Book Description
What could Tommy Dorsey have been thinking in 1940 when he installed his orchestra in the monkey house of the Philadelphia Zoo to perform a concert for the apes?
Could artist Rudy Giacomo have been serious when he proposed building a 39 mile manicotti around Manhattan Island?
Was the Nobel Prize Committee on drugs when they conferred the 1949 prize in Medicine to the man who perfected the lobotomy?
Bad ideas are everywhere--they're the tile grout of history, the crabgrass of civilization, poking up through every crack in our thinking. According to government statistics, they outnumber good ideas six hundred to one.
What Were They Thinking is a compendium of some 400 harebrained schemes, fool notions, and misguided obsessions both grandiose and mundane. In it readers will uncover one man's effort to market a board game based on the Lebanese civil war...an Iowa State University professor's proposal to blow up the moon...and Senator Victor Biaka-Boda's ill-considered campaign trip to the Ivory Coast hinterlands. (Not only did he lose the election, his constituents ate him.) Within these pages, the aim has not been to probe the motives behind bad ideas, but simply to recount and, above all, revel in them.
The stories in What Were They Thinking? range from the horrific to the hilarious; many are both. But none are fanciful. Every item has been carefully researched from published, non-fiction sources such as newspapers, trade journals, magazines, government reports, research studies, corporate literature, and reference books. Says Felton, "To have been any less exacting in my insistence on accuracy would have been a terrible idea."
Customer Reviews:
Laughed myself silly!.......2007-06-25
I am a big fan of "weird" news stories and have read several books in this genre. "What Were They Thinking" is by far my favorite of the bunch. Perhaps it isn't 100% factually accurate (few books are), but neither is it a piece of fluff.
I bought the book because I wanted some good laughs. "What Were They Thinking" definitely delivered!
The book is well-organized into various topics: Politics & Government, Science & Medicine, Sports, Transportation, Crimes, etc. Although I was familiar with some of the material, much of it was new to me. I especially enjoyed stories like that of Plennie Wingo, who decided to walk around the world backwards. After wearing out 13 pairs of shoes, he arrived home to find his girlfriend had left him.
From obscure tidbits of history to modern-day mistakes, this collection encompasses the best and worst of human foibles. Highly recommended!
Don't take it too seriously.......2007-01-11
Seemed like an interesting enough book when I bought it, but a good many of the "factual" anecdotes have proven to be already-debunked urban legends, so it's difficult to take any of it seriously. Take with a large grain of salt.
Tee-hee!.......2005-11-30
This was a fun, light-hearted book that was easy to read in pieces...as my schedule allowed. It's not a serious or hearty read, so considering what it was meant to be, it hit the mark!
Great light reading.......2005-07-18
Bruce Felton's "What Were They Thinking?" is a breezy examination of Strange laws, bizarre beliefs, and downright crazy ideas throughout history. There's not a lot of detail in any one description of a bad idea, and I agree with another reviewer that some context may have shed a different light on certain ideas that are presented as off-the-wall, but I feel Felton's effort, on balance, is worthwhile. This book is intended strictly as light reading, and it fits that bill quite nicely. A typical story is that of a fellow who proposed blowing up the moon, so that the Earth's tilt would change, resulting in constant springlike weather worldwide. I'm not sure which aspect of the story is more astounding - that someone would come up with this idea, or that others would take him seriously enough to present detailed arguments as to why his idea wasn't such a good one. "What Were They Thinking" is full of amusing antecdotes, and is great for some lighthearted reading.
A witless presentation of witlessness .......2004-12-07
It's summed up on the back of the jacket: "... a compendium of history's most ... fool notions, useless products ..." Substitute "publishing's" for "history's", and there you have it. All of which begs the [next] question -- what was *I* thinking when idiotic enough to purchase this piece of slack-jawed trash?
Book Description
Every day companies and their leaders fail to capitalize on opportunities because they misunderstand the real sources of business success.
Based on his popular column in Business 2.0, Jeffrey Pfeffer delivers wise and timely business commentary that challenges conventional wisdom while providing data and insights to help companies make smarter decisions. The book contains a series of short chapters filled with examples, data, and insights that challenge questionable assumptions and much conventional management wisdom. Each chapter also provides guidelines about how to think more deeply and intelligently about critical management issues. Covering topics ranging from managing people to leadership to measurement and strategy, it’s good organizational advice, delivered by Dr. Pfeffer himself.
Customer Reviews:
Easier Said than Done.......2007-08-29
All good information, and an interesting read. The concepts presented are not unlike many Marketing/Innovation books, but the author presents a good case. Every manager/exec should put these principles into practice...but they have probably already read a book that says the same thing!
Maybe not as unconventional, but good.......2007-08-23
The book is maybe not as unconventional as the (American-style) title wants to make you think, but nevertheless good. It will give you some insight, but also some examples to use in your business life to convince people that the "silver bullets" dont work. Can be handy. Also, there's a lot fo organisational psychology language and ideas and it's worth the money. recommended.
