1Bottled Spunk
When Coke marketed their Dasani brand of water in the UK in 2004 it was a PR disaster because they referred to it as "bottled spunk" and used the slogan "can't live without spunk" not realizing "spunk" was a slang word for semen
2. In 1997, Pepsi held a contest to win a life-size replica of the Simpsons house or $75,000. The contest winner (Barbara Howard) chose the cash. The house, which cost $120,000 to build, was renovated to look like a normal home and re-sold
3. A girl cost her father (Patrick Snay) an $80,000 lawsuit settlement after breaking the confidentiality agreement by posting on Facebook "Gulliver is now officially paying for my vacation to Europe this summer. S#CK IT".
4. In 2010, the US Department of Defense connected 1,760 Playstation 3 consoles to create the Condor Cluster supercomputer. It cost $2 million to build and only uses about 10% the energy consumption of a comparable supercomputer.
5. 20 ft long crocodiles used to have long legs, allowing them to emerge from water gallop at other animals at full speed
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15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
6Kamikaze training
Japanese Kamikaze pilots were allowed to return if they didn't find a suitable target. One pilot was shot after his ninth return.
7. It is mandatory for all North Koreans to vote, even though there is only one candidate for each office on the ballot
8. Solitaire was created by a Microsoft intern who wasn't paid for the game. Bill Gates liked the idea but complained it was too difficult to win at this game. The original version also included a fake Excel spreadsheet to hide the game from your boss.
9. The Osage Indians were once the richest per capita people in the world due to oil reserves on their land. Congress then passed a law requiring court-appointed "guardians" to manage their wealth. Over 60 Osage were murdered from 1921-1925, their land rights passed to the guardian.
10. 4 US states have completely banned billboards
11Supermarkets
France has become the first country in the world to ban supermarkets from throwing away or destroying unsold food, forcing them instead to donate it to charities and food banks.
12. Trial attorney Mark Lanier offered to settle an asbestos lawsuit against Carborundum for $10,000. They declined and it went to trial. The jury awarded $118 million.
13. When Romania made their ice hockey World Championship debut in 1931, they lost 0-15 to the US. Their captain approached the referee after the game and asked him to write a message on the official game sheet: ”Thank you for playing against us, we have learned a great deal from this game”.
14. Ernest Hemingway lived through anthrax, malaria, pneumonia, dysentery, skin cancer, hepatitis, anemia, diabetes, high blood pressure, two plane crashes, a ruptured kidney, a ruptured spleen, a ruptured liver, a crushed vertebra, and a fractured skull.
15. 90% of all scientists who have ever lived are alive today.
16Bishnu Shrestha
In 2010, a Gurkha named Bishnu Shrestha armed only with a knife, fought off 40 men trying to assault an 18-year-old girl, killing several.
17. A Canadian child molester named Christopher Paul Neil who posted about 200 swirled images of his face online molesting kids in Cambodia and Vietnam. German investigators figured out a technique for unswirling the images, leading to his arrest.
18. When the USS West Virginia was raised following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the bodies of three men were discovered in a sealed compartment, along with a calendar on which they'd marked off 16 days.
19. In 1971, the U.S. left a memorial on the Moon for every astronaut who died in the pursuit of space exploration, including Russian Cosmonauts
20. Bill Murray Actually Bowled The 3 Tournament Winning Strikes At The End Of Kingpin
21September 11, 2001 trademark
A business man named Moti Shniberg tried to trademark the term "September 11, 2001." on that very day, as the Twin Towers and Pentagon were still smoldering.
22. In 1998 Bill O'Reilly wrote a novel about a tall, bitter, sexually predatory newsman who gets forced out of his job and starts murdering former colleagues who helped to ruin his career.
23. Peter III of Russia wasn't Russian, hardly spoke any Russian, and hated Russian culture. Just 6 months after his accession, he was deposed by a coup led by his wife, who then became the longest-ruling female Russian leader, Catherine the Great.
24. Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the end times started on October 1, 1914 and that Satan is controlling the world's governments
25. A West Virginia man named Jose Cruz was charged with Battery for farting repeatedly and fanning the gas at police officers. Charges were eventually dropped.