The Australian company KUSA makes artificial grass flip-flops that simulate the feeling of walking on fresh grass. See for yourself if these grass flip-flops are as comfy as they say so.
The first product to have a bar code was Wrigley’s gum.
Texas is where German chocolate cake originated. The “German” in German chocolate cake is an American man, not a member of the European Union. Sam German, who developed the recipe for a mild dark baking chocolate bar in 1852, is specifically remembered in the name of the product.
A “50% off” sign increases sales, even if shoppers don’t know the original price or what a reasonable price for the product would be.
There aren’t “57 varieties” of Heinz ketchup, and never were. Company founder H.J. Heinz thought his product should have a number, and he liked 57. Hint: Hit the glass bottle on the “57,” not the bottom, to get the ketchup to flow.
Nokia’s first product is toilet paper.
Your Apple product’s warranty may be void if you smoke near it.
Over 1 billion Active iPhones in the World. Around 1.65 billion Apple brand devices are currently in use, says CEO Tim Cook. How does the company determine this number? Folks only need to use their Apple-branded device once within 90 days and the activity is added to the total. Having recently set both revenue and product sales records – with iPhones leading the way – further proof of this company’s record-setting numbers is measured by the number of “upgraders” also counted. Contributing to these statistics are FaceTime calls driven by the pandemic. It’s anyone’s guess whether chip shortages or supply chain issues will impact Apple sales in 2022.
The Video Streaming Market is Exploding. To stream or not to stream? Even Shakespeare couldn’t have envisioned the scope of this phenomenon. Streaming was projected to become a 70.05-billion-dollar industry by 2021, but that number was likely surpassed when COVID-19 quarantines restricted entertainment options. Anticipated CAGR of 18.3% is likely under-reported and product variety isn’t the only reason streaming is so popular. Businesses using streaming technology as marketing and advertising tools — led by high-profile platforms like Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu — offer viewers a smorgasbord of options that are especially appreciated by smartphone and tablet users.
The first product scanned was a packet of chewing gum in 1974. Norman Joseph Woodland invented the barcode and received a patent in October 1952. It wasn’t until 22 years later when he was employed by IBM, that the barcode was developed to be used for product labeling. Known as the Universal Product Code (UPC), a system that is still used today.
Tech companies often test their products in New Zealand. New Zealand is such a diverse country with English-speaking residents, which makes it a great place for testing. But the main reason is that since it’s somewhat isolated, news about a product failing won’t spread very fast.
Linux is used as a product name to describe a furnace by a Denmark-based company.
On some selected British food products you will see a royal stamp and it means that the product has been bought by the Royal Family for at least five years.
If you’re looking to promote your business, YouTube might just be the way to go. Over 70% of viewers bought a product or service after they saw it on the platform.
AI Adoption Is Helping Companies Maximize Profits: Paris-based French multinational food corporation, Danone S.A., is implementing Artificial Intelligence to predict and plan the demand for its packaged food products. Forbes reports that by adopting AI, Danone has been able to reduce its forecast errors by 20 per cent and product obsolescence by 30 per cent.