Awesome and True Business Management Book!!!.......2007-08-20
An outstanding book that tells the truth about why unconventional management is not only "cool" but it absolutely necessary in today's business world. The book challenges a lot of the management principles taught in most business school classes as well as the "that's the way things are done around here" mentality.
An easy read and a great reference guide. My copy is on my desk at work as it provides a refreshing reminder now and then in the day to day of organizational management.
Awesome book!
Another Great Pfeffer Book.......2007-08-12
While certainly not as great as Pfeffer's truly 5 Star Managing With Power: Politics and Influence in Organizations, this text's explanation and myriad examples of the second-order effects of common business decisions is superb.
This book provides great practical examples of many of the theoretically predicted phenomena laid out in John Roberts' (no, not THAT John Roberts) The Modern Firm: Organizational Design for Performance and Growth (Clarendon Lectures in Management Studies). If you have a deep interest in the economic foundations of the problems inherent in these business decisions, I wold encourage you to read the Roberts book FIRST, so that you can better understand and analyze the problems laid out in Pfeffer's text.
As an example of an important second-order effect of a business decision, consider how in the classic "Safelite Auto Glass" MBA case from Harvard, the implementation of a pay-for-performance system for workers instead of flat hourly wages made performance increase by 40%. However, only half of this benefit came from the direct effect of the compensation scheme on motivation -- the other half was slightly longer term and was due to the fact that the presence of the scheme caused workers in the market to "sort", with harder working individuals eventually filling the spots at Safelite.
Enjoy the book!
ryan
Thought-Provoking Pragmatism.......2007-08-07
According to Jeffrey Pfeffer, there seem to be three themes that unify many of the ideas he shares in this volume: "(1) the importance of considering feedback effects - the ideas that actions often have unintended consequences; (2) the naïve, overly simplistic, almost mechanical models of people and organizations that seem to dominant both discourse and practice; and (3) the tendency to overcomplicate what are often reasonably straightforward choices and insights." Pfeffer provides an abundance of examples of these and other especially common errors of comprehension and, worse yet, errors of judgment.
"The message...is that we ought to think before we act, taking into full account feedback effects and using the insights of not only the large body of evidence on behavior but our own common sense and observations. It turns out both common sense and careful thought are in short supply. But that means there are great opportunities for those people and organizations willing to spend the effort to get beyond conventional management wisdom."
In one of his previous books (Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths, and Total Nonsense), Pfeffer and his co-author, Robert I. Sutton, examine what they call "the doing-knowing gap": doing without knowing, or at least without knowing enough. "People kept telling us about the wonderful things they were doing to implement knowledge - but those things clashed with, and at times were the opposite of, what we knew about organizations and people. Upon probing, we soon discovered that many managers had been prompted by a seminar, book, or consultants to do things that were at odds with the best evidence about what works." Pfeffer and Sutton identify some of the barriers to what they call "evidence-based management" and recommend specific steps that leaders can take to overcome those barriers.
Whenever I read one of Pfeffer's books, I am reminded of Ernest Hemingway's observation that every great writer has "a built-in, shock-proof crap detector." For years, Pfeffer has challenged conventional management wisdom that is not supported by sufficient evidence. Consider this composite quotation from Chapter 25, "Don't Believe the Hype About Strategy," throughout which Pfeffer explains what is wrong with strategy as it has come to be known and defined:
"First of all, there is often much too much emphasis on the quality of the presentation and the pitch rather than the quality and business acumen of the ideas...Second, there is often a lot of emphasis on talk - on sounding smart - in the strategy formulation process and a lot of time sitting around thinking and planning instead of going out and trying some stuff, seeing what works, and learning by doing...[Despite] all the emphasis on strategy at the board and senior executive level, there is precious little evidence that it really is a source of success. The research on the effects of strategic planning generally finds it has no effect on corporate performance...[In fact] most successful strategies are simple...What is extremely difficult to copy - and what therefore does provide competitive advantage - is the way a company implements and executes its strategy...The other problem with today's overemphasis on strategy is the tendency to build in various forms of rigidity. Strategy, after all, is designed to tell a company not only what to do but what not to do - what customers and products and industry segments to avoid, either because they don't play to the company's strengths or aren't economically attractive. Or some combination of the two...[Therefore] develop your strategy adaptively, by using your company's best thinking at the time, learning from experience, and then trying again, using what you have learned. Building an experimenting, mistake-forgiving, adaptive culture provides a competitive advantage that lasts, because that sort of environment is much more difficult to copy than some dogmatic strategy. Under almost all circumstances, fast learners are going to outperform even the most brilliant strategists who can't adapt."
