History Main / DisastrousDemonstration

* The original launch of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Passenger_Train Advanced Passenger Train]] in the winter of 1981 was a publicity disaster from which the project never recovered.

** In ''Film/RoboCop2'', the Robocop Mk. 2 prototypes end up committing suicide within seconds of being unveiled. The first one also shot several technicians, which is why they didn't give the second one a gun. Also, Robocop Mk. 2 goes berserk in front of a large press corps when [=OCP=] holds an event to promote its new police-cyborg.

* In ''Film/JurassicPark'', John Hammond, who boasts that he "spared no expense" invites renowned paleontologists Allan Grant and Ellie Settler to endorse the park on behalf of the paleontological field. Mathematician Ian Malcolm is brought in to oversee/calculate the potential shortcomings and risks of the park. Lawyer Donald Genaro is sent by the company to reassure investors that the enterprise is not a waste of money or time. Hammond's grandchildren, Timmy and Lex are on the island to test the interest of the parks target demographic. As the story progresses, [[CuttingCorners a monetary dispute]] results in lead programmer Dennis Nedry shutting off the park's security, which leads to Malcolm, Grant, Lex, Timmy, and Genaro getting attacked by an escaped ''T.rex'', which seriously wounds Malcolm, and eats Genaro. A ''Dilophosaurus'' then has a chance encounter with Nedry [[DeathByIrony and eats him.]] The ''Velociraptors'' also escape their enclosure and kill another programer and the park's game warden, and nearly kill the survivors if it wasn't for the ''T.rex's'' timely intervention. Grant then tells Hammond he refuses to endorse the park as [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere they flee in a jeep.]]
* In ''Film/PacificRimUprising'' Liwen Shao, head of [[MegaCorp Shao Industries,]] had been lobbying for their drone program to compliment, and eventually replace, the [[HumongousMecha Jaegers]] as a means of protecting earth from [[HiveMind the Precursors]] and their {{Kaiju}}. After a rogue Jaeger attacks a summit in Australia, Shao Industries is given the go ahead to start mass producing and implementing their drones. On their first patrol, they go haywire and start attacking the Jaegers and [[spoiler: start opening The Rift again to allow more Kaiju to cross over.]] When Hermann Gotileb and his friend Newton "Newt" Geizler try find out what's going on, [[spoiler: [[TheReveal it's revealed]] that [[FaceHeelTurn Newt,]] who had kept a piece of Kaiju brain in his apartment, [[BrainwashedAndCrazy had been taken over by the Precursors]] and used his mind to create a Jaeger/Kaiju hybrid that would destroy the Jaegers and bring more Kaiju to Earth.]]
* In ''Film/SpiderMan2'', Harry Osborne brings in Doctor Otto Octavius and gives him a budget of $50 million to fund his fusion reactor experiment, in the hopes that this will lead to [[MegaCorp OsCorp.]] to be a leader in the production of energy, as well as net a profit of several billion dollars later on. During the reactor's trial run, the energy output proves to be greater than what Octavius calculated and the research lab is destroyed. The main reason things don't get any worse because Spider-Man shows up and severs the cables that were powering the reactor. In the end, several of the attendees are injured by the mishap, including Octavius' wife who was fatally wounded, [=OsCorp=] has to deal with the fact that they just lost a 50 million dollar investment, and Octavius, after his powered tentacle arms fused to his spine, becomes Doctor Octopus.

* In February 1982, a RealLife version of the ED 209 incident in ''Film/RoboCop1987'' occurred during a demonstration of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M247_Sergeant_York#DIVAD DIVAD]] automatic anti-aircraft gun. As soon as the computer was activated it aimed its guns [[EpicFail at the VIPs attending]]. Thankfully, the only injuries were the ones the brass got while scrambling for cover. The system was canned after a few dozen units were produced due to design flaws and massive cost overruns.
* The prototype of the M247 Sergeant York self-propelled anti-aircraft gun suffered a case of EpicFail akin to the plot of ''Deal Of The Century''. When demonstrated in front of a group of high ranking officers and Congressmen, the system malfunctioned and ''[[OhCrap started aiming its guns at the VIPs]]''. After this was fixed, the prototype that was supposed to win a $6.97 billion dollar contract spent the next few hours hitting the ground in front of it rather than the remote-controlled helicopter it was supposed to hit. In yet ''another'' test, the targeting radar seemed much more interested in the ventilation fan on a nearby building than the target drones (which were deliberately made much more radar-reflective than a real aircraft). A manager from Ford, the manufacturer, blamed it on the fact that it had been washed the evening before, messing up the electronics. [[DeadpanSnarker A critical report wondered if it ever rains in Europe, the intended area of deployment.]] It's widely suspected that Ford must have bribed somebody at the Pentagon to get their XM247 selected for production, since even before these disasters it had been consistently outperformed by General Dynamics' competing XM246 prototype.

