Epic, embarrassing product failures Pictures In the 1950s the Ford Motor Company planned to upgrade its Lincoln line, and introduced a new car to compete against Oldsmobile and Buick. The Edsel gave everybody a good laugh -- unless you owned one. "People would talk about getting a car with different pieces missing that they'd have to go back and then get them replaced," said Jonah Berger, marketing professor at the Wharton Business School in Philadelphia. After three years and only 84,000 cars sold, the Edsel was killed, costing Ford $350 million. Fewer than 20 percent of new products succeed in the marketplace, according to market research firm GfK. And of those that fail, some do so spectacularly. Credit: AP Photo