This composite quotation is representative of the thrust and flavor of Pfeffer's analytical and writing skills throughout the entire book as he offers unconventional management wisdom on a full-range of subjects. In addition to his thoughts about what's wrong with strategy, I also appreciated his contrarian opinions about building customer relationships, training expenditures, "taking chances and making mistakes," working long hours, interview objectives and hiring practices, "persistence," compensation incentives and rewards, and organized labor (i.e. unions). Ultimately, Pfeffer insists, decision-makers must follow a remarkably simple process that dates back at least to Aristotle:
1. What is the question or problem?
2. What are the possible answers or solutions?
3. What is the best one and how do we know that?
4. What must we now do?
Of course, mistakes are made when making decisions and/or when following through on them but at least it is possible to increase the percentage of correct decisions. I agree with Pfeffer on the importance of considering feedback effects because actions often have unintended consequences. I also share his disdain for "the naïve, overly simplistic, almost mechanical models of people and organizations that seem to dominant both discourse and practice." As for overcomplicating what are often reasonably straightforward choices and insights, Albert Einstein offers the best advice: "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."
Book Description
You Lose Some, You Lose Some authors Lou Harry and Eric Furman continue their preoccupation with failure with In the Can — a look at fifty major movie stars and their biggest critical and box office duds. Some stars’ lowest moments may be obvious, while others take a bit more digging. Sections include:
• Bury It (or, Go Directly to Video/DVD): Including Jerry Lewis’s legendary (and never released) The Day the Clown Cried and Jim Varney and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in Slam Dunk Ernest.
• Out of the Vaults: Forgotten movies that get dragged into the spotlight when a star hits it big, like Kevin Costner’s Sizzle Beach U.S.A. and Sylvester Stallone’s Party at Kitty and Stud’s.
• Oscar Jinx: You’d think an Oscar would lead one to better projects. Sometimes you’d be wrong. Think Jane Darwell after The Grapes of Wrath or Marisa Tomei after My Cousin Vinny.
Customer Reviews:
Disappointning, underresearched effort.......2006-06-03
This book sounded good: An alphabetical listing of nearly all recent movie stars with a discussion of each star's worst film. To qualify, a film had to be both a commercial and critical disaster. Only problem is the authors appear to have written the book over a long weekend. The entries are very short -- usually a page, sometimes less -- and contain almost no background on the films, apart from their box office take and, occasionally, quotes from reviewers. We all know Halle Berry's a fine actress and Catwoman was a bomb. Why not tell us how she came to make the film, what problems the film encountered in production that made it so bad, and so forth? The authors did essentially no research that might have enabled them to discuss these issues. Instead they provide a brief summary of the actor's career before and after the bomb under consideration and make a few smart remarks about the movie itself. They would have to be far wittier than they are to pull this off. In short, if you are movie fan, you probably already know everything you will read in this book. For a much better book on the same subject, check out James Robert Parish's Fiasco.
A great idea...and a fun, informative read.......2005-10-06
The authors seem to have had a very rough job while researching this book--it consists of nothing but big, big Hollywood bombs. I never thought it would be this fun reading about Battlefield Earth, Surviving Christmas, Mary Reilly and other tanks by Hollywood's biggest stars. Lots of interesting information. It's a page-turner.
Book Description
Ranking the top 100 most memorable mishaps in a countdown format, this book begins with #100 and proceeds all the way to the single most indelible TV blunder. Organizing the material in this manner invites readers to discuss and debate whether Cop Rock was really a bigger fiasco than The New Monkees, or whether the presentation of Elvis Presley only from the waist up on The Ed Sullivan Show was a sillier bit of censorship than the coverage of Barbara Eden's belly button on I Dream of Jeannie. The blunders in this compendium take many forms-good and bad, inexplicable network decisions, casting catastrophes, and TV "events" that weren't. Each entry is covered in a detailed individual essay that answers such questions as "Why did this happen?" and "What were they thinking?"
Customer Reviews:
Interesting but not well-written........2007-02-15
A fun book but there are many errors. I still found it an interesting read but can't recommend it without reservations. A second edition, with careful editing, would be much more entertaining (since some of the facts are glaringly incorrect*) and I'm surprised that previous reviewers said it was well-written. *(I started making penciled corrections in a library book!)
Mapping out American TV's cheesiest moments..........2005-12-05
Ever since "Mystery Science Theater 3000" first caught me eye all those years ago, I've had a fascination with popular entertainment gone horribly wrong-- especially movies and television shows. Needless to say, when I caught my first glance at this particular tome, my cheeseball-mania came to the forefront, and I decided to give it a look. I was hoping that it would, at the least, be a mildly entertaining read... so long as it wasn't trying to retread and/or rip-off the whole "Jump the Shark" deal that John Hein & Co. established a few years back on the JumpTheShark.com web site.
Fortunately, for the most part the author blazes his own little bad TV trail, usually going well beyond the "jump the shark" concept in this Top 100 list of the least magical moments in American TV. Not only does Mr. Hofstede cover the worst episodes of legendary TV shows (e.g. "Spock's Brain" from classic Star Trek (#71), "The Great Vegetable Rebellion" from Lost in Space (#24), "The Bad Old Days" from the Dick Van Dyke Show (#93)), he also recounts the moments entire cable channels went downhill (e.g. the moment Nick at Nite lost its innocence when it started airing "Taxi" reruns (#74), and American Movie Classics going commercial... and not being all that "classic" anymore (#99)), as well as some of TV's more scandalous moments (e.g. Janet Jackson's infamous Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction" (#78) and the late `50s quiz show fixes (#6)).