[[quoteright:350:[[Disney/MeetTheRobinsons https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_124137_5919.jpg]]]]

* In ''Disney/MeetTheRobinsons'', Bowler Hat Guy tries to pass Lewis' invention as his own to a corporate board. As he doesn't know the first thing about how to operate it, the meeting is a complete debacle.

* Happens in the backstory of ''Disney/BigHero6'' - [[spoiler: the BigBad's daughter]] was lost during a demonstration of a prototype PortalNetwork.

* The prototype of the M247 Sergeant York self-propelled anti-aircraft gun suffered a case of EpicFail akin to the plot of ''Deal Of The Century''. When demonstrated in front of a group of high ranking officers and Congressmen, the system malfunctioned and ''[[OhCrap started aiming its guns at the VIPs]]''. After this was fixed, the prototype that was supposed to win a $6.97 billion dollar contract spent the next few hours hitting the ground in front of it rather than the remote-controlled helicopter it was supposed to hit. In yet ''another'' test, the targeting radar seemed much more interested in the ventilation fan on a nearby building than the target drones (which were deliberately made much more radar-reflective than a real aircraft). A manager from Ford, the manufacturer, blamed it on the fact that it had been washed the evening before, messing up the electronics. [[DeadpanSnarker A critical report wondered if it ever rains in Europe, the intended area of deployment.]]

* The ''Vasa'', a huge warship built at great expense at the orders of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. When tested during construction it turned out to be too top-heavy and unstable, but the king was impatient for the ship to be launched and no one had the courage to tell him it was too dangerous. On 10 August 1628 the ship embarked on its maiden voyage from Stockholm in full view of hundreds--if not thousands--of local residents as well as several foreign ambassadors. A few minutes after it encountered any wind stronger than a breeze it heeled so far to the side that water got in through the lower gun ports, ruining its ability to right itself and quickly causing the ship to sink. The King was furious and there was a huge BlameGame during the inquest into the cause of the sinking, but ultimately no one was punished for the fiasco.

* In ''Film/Spiderman2'', Harry Osborne brings in Doctor Otto Octavius and gives him a budget of $50 million to fund his fusion reactor experiment, in the hopes that this will lead to [[MegaCorp OsCorp.]] to be a leader in the production of energy, as well as net a profit of several billion dollars later on. During the reactor's trial run, the energy output proves to be greater than what Octavius calculated and the research lab is destroyed, things don't get any worse because Spiderman shows up severes the cables that were powering the reactor. In the end, several of the attendees are injured by the mishap, including Octavius' wife who was fatally wounded, [=OsCorp=] has to deal with the fact that they just lost a 50 million dollar investment, and Octavius, after his powered tentacle arms fused to his spine, becomes Doctor Octopus.

* In ''[[Literature/JurassicPark Jurassic Park]]'', John Hammond, who boasted that he "spared no expense" invites a number of experts to see the park before it opens. As the story progresses, the escaped dinosaurs kill and eat a number of the park's staff and even some of the experts brought in to endorse it. Hammond himself gets eaten by a flock of Compys. As the survivors flee the island, [[KillItWithFire it's firebombed]] by the [[ArtisticLicenseMilitary Costa Rican air force.]]

[[folder: Tabletop games]]

* In February 1982, a RealLife version of the ED 209 incident in ''Film/RoboCop1987'' occured during a demonstration of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M247_Sergeant_York#DIVAD DIVAD]] automatic anti-aircraft gun. As soon as the computer was activated it aimed its guns [[EpicFail at the VIPs attending]]. Thankfully, the only injuries were the ones the brass got while scrambling for cover. The system was canned after a few dozen units were produced due to design flaws and massive cost overruns.

