Remember Crystal Pepsi? The lovable Pets.com sock puppet? Nintendo’s Power Glove? Or how about the Nook e-reader? Now is your chance to get the feel for products and services that didn’t quite connect with consumers. Starting on Friday, the Museum of Failure will be open as a traveling pop-up exhibition in Georgetown Park and will run through December 10.
More than 150 memorable mishaps and gargantuan gaffes will be celebrated at the Museum of Failure, including failures from some of the biggest corporate brands, like Sony, Google, Heinz, and McDonald’s. There are the fails you remember, as well as those you have either never heard of or have blocked out altogether, like the frozen beef lasagna from Colgate (yes, like the toothpaste), or UroClub, which was both a golf club and urinal.
The exhibition was founded and curated by Dr. Samuel West, a licensed psychologist and innovation researcher with a Ph.D. in organizational psychology. The goal of the museum is to inspire visitors to innovate, take purposeful risks, and not be afraid of failure. Even epic failure.
The Museum of Failure has been growing and traveling the world since 2017, inspiring people to dream big, even if at first, they don’t succeed. A self-described “failure confessional” allows visitors to share their own personal stories of failures on neon-colored sticky notes. A free mobile app lets visitors scan QR codes across the exhibition to engage with bonus content on the product fails.
Tickets start at $20.50 for people 14 and older, $16.50 for children between 7 and 13, students, those 65 and older, and active military with a valid ID. Children up to age 6 are free with a paying adult. VIP adult tickets start at $30.50 and include a museum-branded tote bag.
The Museum of Failure has timed entries from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays. 3270 M St. NW, Washington, DC
Feature image courtesy SEE Attractions/Museum of Failure
For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine’s Things to Do newsletter.