Actually, I'm not on the same page with the author when it comes to the part about Nick at Nite going downhill when it added "Taxi" reruns to its lineup. While the show may have "stood out amidst the network's wholesome line-up like a loud drunk at DisneyLand®", as the author stated in the entry, it was also by far the funniest sit-com the channel ever rebroadcast. All of the other sit-com reruns Nick at Nite aired before this new addition hailed from the pre-Archie Bunker era, and tended to feature fairly innocuous, safe humor-- humor I usually found completely unfunny at worst, and only lightly amusing at best. If I wanted THAT kinda humor, I'd check out the "funnies" section of the daily paper! Anyhoo, "Taxi" was what finally got me to tune into that silly channel... well, aside from "Dragnet" that is.
All right, it's off the soap box, and back to the main event. Also covered are the worst TV ad campaigns, such as CNN promoting the sexiness of Paula Zahn (#5), as well as those Burger King "Herb" commercials from the mid-80s (#42)... which I had almost forgotten about, until this book made me remember all over again (thanks a LOT, Mr. Hofstede). Then there are the lamest moments in televised sports, like the infamous 1968 "Heidi game" between the New York Jets and Oakland Raiders (#10)(adding insult to injury, they pre-empted the game with a mid-60s remake, rather than the Shirley Temple version). Or Roseanne's less-than-inspiring rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at a San Diego Padres game (#73). Howzabout the whole Janet Jackson Super Bowl halftime "scandal" (#78)? But the ultimate has to be the corporate sponsorship of every little action taken on the field of play-- from the practice swings an on-deck batter takes right on down to the number of Gatorades the linebackers down while the offense is on the field-- during a nationally televised sporting event (#16). I mean, really, guys, d'ya HAVE to have every, er, "adjustment" a baseball player makes in the batter's box "brought to you by Cruex®"???
Also covered are the medium's most glaring continuity changes, timeline-benders, and just-plain-silly leaps of logic. Like the "just a dream" season of "Dallas"(#2), or the complete disappearance of Chuck Cunningham after the first season of "Happy Days" (#37). Or the final episode of "St. Elsewhere"(#27). Then there were the just-plain-bad-ideas-for-TV-shows-that-somehow-made-it-to-the-air, like "Cop Rock" (#29), "My Mother the Car" (#12), "Supertrain"(#20), and "The Flying Nun"(#80). And we mustn't forget "Joanie Loves Chachi"(#65), referred to as "one spin-off too many" by the author... and I'd be hard-pressed to disagree with that sentiment.
But even though Mr. Hofstede transcends the whole "jump the shark" deal, he isn't afraid to mention a few significant JTS-like moments. Like the final season of "Laverne and Shirley"(#88), or the introduction of obnoxious kiddies into "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel" (#98). Or the addition of Scrappy-Doo into the Mystery Machine fold (#7), creating an entire generation of Scrappy-hating Hanna-Barbera aficionados. The latter entry kinda ticked me off, BTW. I mean, why does Scrappy get a top ten worst-moments-in-TV billing while "Star Trek NextGen's" Wesley Crusher isn't even amongst the twenty-five honorable mentions in the back of the book?! That's just plain wrong. At the least, "Wuss-ley" shoulda been in the top 25! Oh, the injustice of it all...
Also taken to task are the various scandals (like the quiz show scandals of the late `50s (#)), talk shows & variety shows (like the Chevy Chase show (#70)), low points in "reality" TV ("Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire?"(#9)), troublesome recasting (e.g. the two Darrens of "Bewitched"(#79)), game-show goofiness("The $1.98 Beauty Show"(#28)), ridiculous made-for-TV movies-of-the-week (like when all three major networks put out their own "Amy Fisher Story" flick(#19)), infamous instances of celebrities goin' wacky (Like Farrah Fawcett's scary appearnce on David Letterman's show in `97(#97)), and just-plain-stupid things TV networks do some times(the erasure of entire libraries of shows, sporting events, etc. recorded from the late `40s to the late `60s(#69)).
Finally, there's the A-numero-uno entry. While I'm not sure I agree with the ranking the author gave it, I have to agree that it is one of the biggest milestones in really, REALLY bad television (and that is no understatement). What is this awful, awful moment in the history of radiating cathode rays? Why, none other than... the "Star Wars Holiday Special", which has become a bootleg-video sensation for well over two decades now! Only thing is, I hafta disagree with the author about Bea Arthur's song number being the only watchable part of the show. In fact, I consider it the most UNwatchable part of the show! I'd rather have all my toenails yanked out by a rusty pair of pliers than listen to Bea Arthur's gawdawful caterwauling! Call me a sick weirdo, but the show's only watchable parts are the animated short featuring the first-ever appearance of Boba Fett, and the Jefferson Starship musical number.
