History Main / DisastrousDemonstration

** Buddy later holds a demonstration of the stolen formula before the boof a biotech corporation, only for Sherman to trick Buddy into taking a dose of it. In the ensuing chaos, Buddy is regressed to infancy, flees the room naked, urinates in the Dean's face, tears the top off a female onlooker, and [[DeathByDeaging melts into a puddle of slime]]. Ultimately subverted: once it becomes clear that the formula belongs to Sherman, the board is willing to pay any price he wants for it.

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A subtrope of GoneHorriblyWrong. Compare SabotageToDiscredit, where this is deliberately arranged to insure that the product is rejected, ConfidenceSabotage, where this is deliberately arranged as a psychological attack on the designer, and FlawedPrototype, where the product simply doesn't work as planned. 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 and EducationThroughPyrotechnics. Not to be confused with the term "demonstration" as a synonym for "protest".

* Invoked in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' with the Jet Alone demonstration. Gendo is worried the competing mecha will be a problem for NERV so he has the demonstration sabotaged (possibly by Ritsuko). Having a combat vehicle go out of control and nearly suffer a nuclear meltdown in a populated city was enough to get it scrapped. As an added bonus for NERV, Shinji and Eva 01 are instrumental in preventing the meltdown.

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': In the original ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderManLeeAndDitko'', Dr. Octavius has problems during his new invention's demonstration, which sets him on the path to becoming supervillain ComicBook/DoctorOctopus. The movie ''Film/SpiderMan2'' carried over this element of his origin story.
* ''ComicBook/MegaManArchieComics'': Played with in the comic. Blues' power failure during the test fight convinces the military to simply scale back the nature of the combat robots they want to order from Dr. Light instead of cancelling it outright.

* A famous New Yorker magazine cartoon by Peter Arno, which shows the disastrous aftermath of a test plane flight, is actually what popularized the phrase "Back to the (old) drawing board." with its caption.

* ''Fanfic/ThePalaververse'': ''Wedding March'': When talking about the demonstration of a new Asinial toaster:
--> “It … was an exciting variation on a combustion engine, I’ll grant it that much. Is there nothing less lethal we can give the poor couple?”\\
“No donkey actually died during the demonstration, Arch-Minister,” said Silhouette

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars 2}}'', the Lemons exploit this trope, actively conspiring to discredit green fuels by engineering terrible wrecks during a worldwide racing demonstration by vehicles using the Allinol biofuel.

** Lewis has several prototypes that fail impressively when he tries to demonstrate them. He manages to cope well until this happens with his final model at a science fair [[spoiler:really a case of SabotageToDiscredit by the Bowler Hat Guy]] [[RageBreakingPoint at which point he snaps and tries to give up on inventing entirely]].