* In ''Film/PacificRimUprising'' Liwen Shao, head of [[MegaCorp Shao Industries,]] had been lobbying for their drone program to compliment, and eventually replace, the [[HumongousMecha Jaegers]] as a means of protecting earth from [[HiveMind the Precursors]] and their {{Kaiju}}. After a rouge Jaeger attacks a summit in Australia, Shao Industries is given the go ahead to start mass producing and implementing their drones. On their first patrol, they go haywire and start attacking the Jaegers and [[spoiler: start opening The Rift again to allow more Kaiju to cross over.]] When Hermann Gotileb and his friend Newton "Newt" Geizler try find out what's going on, [[spoiler: [[TheReveal it's revealed]] that [[FaceHeelTurn Newt,]] who had kept a piece of Kaiju brain in his apartment, [[BrainwashedAndCrazy had been taken over by the Precursors]] and used his mind to create a Jaeger/Kaiju hybrid that would destroy the Jaegers and bring more Kaiju to Earth.]]

A subtrope of GoneHorriblyWrong. Compare SabotageToDiscredit and FlawedPrototype. If a competitor flagrantly stages one of these with an otherwise-safe product to make their own gadget look better in contrast, see TooIncompetentToOperateABlanket. See also TestingRangeMishap.

* A tool-assisted {{Speedrun}} of ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}}'', running on an actual UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem, desynced at the 2014 WebVideo/AwesomeGamesDoneQuick.

** In ''Film/RoboCop1987'', the demonstration of a glitching ED-209 results in one of the company's lesser executives becoming LudicrousGibs. (Maybe using [[TooDumbToLive live ammo in a demonstration]] was [[{{Understatement}} a bad idea here]].) The ED design is sent back to the drawing board in favor of Robocop.

A subtrope of GoneHorriblyWrong. The product, itself, is a mercantile equivalent of TheScapegoat. Compare SabotageToDiscredit and FlawedPrototype. If a competitor flagrantly stages one of these with an otherwise-safe product to make their own gadget look better in contrast, see TooIncompetentToOperateABlanket. See also TestingRangeMishap.

* In ''Film/JurassicPark'', John Hammond, who boasts that he "spared no expense" invites renowned paleontologists Allan Grant and Ellie Settler to endorse the park on behalf of the paleontological field. Mathematician Ian Malcolm is brought in to oversee/calculate the potential shortcomings and risks of the park. Donald Genaro is sent by the company to reassure investors that the enterprise is not a waste of money or time. Hammond's grandchildren, Timmy and Lex are on the island to test the interest of the parks target demographic. As the story progresses, [[CuttingCorners a monetary dispute]] results in lead programmer Dennis Nedry shutting off the park's security, which leads to Malcolm, Grant, Lex, Timmy, and Genaro getting attacked by an escaped ''T.rex'', which seriously wounds Malcolm, and eats Genaro. A ''Dilophosaurus'' then has a chance encounter with Nedry [[DeathByIrony and eats him.]] The ''Velociraptors'' also escape their enclosure and kill another programer and the park's game warden, and nearly kill the survivors if it wasn't for the ''T.rex's'' timely intervention. Grant then tells Hammond he refuses to endorse the park as [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere they flee in a jeep.]]

* The prototype of the M247 Sergeant York self-propelled anti-aircraft gun suffered a case of EpicFail thanks to this. When demonstrated in front of a group of high ranking officers and Congressmen the system malfunctioned and ''[[OhCrap started aiming its guns at the VIPs]]''. After this was fixed, the prototype that was supposed to win a $6.97 billion dollar contract spent the next few hours hitting the ground in front of it rather than the remote controlled helicopter it was supposed to hit. In yet another test, the targeting radar seemed much more interested in the ventilation fan on a nearby building than the target drones (which were deliberately made much more radar-reflective than a real aircraft). A manager from Ford, the manufacturer, blamed it on the fact that it had been washed the evening before, messing up the electronics. [[DeadpanSnarker A critical report wondered if it ever rains in Europe, the intended area of deployment.]]

* In February 1982, a RealLife version of the ED 209 incident in ''Film/RoboCop1987'' occured during a demonstration of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M247_Sergeant_York#DIVAD DIVAD]] automatic anti-aircraft gun. As soon as the computer was activated it aimed its guns [[EpicFail at the VIPs attending]]. Thankfully, the only injuries were the ones the brass got while scrambling for cover.

* A man fell to his death from his law firm's high-rise office building while attempting to show off the sturdiness of the glass windows [[WhatAnIdiot by ramming into them.]] In a way, he was right, for it wasn't the glass that broke - the window ''popped out of its frame.'' This story won a Website/DarwinAward.

* Invoked in ''Series/{{Dracula}}'' when Dracula's large-scale public demonstration of his wireless electricity device causes a deadly explosion, due to being sabotaged by [[spoiler:[[FaceHeelTurn Jonathan Harker]]]] on the AncientConspiracy's orders.