Well, actually, the book itself concludes with a three-page "Appendix" of twenty-five (dis)honorable mentions, AKA the "runners-up" that didn't quite make the Top 100 cut. We're talkin' such boob-tube milestones as "The Morton Downey, Jr. Show", the forgettable SNL cast of the 1980-81 season (and boy were they forgettable!), "Baywatch Nights", and... "She's The Sheriff"!? Aw, come ON, now! "She's the Sheriff" deserves a Top 10 spot at least! It must be something in the air where the author lives, that's the only logical explanation...
But seriously: through it all, Hofstede maintains a good attitude, and his enjoyment of the television medium as a whole in spite of its occasional cheesiness really stands out in his writing. I got a pretty good laugh at several of the man's zingers and put-downs, which tended to be fairly hard-hitting but usually ended up a little short of being mean-spirited. Though the caption that accompanies the photo with the "Joanie Loves Chachi" entry comes pretty close to the mean-spirited end of the spectrum. One of the author's better zingers was in the "Star Wars Holiday Special" entry, where he states that Mark Hamill "wears more eye makeup here than Liz Taylor in `Cleopatra'." Personally, I thought Hamill's lame haircut in that show was far worthier of goofing on... but, that's me.
Anyhoo: if you're a big-time TV buff who loves to reminisce about and laugh at the medium's not-so-great moments, "What Were They Thinking?" is worth a read. And it's a fairly fast read, too! At least it was for me...
BTW does anybody know where I can get a reasonably priced VHS copy of "Bad Ronald"? After reading about it in the book (#90), it sounds like it contains all the cheesy goodness I love... but I'm not quite up to payin' the somewhat extortionate prices for a used copy that the Amazon Marketplace sellers are askin' for it. If you can help a guy out in this matter, please let me know. Thanks much...
`Late
This book deserves a high rating!.......2005-07-01
Hofstede has done a fine job of recollecting those TV moments many would rather forget (save for a few minor factual errors, but these really don't detract from the book's excellent content, IMO), and the foreword by Tom Bergeron's definitely a nice touch (is it just a coincidence that the network interference which killed his series, Fox After Breakfast, is one of the events that made the top 100? LOL). Plus, Hofstede's humorous comments on each event are sure to leave readers laughing...here's a sample of his wit and wisdom:
- On the viability of QVC's infamous "Poopin' Moose" candy dispesnser as a romantic gift: "I love you, honey, and to show how much I care, here's a moose that craps Milk Duds."
- On Dan Rather's infamous "Courage" signoff: "Was he sending a message to the Cowardly Lion? Did he just discover The Boogaloos?"
- On the two failed attempts to turn Neil Simon plays (Barefoot In the Park and The Odd Couple) into all-black sitcoms: "I look forward to seeing Bernie Mac in Brighton Beach Memoirs any day now."
So if you're a diehard TV fan, or even if you're not, pick it up today...def worth a read!
Fun read, but watch for errors.......2005-06-22
I enjoyed this well-written book - with some reservations. Some of the entries seem more like philosophical disagreements with certain TV trends (e.g., the corporate-sponsorship craze and the numerous attempts to create TV series from famous and not-so-famous movie franchises) than specific moments in time that one can point to and intone, "Now THAT's dumb!" More troublesome to me were the large number of errors that I spotted in the entries where I had some background knowledge of my own about the series. Case in point: the entry on the Lost in Space episode "The Great Vegetable Rebellion." The retelling of the ep's plot isn't the problem. The first two paragraphs of the entry, however, contain multiple errors about the background and fundamental details of the series. For the record: The Robinson family lifted off in 1997, not 1977; they were traveling to Alpha Centauri, not Alpha "Centurai"; and the comic title Space Family Robinson was not produced by Disney (though Carl Barks did suggest an idea like it long before the actual comic book made its debut). I can only wonder how many other major-league boners -- ones which I lack the expertise to discern -- are sprinkled betwixt the humorous anecdotes and bemused descriptions in which Hofstede specializes. It's still a fun read, but caveat emptor and all that.
Very entertaining trip down TV land lane.......2005-03-12
Reliving the embarrassment I felt for Farrah Fawcett as she stumbled through her appearance on David Letterman's show was just one of the many highlights this book delivered. It not only relives classic specific moments, but complete network disasters (like the whole 1983 new series line up on NBC where not one show was picked up for a second season) and episodic failures. It travels from the earliest broadcasts to the modern times in an entertaining fashion. I had trouble putting it down as I couldn't wait to read the next entry. It is as enjoyable to the casual viewer (do they exist anymore?) as it is to the "idiot box" junkie and while there are a few mistakes in the book (and a couple proofreaders errors), it is still a new favorite I highly recommend. It makes me want to find "Small Wonder", "Pink Lady and Jeff" and "Supertrain" and watch them again to relive the pity I felt for those involved the first time around. Does anyone know where I can find the show "Turn On"?
