Products not Originally Used as Directed.

Products don't always work out the way the inventor originally intended. Sometimes they find that either things don't function as needed or have unexpected side effects. A little out of the box thinking has allowed certain products to still be around today, just not as it was first envisioned.

Viagra's Original Use

Pfizer created Viagra (Sildenafil) to treat high blood pressure and certain chest pains. During trial studies, they found some volunteers had erections some days after their dose.

With the unlikelihood of the drug being able to be used for it's original use, the company began looking into another way to bring it to market. In 1998 Viagra received FDA approval to be the first oral drug used to treat Erectile Disfunction.

Rogaine With Minoxidil

In the beginning, Upjohn pharmaceuticals, created this drug in pill form to treat high blood pressure. However during the trails they found that it was promoting (undesired) hair growth in patients. Minoxidil was then changed into a lotion form and sold as the hair growth product we know today.

Interestingly, the mechanisms that make this product slow hair loss and promote growth isn't fully understood. But when the word got out that Upjohn was starting trials on this they were inundated with volunteers.

Bubble Wrap

What most of us know today to be a packing material or a fun stress reliever was originally made for very a different. Bubble wrap was created by sealing two shower curtains together, which trapped pockets of air, creating an interesting texture.

In the 1950's it was first marketed as wallpaper but didn't have much success. Next the company tried to sell it as greenhouse insulation, which did somewhat successfully work, didn't grab hold. It wasn't until the 1960's that it was applied as we know it today to safely package items.

Play-Doh

Amid the childhood memories of squishing and molding Play-Doh, this products original use doesn't sound nearly as fun. In the 1930's many homes were heated by coal, which caused soot to build up on wallpaper. They couldn't simply wash their walls since the paper at the time would get destroyed when it got wet. This soft clay was originally used to effectively clean this wallpaper while keeping it dry.

By the late 1940's there was a huge dip in sales due to the move towards oil based heating that burned much cleaner and new vinyl wallpaper (which could be cleaned with standard soap and water.) A sister-in-law of the owners, a school teacher, was looking for her students to make Christmas decorations and tried giving them some of this wallpaper cleaner for the activity. After seeing how much fun the children had with the soft and easy to mold clay, she recommended to the company to change the marketing of their no longer useful cleaner as the toy we know it as today.

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Image Sources:
Science and Invention Comic
Viagra
Minoxidil
Bubble Wrap
Play-Doh