Welcome to "The Tragic Tales of Cursed Companies and Buried Brands," a spine-tingling account of slaughtered startups and corporate catastrophes. Hear the haunting stories below of brands that were doomed to die and encounter the ghosts of businesses past to uncover the eerie insights these ill-fated enterprises left behind.

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Blockbuster, once the leader of the video rental industry, began to flounder as the digital age gave rise to more convenient options like Redbox and, eventually, streaming services like Netflix and Hulu.&nbsp;

But the movie giant wasn't just phased out organically, says <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rise-and-fall-of-blockbuster#in-2010-the-rental-company-filed-for-bankruptcy-after-netflixs-popularity-continued-to-grow-13">Business Insider</a>. The company had the option to buy Netflix in its infancy for only $50 million and declined, only for Netflix to far surpass Blockbuster and acquire a net worth of nearly $170 billion as of October 2023.&nbsp;

In 2005, the company lost 75% of its market value and filed for bankruptcy in 2010. Dish Network bought Blockbuster in 2011 with the hope of keeping its 600 stores open but closed them all in 2013 with the exception of one store in Bend, Oregon.

Borders bookstore, once as popular as Barnes &amp; Noble, sealed its fate by failing to adjust its business model to the growing rise of digital books and e-readers. Instead of redistributing their revenue to capitalize on the new market for electronic reading materials, they aggressively expanded their physical presence.&nbsp;

They renovated their stores and outsourced online sales to Amazon, thinking that the popularity of digital content was a passing fad. When it wasn't, Borders was forced to liquidate in 2011, according to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2011/07/19/138514209/why-borders-failed-while-barnes-and-noble-survived">NPR</a>.

Circuit City is perhaps one of the best examples of bygone brands, leaving hundreds of huge, empty stores across America after a series of terrible business decisions left them bankrupt in 2008.&nbsp;

The company took on excessive debt at the same time they sold off profitable divisions and stopped selling appliances, which paved the way for direct competitor Best Buy to move in. When Circuit City closed its doors, it owed almost $300 million to consumer electronics manufacturers Hewlett-Packard, Samsung, and Sony, according to <a href="https://content.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1858079,00.html">Time Magazine</a>.

Brands That Were Murdered by Cancel Culture&nbsp;

Beloved soft drink manufacturer Coca-Cola attempted to introduce a new formulation of their classic soda flavor called "New Coke." It was sweeter and intended to better compete with rival Pepsi, but customers hated the updated flavor and began to organize boycotts of the product, demanding the return of the original "Classic Coke."&nbsp;

Both New and Classic Coke products were available on the market for some time until Coca-Cola eventually phased it out. Today, New Coke remains a <a href="https://www.history.com/news/why-coca-cola-new-coke-flopped">historical footnote</a> in the soft drink industry, remembered for demonstrating the deep emotional connection consumers can have with their favorite brands.&nbsp;

In April 2023, popular beer brand Bud Light sent transgender social media influencer and activist Dylan Mulvaney a commemorative can featuring her image.&nbsp;

The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/bud-light-boycott.html">New York Times</a> says that calls for a boycott immediately surfaced from conservatives and right-wing extremists in response. Arguably, the most notable figure who participated was Kid Rock, who posted a video of himself shooting at a stack of Bud Light cases and encouraged others to follow suit.&nbsp;

In June, Mexican beer Modelo Especial became America’s top-selling beer instead of Bud Light. Parent company Anheuser-Busch reported that their audience’s response to Mulvaney’s video caused their second-quarter revenue to drop over 10%, while Dylan said she herself endured multiple attacks since the post. Bud Light chose not to reach out to Mulvaney after the fiasco, which disappointed Mulvaney and her supporters.&nbsp;

For more on this topic, check out our Brand2Brand episode,<a href="https://www.stirlingbrandworks.com/insights/2023/07/19/bud-light-vs-target-the-challenges-of-woke-marketing-moves/"> ‘Bud Light vs. Target: The Challenges of “Woke” Marketing Moves’</a>.

Starbucks faced significant challenges during the 2008 financial collapse, says <a href="https://www.businesstoday.in/magazine/lbs-case-study/story/how-starbucks-survived-the-financial-meltdown-of-2008-136126-2014-09-22">Business Today</a>, when consumers were tightening the strings on their wallets and looking for cheaper alternatives to pricey takeout.&nbsp;

At the time, this was exacerbated by a narrative baby boomers created about millennials, claiming that their "Starbucks and avocado toast" were ruining the economy. Together, this made going out for coffee largely unpopular, and Starbucks suffered due to the downturn.&nbsp;

But the company escaped near death after a smart social strategy that focused on quality and community engagement helped rebuild Starbucks' relationships with its customers. Now, the coffee conglomerate is worth more than $106 billion, according to <a href="https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/SBUX/starbucks/net-worth">Macrotrends</a>.&nbsp;

In the early 1990s, comic book publisher Marvel nearly went bankrupt as a result of the company's own mismanagement. As the comics initially gained popularity among collectors, Marvel responded by printing millions of copies of popular titles, which ultimately flooded the market and drove down the value of the comics.&nbsp;

Along with the falling demand for Marvel collectibles, the company experienced problems with print distribution and costly legal battles over character licensing. This drained their financial resources and caused them to file bankruptcy in 1996.&nbsp;

Marvel stayed afloat by selling non-core assets, like the film rights to popular characters like Spider-Man. Then, they cut costs, focused on core characters, and licensed them for merchandise, which helped generate additional revenue streams. This provided the much-needed funding for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.&nbsp;

The MCU landed blockbuster hit after blockbuster hit, and the rest is history. Today, the company is worth nearly $30 billion, according to <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/317408/highest-grossing-film-franchises-series/">Statista</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Despite Disney's massive success today, the company didn't always dominate the children's entertainment market. In fact, most of Walt Disney's early ventures started off precariously, says <a href="https://www.biography.com/movies-tv/walt-disney-failures">Biography</a>. Its first feature-length hit, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, cost so much to produce that even though it was wildly popular at the time, the company was still at risk of bankruptcy.&nbsp;

Disney took another hit when World War II slowed entertainment production and again in the 1980s after being targeted by a hostile takeover attempt. But Disney persevered and acquired other major entertainment companies like Pixar and Lucasfilm, catapulting the brand to the top.

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