Amazon.com
What Were They Thinking?, by 30-year marketing industry veteran Robert McMath and journalist Thom Forbes, clearly spells out its cautionary contents in its subtitle: Marketing Lessons I've Learned from over 80,000 New-Product Innovations and Idiocies. The insightful suggestions for avoiding the extraordinarily damaging (or at least extremely embarrassing) commercial misstep, illustrated perfectly by tales of formidable foul-ups from days of yore, ensure that this trip down memory lane can be more than just a pleasure cruise. Nonetheless, it's simply fun to relive such agonies as Ben-Gay Aspirin, Rabbit Jerky, and of course, New Coke. --Howard Rothman
Book Description
Those ignorant of the mistakes of the past are bound to lose a lot of money. That's why Bob McMath founded the New Products Showcase and Learning Center--a "Smithsonian for Stinkers," Business Week dubbed it. There, executives from top corporations pay huge amounts of money to rummage through some 80,000 products gone awry. Their mission: to avoid the misguided, expensive, and occasionally ludicrous mistakes that trip up even top companies.
In
What Were They Thinking?, McMath shows you how to avoid such mistakes, with more that eighty marketing lessons he's learned from his long experience with clods and clunkers. As People magazine put it "McMath knows his goods--and his uglies, too"--and here he shows you how to:
Steer clear of the number one killer of new products (page 129)
Develop a marketing campaign based on a "Significant Point of Difference" (page 183)
Take advantage of eight "Hot Buttons for Success in the Millennium" (page 101)
Keep out of the "Buy-This-If-You're-a-Loser School of Marketing" (page 28)
Combat "Corporate Alzheimer's" (page 4)
and much more !
Customer Reviews:
A goldmine.......2004-06-02
This book is hysterical. I have absolutely nothing to do with
marketing, I got this book thinking it was about men (what were
they thinking?????) I got it, I read it from cover to cover,
and everything he said is absolutely true. Marketers REALLY need
to put themselves in the shoes of the consumer before putting
a product out there. Congrats Mr. McMath!
Model of good writing.......2001-05-08
This book could be used by an English teacher as a model of good writing; it is clear, direct and easy to read. McMath's experience scripting concise and informative advertisements and labels shows. The emphasis on food products dominates, which limits the scope of this book somewhat. Nevertheless, the principles which are illustrated by these examples are sufficiently general to be of interest to most readers working in other areas. The book not only deals with failed products, but also presents examples of the right way to do things. It is nicely balanced and informative.
Must Reading for Marketeers.......2001-01-08
This is an excellent book that tells all about the vagaries of new product development in the fast-moving consumer goods area. It is written with wit and humor, making it an easy read. It names names and is overflowing with case histories. If you're an entrepreneur, marketing person, PR/ad-agency creative or suit, you must read this book. It will save you time, money and embarrassment. It is absolutely true.
While we were sleeping..........2000-09-16
Ever wonder while wandering the aisles at your local supermarket, how in the world all those products make it to the shelf? There is no doubt about it, from your favorite kind of cereal to your regular brand of toothpaste; the packaged goods we choose to buy are the end result of a long, arduous and costly process. These products have been researched, re-formulated, re-designed, tested, re-tested, perhaps altered innumerable times before given the final approval to appear at your local shopping center. Not to mention the millions of dollars committed to ensure that we know about them through television, newspapers, magazines and other forms of media. It is a process that can take years, often beginning as an idea in someone¹s head, and ending with a tangible, three-dimensional package or container that ultimately holds the item we have chosen to give our allegiance, our loyalty. We form relationships with these products. We go far and wide, and to great lengths to find them, and are unhappy if we can't get them.
Marketers everywhere are missing dinner with their kids, pulling all-nighters, steeped in market research and ad agency pitches, just so we could enjoy the most tasty cereal or the most whitening brand of toothpaste with baking soda. And these are only the products we know about; the ones that actually make it out the door! Ever wonder about the ones that never make it, or the ones that you saw today but are gone tomorrow, never to be seen again? Just ask Mr. Whipple. He's seen them come and seen them go. Charmin may still be "squeezably soft", but where is the Crystal Pepsi? Seemed like a good idea at the time. How about "smokeless" tobacco? Rabbit Jerky, anyone? Executives had countless meetings over these products, committed large amounts of resources to them, and spent millions of dollars to perfect and bring them to market. Unfortunately, most of them failed in the marketplace.
How each of these came to market, as the brainchild of one or more marketers at nearly every consumer products manufacturer in the country, is quite a story. Steve Backer, the advertising executive best known for the "I'd Like to Teach the World To Sing" Coca-Cola jingle puts it in familial terms. Executives "parent" these ideas, like they would children, and they grow and are nurtured by "uncles" and "cousins" and even "grandfathers" and "godfathers". They develop benefactors, and are protected and defended. Sometimes defended too well. It is the process of how an idea ultimately becomes a reality, and the generic term we apply to this process is marketing.
