Sometimes a product doesn’t quite live up to its hype, like the iPhone 3G; other times, it’s a person who disappoints, like the UFC’s Anderson Silva. It’s the job of a public relations and marketing department to build buzz, but when the product or person doesn’t live up to its gilded reputation, its audience impact is infinitely worse.
In last night’s UFC middleweight championship, Anderson Silva seemed more content to please and engage the crowd than to fight his opponent Patrick Cote. Cote threw an odd punch, and in doing so sustained a knee injury that ended the fight and gave Anderson Silva the win--a completely anticlimactic waste of time.
The products and people below are every bit as disappointing as Anderson Silva was last night in some way. Some of these stories aren’t the least bit historically relevant--after all, who really cares that Lindsay Lohan converted to Judaism? However, some of these Herculean marketing efforts were worth their expense.
21 Overhyped Products, People and News

21
Extreme Disappointment
Extreme Makeover Home Goes Into Foreclosure

20
Hype Over Celebrity Religion
Lindsay Lohan Converting to Judaism?
19
Supermodels Disappoint
Robotic Linda Evangelista Prada Ads
18
Vampire Hype Disappoints
'Breaking Dawn' Ends 'Twilight' Saga
17
Secret Embrace
Has Victoria's Secret Reinvented the Bra or is it Just Hype?
16
RED Failure
Massive Hype for (RED) Products Yields Only $11 Million?
15
Boyfriend Jeans
Celebs Fail at Making it Work
14
China Fashion to Hype Beijing Olympics
China International Fashion Week
13
VIP Eco Snubs
Hayden Panettiere Fails to Recruit Young Voters
12
10 Most Disappointing Tourist Spots
Survey Puts Eiffel Tower At #1
11
Obama Documentaries
HYPE: The Obama Effect
10
Publicity Stunt to Boost Movie Hype?
Morgan Spurlock Says He Found Osama bin Laden
9
3G iPhone Failure to Launch
Retrospective of Jobs' Epic Fail
8
Shoes Inspired by Failure
The Reebok Struccess Sneaker
7
Uber Geek Fashion
T-Shirts That Hype Your Nerdiness
6
Magazine Images as Fake IDs
Face-Recognition Vending Machines Fail
5
Anti-Hype Asymmetrical Advertising
Nomis Football Boots
4
Apple Launch Disappoints
Germans Not Crazy About iPhone
3
Creative Failures
The Telephone Tree
2
Viral Marketing Not So Contagious
Jupiter Study Disappoints
1
Financial Despair
WaMu and Mega US Bank Failures Will Impact Innovation and Consumer Mindset
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Whimsical Uplifting Soda Campaigns
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