* In ''Film/RiseOfThePlanetOfTheApes'', Bright Eyes escapes and rampages through the biotech company's facility, until she's shot right in front of its board of directors. The serum that made her intelligent is immediately shelved, even though her escape was a result of handlers' errors and her own MamaBear nature, not the serum.
* ''Franchise/RoboCop'' franchise:
** 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 a bad idea here.) The ED design is sent back to the drawing board in favor of Robocop.
** 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 on a withdrawal-fueled rampage in front of a large press corps when [=OCP=] holds an event to promote its new police-cyborg.
** Averted in ''Film/RoboCop2014''. At first it looks like it'll be played straight -- Murphy suffers a HeroicBSOD while downloading the police database, including CCTV footage of the car-bombing that maimed him. Ordered to get him on his feet immediately for Robocop's first press conference, Dr Norton tampers with Murphy's neurochemistry to completely repress his emotions. Murphy stomps past his family and ignores the Mayor's outstretched hand, scanning them and everyone else in the crowd for potential threats. Fortunately he sees one -- a man wanted for murder -- and leaps into the crowd and tasers him. The event is then spun as an example of Robocop's amazing abilities in comparison to regular law enforcement, who failed to notice a wanted man in their midst.
* In ''Film/{{Splice}}'', the transgenic organisms Fred and Ginger tear each other apart during a live TV promotion for their creators' gene-splicing technology, thanks to the scientists that ''should'' have been monitoring their development being preoccupied with their new pet project [[spoiler:and not noticing that Ginger has become a male]]. As a result, the program that created them is cancelled.
* ''Film/YoungFrankenstein'': Freddy introduces his monster in a song-and-dance routine, which goes fine until a stage light bursts into flame, which scares the monster into going on a rampage.
* Something always goes wrong when introducing [[Film/KingKong Kong]] to the general public.
* Creator/CharlieChaplin's like this trope:
** ''Film/ModernTimes'' has a gag in which a salesman pitches a mechanical feeding device (to save time on lunch breaks) by testing it on the Tramp.
** In ''Film/TheGreatDictator'' the inventions by Adenoid Hynkel's scientists fail on demonstration. Played for laughs, but not without a jod of MoodDissonance.
*** The man in the bulletproof uniform receives an InstantDeathBullet and dies on the spot.
*** The man with a [[HammerspaceParachute parachute in his hat]] falls from a window to his death. We [[GoryDiscretionShot only see the reactions by Hynkel and Herring]].
* In ''[[Film/HoneyIShrunkTheKids Honey We Shrunk Ourselves]]'', Wayne's less-than-impressive presentation is implied to have lost a major deal, with the investors leaving looking dissatisfied.
* In ''Film/YoungEinstein'', Preston Preston steals Einstein's beer-bubble-maker and, in his ignorance, nearly nukes London in his attempt to demonstrate it.

-->'''General''': This is a great day for the Air Force, Senator!
-->'''Senator''' ''(about ready to run for his life)'': Why is that, General?
-->'''General''': [[InterServiceRivalry Because the Navy ordered twenty of those disasters!]]
* Invoked in ''Film/IronMan2'', when the villain deliberately waits until the new military drones are being displayed at a massive product-premiere event before usurping control of them and siccing them on Iron Man. Tony also plays footage at the Senate hearing of this trope afflicting North Korea's, Iran's, and Hammer's attempts to build power armor.
* Hal's defeat of the drone planes in ''Film/GreenLantern2011'' came close to this, but Carol's fast-talking subverted her company's loss of its contract.

* In ''Film/{{Scanners}}'', the famous exploding-head scene takes place at what was ''supposed'' to be [=ConSec=]'s official debut of its scanner program before representatives of other intelligence agencies.
* In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', Magneto hijacks the Sentinel prototypes at their public debut to provide a high-profile platform for his attack and NewEraSpeech.
* In ''[[Film/{{Joy2015}} Joy]]'', the man hired to demonstrate the mop Joy invented live on a shopping channel obviously didn't bother to touch the thing before stepping in front of the cameras and trying to sell it. Needless to say, the demonstration went poorly.
* ''Those Fantastic Flying Fools'' (aka ''Film/JulesVernesRocketToTheMoon'') opens with a montage of these, such as the first house to be illuminated by electric lighting (which promptly burns down), a Prussian Helmet Cannon that nearly kills the Kaiser, and a suspension bridge that collapses during the RibbonCuttingCeremony.
* 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 park's 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 programmer and the park's game warden, and would have killed 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]], though to Hammond's credit, he doesn't mind, as he himself has come to the same conclusion.
* 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 Gottlieb and his friend Newton "Newt" Geizler try to 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]] becoming a leader in energy production, 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 only 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, Octavius's wife is killed in a hail of broken glass, [=OsCorp=] has to deal with the fact that they just wasted a 50 million dollar investment, and Octavius has his powered tentacle arms fused to his spine, transforming him into Doctor Octopus.