This is a subject of great interest to Robert McMath, a Marketing guru, i.e. consultant, who spent many years with the Colgate-Palmolive company, and Thom Forbes, an advertising journalist who, among other things, spent time as the editor of Adweek. In fact, they wrote a book about it, and the book is appropriately titled "What Were They Thinking? Marketing Lessons I¹ve Learned from over 80,000 New-Product Innovations and Idiocies".
This is a great book. And very valuable if you are a marketer. It could very well steer your career in the right direction. Written with wit and insight, McMath and Forbes take us through the last several decades of new-product launches, and are quick to point out that most of them have been duds. In fact, statistically, the chance of any new product really succeeding with a bang is plainly slim. If you don¹t believe me, go and visit the New Products Showcase and Learning Center in Ithaca, New York that McMath runs. It is the repository of more than 80,000 of these household consumable items that he speaks about in the title that at one time or another were considered "new and innovative" or "new and improved". And although the emphasis of this book is clearly what went wrong, rather than what went right, the facts bear out the conclusion. But don't get McMath and Forbes wrong. They both have a keen understanding of the dynamics of consumer products marketing, and are writing from a position of admiration and love of the business. This is not a treatise on the death of marketing, but rather a somewhat wistful and sweeping assessment of the results of some of the most ambitious and colossal undertakings by consumer products companies over the years. Certainly, the successes are included here, and are given their just kudos. What is striking, however, is the lesson in marketing we take away in hindsight from examining why these products and launches never caught on, and why some of them should never have been allowed make it to market.
McMath and Forbes cleverly assesses the highlights, er, lowlights, of some disastrous and costly marketing, along with some spectacular and flawless successes, and the approach is to take an altruism or marketing aphorism, and demonstrate the appropriate success or catastrophe. "Fooling With Your Cash Cow" was meant for Crystal Pepsi. They admonish PepsiCo for wantonly fooling with its flagship brand. There are also chapters on "Me-Too Madness" and "Thou Shalt Not Deceive", which extol the pitfalls of joining the bandwagon way too late, and not being totally above board on your advertising. My personal favorite is "Buy-This-If-You-Are-A-Loser" School of Marketing. The lesson here was Gillette¹s FOR OILY HAIR ONLY shampoo. What seems very much a matter of common sense now did not seem so back then. Of course, some of us have oily hair, but who wants to announce it in their shopping cart?
Throughout all the poignant examples, however, is a real desire to analyze de-facto, what contributed to these failures, and how they might be avoided in the future. Every lesson is sincere, and makes an attempt to intelligently and honestly assess the results in useful terms. Albeit entertaining, a deeper understanding of the vagaries and whimsy of consumers and marketing make for a great read and some very funny scenarios. From killer clerks to obstinate CEO¹s, not all the blame lies with the marketers. Some products are just destined to bomb due to an overwhelming negative force quite beyond the control any one individual, except perhaps the one having the power to say Yes or No. McMath, having been an "eager beaver young marketer who is going places" himself, tells the story of his first product
assignment with Colgate-Palmolive. He was to redesign and re-launch Palmolive Aftershave Lotion. Back then, it was in a molded plastic bottle and was a rich dark green in color. It sold for a buck, and had enjoyed some popularity in the late forties and early 50¹s, and by the time McMath got a hold of it, was lagging in sales of under $1M. That was an unacceptable figure for Colgate, and management wanted it fixed. Truth be told, on the shelf, the rich dark green liquid looked more like dirty water compared to the brilliant blues and sapphires of some of the competition. After a new bright blue formulation and some updated packaging, the prototype made it all the way up to the top, a VP of the Division, who promptly canned it because he hated the color blue. Marketing Lesson 101.
Throughout the book, McMath and Forbes keep the criticism fairly topical, yet accurate. As accurate as one can be in retrospect. The scenario¹s are plenty, and cover everything from Futurist marketers pronouncing products for the millennial zeitgeist, to simple dumber than dumb mistakes that should have never made it past pencil and paper. The tone is always even, but hardly dispassionate. And the issues are certainly relevant to today's marketplace, including some philosophical commentary on brand extensions, category development, new products and advertising.
All in all, the book leaves you with a distinct flavor; one part caution, one part common sense, mixed with the knowledge that ultimately, no matter how much planning, preparation, foresight and wisdom, no one can predict with certainty the success with which any new product will be met. McMath and Forbes give us just enough to think about the next time we go shopping.
