5 Stupid Inventions That Made People Millionaires
Innovations are the pinnacle of advancement in human civilization, and we are progressing quite rapidly, mostly because there are many new inventions and innovations that are being made every day. From scientific and technological inventions to useless and unknown ones, people are always trying to make new things.
Usually, one would say that the types of inventions that benefit the human race a lot and contribute to its advancement are the kinds that will bring a lot of money to their inventors. On the other hand, the useless and stupid inventions will usually never bring any profit to anyone.
However, did you know that there are some stupid inventions that actually made millions for their inventors? Check these out, along with the amount they’ve made so far.
1. Slap Bracelets — $6,000,000 to $8,000,000
Slap bracelets are colorful-looking bracelets that have one “big” feature: you need to slap them to your wrist in order to wear them. That’s it, and the bracelets were a craze among kids in the ’90s. They were sold for $2.5 each in major toy stores across the US and became a temporary fashion statement in that period. The bracelet was invented in 1983 by Stuart Anders, a high school shop teacher from Wisconsin. When he marketed the slap bracelets to school kids back in the ’90s (a few years after he came up with the “big” idea), the product became an instant trend among kids and teenagers alike. Who would have guessed that a simple and seemingly useless idea of covering a steel ribbon with fabric and turning it into a bracelet would bring the inventor millions of dollars in return?
2. The Million Dollar Homepage — $1,000,000 in Less than a Year
Anyone can create a website, push some content in it and make a few measly bucks for their effort. But not all people can turn their website homepage into one million dollars of income in just a few months. This is what Alex Tew has done. Struggling to pay his college tuition, he had the idea of creating the million dollar homepage, where he trades each pixel of his homepage for $1. In turn, the people who pay for their spots will get the chance to advertise their business, website, brand or whatever else on the home page. At first, this idea seemed ridiculous. But after a year had passed, it was proven that a simple idea, creating the million dollar homepage, could really turn Alex Tew into a millionaire. However, a few years after the craze surrounding the million dollar homepage, it is now slowly dying.
3. Doggles — $3,000,000/Year
Most people would have thought that goggles are only meant for humans. Nobody would think that a dog should wear them. Yet, this is exactly the idea that made a company called Doggles millions of dollars. Why? The company simply invented a kind of goggle that can be used by dogs and they sell these dog goggles, dubbed Doggles, for $16-$80 each. The company claims that Doggles can protect your pet’s eyes from UV rays, wind and dust. This is what makes the consumers think that this product can really protect their pets. It can also be said that these Doggles are meant to make your dogs look cool. Even the US military is equipping their dogs with them. So far, the company is turning around $3,000,000 per year for their invention, and that’s really a great job for them.
4. Billy-Bob Teeth — Over $50,000,000
Billy-Bob Teeth is a name for fake teeth that make the wearer look ugly. Nowadays, it is usually used for Halloween costumes. A good story about this fake teeth product is that someone invented it, and it made him millions of dollars in profit. How did that happen? The year was 1994, and Jonah White found his million-dollar idea for the first time. He met a dental university student named Rich Bailey, who, at the time, wore fake teeth that looked real. After a little bit of discussion, the dental student agreed to show Jonah how the teeth were made. There, Jonah found an inspiration to turn this newly-found knowledge into a million-dollar business. Of course, Rich Bailey became Jonah’s business partner. Though this is kind of a silly product, since they’re sold for $20 each, Billy-Bob Teeth have made millions of dollars in sales.
5. HeadOn — More than $40,000,000
HeadOn is more proof that a stupid invention can easily turn into millions of dollars in just a short amount of time. What is this product exactly? Nowadays, in an increasingly stressful world, people always need a quick and simple way to stop their headaches. HeadOn supposedly can do that in a very simple way. You just need to apply it on your forehead, and your headache will be gone in a flash. Now, if this type of product were fully backed by science, you wouldn’t need to complain about its simplicity. But the problem is that this product consists mostly of wax, and there is no scientific research that proves the efficiency of this product. It just became popular because its advertisement went viral over the Internet. Thus, people became curious about it and wanted to try it for themselves. As a result, the inventor made more than $40,000,000 in sales.
