Assorted Unexpected Innovations

What do soap operas, Chuck-E-Cheese, and the Michelin Guide have in common? They've all got unexpected origin stories, originally developed as products to help sell other products, that became innovations in their own right...

I remember learning the story of the Michelin guide from some company leaders years ago: the basic gist is, when the Michelin brothers started making tires, folks didn't have many reasons to go out and drive cars. Ergo, they never replaced their tires. And so, in an effort to get folks out the door, burning rubber, they started rating restaurants and sharing the creme of the crop with the world. Voila! Folks now have a reason to get out and wear down those tires.

Another such example is illustrated by the history of soap operas - which are so named because of the soap companies (foremost among them, P&G) who sponsored their development in an effort to reach a target audience at home during the day.

Probably my favorite example is Chuck-E-Cheese. Do you know who founded Chuck-E-Cheese? Nolan Bushnell, the founder of... Atari!

Just let that sink in for a second.

What I love about all these examples is they're seemingly unrelated, entirely new products in their own right, essentially designed to increase the sales of another product.

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