A fascinating lesson of humility.......2000-09-04
Robert McMath and Thom Forbes, though they mainly analyze consumer goods failures, offer marketers valuable insight into why many products ultimately fail. Too many marketers seem to develop products for themselves - and people like themselves - and not for their intended target segment. Unsurprisingly, McMath and Forbes reveal to their readers that more than 80% of new consumable products fail because those products bring nothing new to their intended targets. The failures are often me-too products that offer no significant real point of difference, i.e. effective, positive solutions to real problems. Not surprisingly, the multiplication of those products has contributed to the power shift from manufacturers to retailers. Those facts should invite marketers to think about the poor usability and content of too many web sites. Too many persons involved in defining the design and content of web sites ignore good usability and content practices. They design and write for their own pleasure (or worse, the boss's pleasure) instead of trying to satisfy their user's needs. Furthermore, McMath and Forbes observe that too many marketers suffer from two illnesses: "Corporate Alzheimer's" and "Short-Termism." Those marketers are often not enough informed about their brand's culture or heritage due to the lack of marketing veterans who have been downsized or have moved to another job/company in the meantime. Furthermore, those same marketers often have not enough incentives to become visionaries and care about loyalty. Short-term earnings are usually what matter most. McMath and Forbes also rightly emphasize the importance of consistency in building a strong brand. Many people are loyal to a particular brand of a product because they can make basic assumptions about it time after time. Brand inconsistencies such as price cutting gimmicks and conflicting product benefits will ultimately undermine the unique value proposition of underlying products, especially in maturing product categories. In addition, McMath and Forbes push marketers to operate as if their marketing budget was their own money. Their compensation should be aligned with the marketing goals. However, honest failures should be rewarded. Launching new products assume that marketers be willing to stick their neck out. To summarize, "What Were They thinking?" offers marketers a unique opportunity to learn from failures of fellow marketers. Marketers who are ignorant about the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat the same mistakes again and again while their organizations lose a lot of money in the process.
Customer Reviews:
Fun weekend read if you are a movie buff........2002-09-28
I enjoyed this book if, for nothing more than it is refreshing to read something that doesn't extoll the cinematic masterpiece all film books seem to call their subjects.
While some of the choices may seem harsh, I must agree with most of them, (I will even admit to hating myself for the fact I can watch Grease 2, even though it is an undeniably bad film!) and some just made me cackle with delight. (The chapter on 'A Star is Born' is chock full of painful truth!) And I was surprised to find some films in there (The 10 Commandments...but I like his arguments).
I recommend this book for an enjoyable read, but not as a serious film reference.
Very Funny and Insightful Work........2002-04-29
Michael Sauter is a very good writer. Their are so many books anymore on the best movies of all time that is person decided to write a book that was totally the opposite. One of my favorite parts is were he attacks all of the fallow ups horror movies like Friday the 13th and Halloween have spawd. I have never heard anyone do a better job of making fun of somthing.
Typical.......2001-10-14
I hated this book. It's a typical mainstream look at "bad movies". There isn't much good information for the well read movie fan. Now some of the movies in the book may be truly bad, but they aren't the kind of joyfully bad movies you'd want to go back and visit.
The author even makes factual errors while telling you about a relative easy target as Godzilla.
Avoid
Delightful and Fun Reading........2001-03-02
As a movie buff, I read just about everything I can get my hands on containing to movies. When I first saw this book, I thought to myself, "All right! A book devoted to bad movies!". I found this book to be quite entertaining. The introduction explaining what makes a movie bad should be a must read for anyone who thinks that only Ed Wood and Roger Corman can make a bad movie. The sections following each movie listed proved to be both entertaining and informative; giving a description of the film, how the movie was made, and what went wrong. I learned a few tidbits of information and Hollywood history that I had never heard before. Of course, Michael Sauter is biased in his views especially when it comes to the great Cecil B. DeMille and Bruce Willis, but those biases don't cause a distraction. Overall a delightful, fun, and entertaining book.
Good,could be better.......2000-04-02
Michael Sauter rounds up the usual suspects here-"Ishtar","Xanadu","Heaven's Gate",in fact,if you've read any of the Medved books,there's really no need to read this one,since it covers much of the same territory.You could quibble with some of his choices,for instance,he seems to have a thing against Bible movies.(Frankly,I find them just boring,not "Bad".)He even has the gall to pick on Jack Webb's movie "The D.I."!Come on now,that movie is a camp classic!The search for a murdered sand flea is priceless!I do give him credit,though,for including "Manos-The Left Hand of God" in his book.Believe me,this movie is appallingly bad!Next to this,"Plan 9" looks like "Gone with the Wind."
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What Were They Thinking?
Manufacturer: Sports Illustrated for Kids
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1930623240 |
Product Description
No, the athletes featured in this book aren't crazy. They just love the thrill of totally out-there sports. Amazing action photos show adventurous boarders, bikers, skaters, and surfers pulling the most insane tricks. You'll find out what it takes to play on the edge after you read WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?
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What Were They Thinking?
Manufacturer: Simple Tools for Brain Surgery, Ins.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: 0974410489 |
Product Description
In this interactive DVD you will see how secularists, new-agers and evolutionists answer basic worldview questions: What is the nature of God? Is Man inherently good? What happens when one dies? Who is Jesus? Their answers will leave Christian adults and students asking, What were they thinking?!?! This DVD contains 15 segments from two to five minutes in length. Show one at the beginning of a class to begin a discussion of worldview issues. The enclosed manual provides suggested questions and ideas to help you, as teacher, guide a class to clear biblical conclusions.
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What Were They Thinking?! 1 (What Were They Thinking?!)
Manufacturer: Boom Studios
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| Comics & Graphic Novels
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General
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ASIN: 1934506079 |
Books:
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