[Lee Stewart]

Back in 1996, now-decommissioned Concorde turbojets were something special indeed — there were only 20, and they could sustain cruising speeds up to a whopping 1,350 mph. Pepsi decided it needed a piece of this prestige, paying a confidential amount to have a Concorde painted blue and emblazoned with its logo. The jet completed only 16 flights to 10 cities with the special paint — it turns out the blue paint couldn't reflect or radiate heat as well as white, which meant the plane couldn't sustain its signature top speeds for more than 20 minutes.