What product failed in the market but was successful when used for something else?
Last Updated: 03.07.2025 00:09
They called it Bubble Wrap, it protected things.
Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes sealed two shower curtains together in 1957 - The trapped air bubbles made bad wallpaper, nobody wanted it, there was no need.
They tried selling it as greenhouse insulation, it failed again - the market said no. Then IBM needed something to protect their new computers during shipping -- The machines were expensive, they were fragile, the old packaging did not work well enough.
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Sealed Air Corporation, the company Fielding and Chavannes started, offered their product, IBM said yes. The bubble-filled plastic protected the machines - It worked.
*The goal was to make wallpaper, they failed.
That was the truth of it, simple, direct, useful — By 1960, Bubble Wrap had found its purpose, not as wallpaper, not as insulation, but as protection for fragile items in transit.
Today, Sealed Air Corporation makes over $5 billion in annual revenue, failure became their fortune--Their mistake became their mission.