** Buddy later holds a demonstration of the stolen formula before the boof a biotech corporation, only for Sherman to trick Buddy into accidentall a dose of it. In the ensuing chaos, Buddy is regressed to infancy, flees the room naked, urinates in the Dean's face, tears the top off a female onlooker, and [[DeathByDeaging melts into a puddle of slime]]. Ultimately subverted: once it becomes clear that the formula belongs to Sherman, the board is willing to pay any price he wants for it.
* In ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'', Howard Stark shows off a FlyingCar prototype, declaring that in a few years, cars won't need wheels. The prototype sputters and falls to the floor; Stark recovers by reminding the audience that he ''did'' say "in a few years".
* In ''Film/{{M3gan}}'' there are three demonstrations, all of which hit snags:
** Gemma tries to justify her work on [=M3GAN=] to her boss with an impromptu demonstration of her capabilities, only for an improperly installed component to cause her body to glitch, then catch fire.
** Subverted when Cody breaks in grief down during the presentation to the board, as [=M3GAN=] is able to step in and comfort her, making it more effective at showing off her adaptability and ability to bond than it would have been otherwise.
** At the public unveiling for [=M3GAN=], an elevator opens to reveal two bloody corpses. This is before it's gone online, so it's only shown to hastily assembled seat-fillers, but obviously stymies the launch.
* “[[Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory And now I’m going to tell the computer]] ''exactly'' [[AssShove what it can do]] with a lifetime supply of chocolate…”

* Subverted in the ''Literature/NewJediOrder'' series. Lando Calrissian founds a company to build high-quality battle droids to act as {{Elite Mook}}s against the Yuuzhan Vong invaders. They end the demonstration and the prototype promptly opens fire on the crowd ... revealing the Yuuzhan Vong infiltrators spying on the event. The droid did ''exactly'' what it was supposed to. And it goes further back on the rails when Lando reveals that, ''of course'', with the head of state and a half-dozen influential generals in the next hovercar over, the droid isn't carrying heavy ordnance and has a power regulator on its blasters (meaning it can't shoot much more than a laser pointer). When this reduced arsenal understandably fails to stop the infiltrators, YVH 1-1A demonstrates a further feature, [[ItCanThink its flexible heuristic combat routines]]. Translation: it bear-hugs them to death.
* In the original ''Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'', during the golden ticket hunt, a machine is showcased that is supposed to be able to grab at anything with gold inside of it, allowing the owner to find the golden ticket without unwrapping the chocolate bars. Instead, it immediately went for someone's [[TheToothHurts gold filling]] and was promptly destroyed by the outraged crowd.
* In ''Literature/JurassicPark'', 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.]]

* One episode of ''Series/HoneyIShrunkTheKids'''s TV spinoff featured an alternative-energy car (powered primarily by burping) that Szelinksi felt might revolutionize the industry ... however a traveler from the future warned them that something had gone wrong during its planned production, resulting in a Bad Future, and they had to find a way to stop it. It was ultimately the foul-smelling exhaust that turned investors off.
* In a blackout sketch on ''Series/TheBennyHillShow'' he plays a TV pitchman selling a new cleaning product; he tosses some liquid (juice?) on the wall and a man in a labcoat uses the product to clean up -- except the product doesn't clean off the stain, it cleans the wall's decorative paint off while leaving the stain.
* ''Series/TheITCrowd'':
** Moss's prototype bra that he is trying to get investors for production has a bad habit of spontaneous combustion.
** In the "4th Season" special, Moss has developed his own personal Pepper Spray, and the IT Team decide to market it as a Pepper Spray for women. [[spoiler:Cue bad packaging/marketing causing it to be mistaken for perfume at their product unveiling.]]
%% Zero Context* Used on ''Dark Matters: Twisted But True'', to dramatize setbacks in TruthInTelevision research, e.g. dentist Horace Wells' pioneering use of nitrous oxide for anesthesia.
* When investigators on ''Series/CSICrimeSceneInvestigation'' visit an industrial shredding operation, the foreman explains that the piece of equipment they're shredding at the moment was a prototype that broke down during a promotional demo.
* On ''Series/HogansHeroes'', the prisoners invoked this trope when they arranged for a remote-control prototype tank to destroy an officer's car and then explode. In another episode, they sabotaged a prototype noiseless aircraft engine so that it made a hellacious racket.
* ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'': In the second half of the Architect Sketch, Eric's presentation model for a high-rise block of flats lists over, partially collapses, then actually explodes and catches fire...but thanks to his Freemason connections, the planning board approves it. (Note: This sketch was done soon after a newly-built state-of-the-art highrise in London actually ''did'' catastrophically fall apart -- hence the flashing caption "SATIRE" over this sketch.)

