Nintendo
When Nintendo’s designers promised the Wii would revolutionise gaming, a few of the company’s more senior members may have felt an uneasy sense of déjà vu. Way back in 1995, the company made a similar bid with a set of 3D-gaming goggles called the Virtual Boy. Users complained of headaches, forcing Nintendo to give a very un-gameplay friendly warning to take breaks every half hour. But even without this glitch, many of the system’s games were brain-achingly bad. The Virtual Boy was withdrawn a year later, but its innovative spirit has lived on – creating many market-leading consoles since.

McDonald’s
When McDonald’s saw they were drawing in more older customers a few years ago, it decided its range needed a makeover to meet the tastes of these more mature munchers. In 1996, it launched a McDonald’s “Deluxe” range of burgers filled with finer ingredients. But few people were willing to believe that these new “burgers for adults” offered real refinement, and fewer still wanted to part with more money for them. Sales of the new items slumped from the start. Since then the fast food giant has found that McCafe’s and a range of meatier burgers offer better ways to keep adults keen.

Apple
The success of Apple products today makes it easy to assume their designers always hit the target. But when the company first had the idea of a pocket sized media device in the late 1980s the result was a little less of a hit. This could be because it was a stretch (literally) to call the brick-like Apple Newton pocket sized. The Newton also relied on a primitive handwriting recognition system that made inputting information frustratingly slow and became the butt of comedians’ jokes. Still, these early errors have fed into the design process that makes the iPhone so stunningly popular today.

Mercedes-Benz
From the beginning Mercedes meant stately saloons, large on luxury and legroom. But then compact, city cars came into vogue and the company decided they wanted to be part of the action. They launched the A-Class, aiming to cram the same core qualities into a small four-seater. Many customers felt too much luxury was lost. Worse still, the car’s upright design meant it flipped over during slalom safety tests, forcing recalls. But this pushed Mercedes forwards in the development of new, pioneering stabilisation technology that’s now been picked up by carmakers everywhere.