While Keurig is surely hoping there will come a day when its failed KOLD soda-making machine is but a misty, sparkling memory, it’s not the first company to reach for the stars, to fly too close to the sun, to try to capture lightning in a bottle… and fail utterly and completely, thereby forever securing a spot in the brand failure hall of fame, never to be forgotten. [More]
qwikster
Report: Netflix's Killing Of Qwikster Forces Layoffs
By 11.7.11
After Netflix decided against spinning off the DVD rental side of its service as Qwikster, the company reportedly decided it didn’t need as many call service reps to handle such duties as fielding inquiries from confused customers. [More]
Netflix CEO Explains Qwikster Fracas To Catty NYTM Reporter
By 10.21.11
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings stopped off at the New York Times Magazine to engage with a very ornery reporter on what the whole deal with Qwikster was. If the reporter really asked these questions and didn’t just spice them up later to make himself look like a badass, I’m surprised Hastings didn’t punch him in the face. [More]
Woot Mocks Netflix Over Qwikster Debacle, Sells Computers At The Same Time
By 10.13.11
Remember those brief few weeks when Netflix said it was actually going to rename its DVD service “Qwikster” and separate it from the Netflix website? Ah, those were the days… And now the deal-minded folks at Woot have put together a bit of prose that allows them to poke fun at Netflix, all while trying to sell some Lenovo Notebooks. [More]
Another Postal Worker Caught Stealing Netflix DVDs
By 10.7.11
It’s been over five years since we first wrote about postal workers being busted for detouring Netflix DVDs into their own private stashes, and yet there are apparently still some USPS staffers out there who think they can steal more than 100 DVDs and not have it set off alarm bells. [More]
Netflix CEO Jokes That Irked Investors May Be Trying To Poison Him
By 9.22.11
It’s been a downer of a week for Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, whose attempt to soften the blow of deciding to split off his company’s DVD-by-mail division into the questionably named Qwikster was met with much derision and an initial dip in the company’s stock price. But Hastings has either been able to maintain a sense of humor about the situation or he wants the world to know he fears angry investors are out to poison him. [More]
Oops: Pot-Smoking Elmo Already Claimed @Qwikster On Twitter
By 9.19.11
Netflix might have flubbed on its due diligence when checking out if there were any a priori uses of the name “Qwikster.” (Whether or not just picking that name itself is a flub is another discussion.) It seems there was already an entity out there using Qwikster, and it’ll make it hard for the DVD by mail service to have a good Twitter profile. Yep, @Qwikster is a joint-smoking Elmo who gets bored in English class, harbors negative feelings about his ex-girlfriend, and recently attained level 25 in the Original Gangstaz game for iPhone. [More]
Netflix DVD Service To Be Renamed Qwikster, Will Offer Video Games
By 9.19.11
Over on the Netflix blog, CEO Reed Hastings offers a lengthy “my bad” about the way the video delivery service abruptly announced the fracturing of its services into separate streaming and DVD-by-mail offerings. But that doesn’t mean Netflix is going back to its old pricing model. In fact, Hastings announced that the DVD delivery service will soon become even more distinct from Netflix’s streaming side. [More]