* ''Series/TheMuppetShow'':
** The Muppet Labs sketches run on this trope. Perhaps the most notable example is in the Gilda Radner episode, where Dr. Honeydew's new super glue is spilled all over the theater, causing problems throughout the remainder of the show.
** When Don Knotts guest-starred, he appeared in a skit as a scientist unveiling a newly discovered creature. He talks about how the cage the creature is in is escape-proof, only for it to slip through the bars immediately afterwards. As it runs amok in the lab, Knotts assures the audience that the creature is harmless, which is the creature's cue to attack him. [[MonsterIsAMommy And then the creature's mother shows up...]]
* Several such mishaps occur in ''Series/StargateSG1''. A prototype energy weapon was canned after firing it once shut down the entire primary power system for Stargate Command. Played with in another occasion: they're demonstrating a new kind of body armor that should be resistant to the staff weapon blasts used by the Goa'uld. They demonstrate this by shooting Syler with a staff weapon. The blast knocks him off his feet and sets him on fire, which seems very bad... but it's then pointed out (after he's hurriedly extinguished) that other than slightly winded and a bit singed, Syler is just fine, whereas a staff blast at that range would otherwise have been ''lethal''.
* Some of the ghosts from the second ''Series/SapphireAndSteel'' story were civilian workers on a 1938 submarine prototype, who died of asphyxiation after the vessel they were running through sea trials got stuck on the sea floor in mid-demonstration.
* Invoked in ''Series/Dracula2013'' 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. It's intended to destroy Dracula's public persona and power base as a wealthy, visionary industrialist, but the series was CutShort at that episode.
* In the 2019 ''Series/{{Sanditon}}'', Dr Fuchs' demonstration of his therapeutic shower bath is sabotaged by Clara, who deliberately burns herself [[WoundedGazelleGambit to get Lady Denham's sympathy]].
* ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'' has Charlie's demonstration of "Kitten Mittens," lauding them for their ability to keep your cat quiet. He demonstrates this by the "before" of a cat lightly trotting along a table while he reacts as if he's having knives shoved in his ear, and the "after" of his cat clumsily stumbling along and making audible thumping noises before it trips. Unfazed, he merely plays loud "crashing and banging" sound effects for the first clip, and cricket chirps for the second.

* On ''Series/DragonsDen'' and its various international versions, as the entrepreneurs are often expected to demonstrate their product or service on the program, there have naturally been many over the years.
** One that stands out involves a pitch on the original British ''Dragon's Den'' for a service that involved contacting drivers of London's famous black cabs for a directions via phone, at a rate of a pound per minute, or more if using a mobile phone. The pitch was that these drivers are famously knowledgeable of the area and therefore should be the experts at finding anywhere people need. Unfortunately, when the entrepreneur provided a phone to Peter Jones to call to try the service, all he got was a message stating that nobody was available at the time. After waiting a minute or two, the recording suggested that he leave his contact information so that he could receive a text back stating when somebody would actually be available. Naturally, he did ''not'' do this and this was followed by him and the other dragons declaring themselves to be out in short order.

* One optional mission in ''VideoGame/StarcraftIIWingsOfLiberty'' begins with a public demonstration of [[TheEmpire the Dominion]]'s new super-high-tech HumongousMecha, the Odin, which unbeknownst to the crowd has been hijacked by [[LaResistance Raynor's Raiders]]. Emperor Mengsk's prerecorded speeches about how his scientists and engineers have created "the ultimate response to the [[BugWar zerg threat]]" play periodically as a counterpoint to the Odin stomping over parked cars and blowing apart military bases.

* ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' has the MegaCorp [=HalluciGen=], Inc, a company whose goal was to develop non-lethal products to assist police and military in controlling riots and crowds. Their sheer incompetence in developing anything effective or safe can be [[BlackComedy hilariously shown]] in their observation room, where the player can press buttons showing various demonstrations on a group of Gunner mercenaries trapped in the chambers below. [[TestingRangeMishap None of them will make it out alive]], even from the pacification gas.
* The backstory to ''VideoGame/{{Disciples}}'' has the angel Bethrezen use the power granted to him by the Allfather to create the world of Nevendaar (the game world). After getting the other gods to populate the world with life (with Bethrezen himself creating humans), he departed to call the Allfather to see his creation. The other angels, jealous at all this, sabotaged Nevendaar, so when the Allfather came to see it, all he saw was war and destruction. Angry at Bethrezen, he cast him down and imprisoned him in the molten core of his own creation. Eventually, Bethrezen became this world's version of TheDevil.

* ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries''
** In the pilot, the "Lexo-Skel Suit 5000" is stolen by Kaznian mercenaries during its demonstration. Turns out, however, [[EvilPlan that this disaster was planned by Lex Luthor]] to get the military to buy even more powerful and expensive versions from him since there wasn't anything wrong with the machine itself. [[spoiler:Also, the "theft" was a sham; in fact, Luthor had illegally sold the suit to the Kaznians.]]
** In a later episode this is played somewhat more straight, with an anti-missile weapon called the Sky Sentry failing to activate during its unveiling. After Lex had ordered two actual missiles fired at the building it was unveiled at. Ultimately it's revealed that Brainiac had sabotaged the machine to lure Lex to him.
* In the episode "[[Recap/TheNewBatmanAdventuresE14Critters Critters]]" of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' (Well, technically ''The New Batman Adventures''), Farmer Brown's demonstration of giant farm animals goes awry when the giant sheep he's presenting breaks out of its cage. The idea behind the giant animals was to create a means to end world hunger, but because of the incident, Farmer Brown was ordered to stop his work, which of course led to him becoming the villain of the episode.
* Almost every Sumdac Systems prototype in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'', from the pilot episode onwards.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' episode "A Tale of Two Stans", Stanley accidentally broke Stanford's science fair experiment, a PerpetualMotionMachine, which led to his dream college rescinding its offer.

* In IT circles this is known as the Demo Gods. These angry deities ensure that new and exciting bugs with whatever software you were working on will, in accordance with Murphy's Law, manifest whenever you're showing it off to someone. Especially a boss or customer.

** And the mechanical failures - which eventually meant the train did not reach its intended destination - were mostly down to the fact that the West Coast Main Line crosses first Beattock, then Shap inclines - two fairly exposed locations , and the aforementioned winter was one of the worst since that of 1963. Mostly.

** And the mechanical failures - which eventually meant the train did not reach its' intended destination - were mostly down to the fact that the West Coast Main Line crosses first Beattock, then Shap inclines - two fairly exposed locations , and the aforementioned winter was one of the worst since that of 1963. Mostly.

* Windows 98 infamously crashed during its [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73wMnU7xbwE 1998 COMDEX Unveiling]], showing the consumers the first of ''many'' [[BlueScreenOfDeath Blue Screens Of Death]] to come. Rather than being cancelled, however, this didn't even so much as slow its release.
* A tool-assisted {{Speedrun}} of ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}}'', running on an actual UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem, desynced at the 2014 [[WebVideo/GamesDoneQuick Awesome Games Done Quick]].

* A [[https://twitter.com/MNateShyamalan/status/1615831675761565712 New York Times article]] had a journalist accompany owners of self-driving Teslas as they boasted about the vehicle's abilities, growing quieter and quieter as lethal accidents were barely avoided.

* The prototype of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M247_Sergeant_York 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]]''.[[note]]Thankfully, the only injuries resulted from said [=VIPs=] scrambling for cover.[[/note]] 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.

** Lewis has several prototypes that fail impressively when he tries to demonstrate them. He manages to cope well until this happens with his final model at a science fair [[spoiler:really a case of SabotageToDiscredit by the Bowler Hat Guy]] [[TheLastStraw at which point he snaps and tries to give up on inventing entirely]].

* In the original ''Amazing Franchise/SpiderMan'', Dr. Octavius has problems during his new invention's demonstration, which sets him on the path to becoming supervillain ComicBook/DoctorOctopus. The movie ''Film/SpiderMan2'' carried over this element of his origin story.
* Played with in the ''ComicBook/MegaManArchieComics'' comic. Blues' power failure during the test fight convinces the military to simply scale back the nature of the combat robots they want to order from Dr. Light instead of cancelling it outright.

* ''Those Fantastic Flying Fools'' (aka ''Film/JulesVernesRocketToTheMoon'')
opens with a montage of these, such as the first house to be illuminated by electric lighting (which promptly burns down), a Prussian Helmet Cannon that nearly kills the Kaiser, and a suspension bridge that collapses during the RibbonCuttingCeremony.

opens with a montage of these, such as electric lighting which burns down the house, a Prussian Helmet Cannon that nearly kills the Kaiser, and a bridge that collapses during the RibbonCuttingCeremony.

* ''Those Fantastic Flying Fools'' (aka ''Film/JulesVernesRocketToTheMoon''). [[MadScientist Professor Von Bulow]]'s wacky inventions include a Prussian Helmet Cannon that nearly kills the Kaiser and a bridge that collapses during the RibbonCuttingCeremony.

** The nausia might have had more to do with the free booze onboard.

* In the original ''Amazing Franchise/SpiderMan'', Dr. Octavius has problems during his new invention's demonstration, which sets him on the path to become supervillain ComicBook/DoctorOctopus. The movie ''Film/SpiderMan2'' carried over this element of his origin-story.

** Lewis has several prototypes fail impressively when he tries to demonstrate them. He manages to cope well until this happens with his final model at a science fair [[spoiler:really a case of SabotageToDiscredit by the Bowler Hat Guy]] [[TheLastStraw at which point he snaps and tries to give up on inventing entirely]].

* ''Those Fantastic Flying Fools'' (aka ''Film/JulesVernesRocketToTheMoon''). [[MadScientist Professor Von Bulow]]'s wacky inventions include a Prussian Helmet Cannon that nearly kills the Kaiser, and a bridge that collapses during the RibbonCuttingCeremony.
* 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 park's 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 programmer and the park's game warden, and would have killed 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]], though to Hammond's credit he doesn't mind, as he himself has come to the same conclusion.
* 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.]]

** Buddy later holds a demonstration of the stolen formula before the boof a biotech corporation, only for Sherman to trick Buddy into accidentall a dose of it. In the ensuing chaos, Buddy is regressed to infancy, flees the room naked, urinates in the Dean's face, tears the top off a female onlooker and [[DeathByDeaging melts into a puddle of slime]]. Ultimately subverted: once it becomes clear that the formula belongs to Sherman, the board are willing to pay any price he wants for it.
* In ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'', Howard Stark shows off a FlyingCar prototype, declaring that in a few years cars won't need wheels. The prototype sputters and falls to the floor; Stark recovers by reminding the audience that he ''did'' say "in a few years".

** Gemma tries justify her work on [=M3GAN=] to her boss with an impromptu demonstration of her capabilities, only for an improperly installed component to cause her body to glitch, then catch fire.

** In "The Tape Recorder", [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Walter Denton buys a reel-to-reel tape recorder for the school.]] Unfortunately, when playing back the machine to Head-of the-Board Mr. Stone, the machine garbles its messages. The machine suggesting everyone is insulting or threatening Principal Conklin or Mr. Stone. Also, that Mr. Conklin jumps into Miss Brooks' lap!
** In "Movies at School", Miss Brooks tries to use film as an educational aid. Unfortunately, a disgruntled worker at the film company has switched the films around within their canisters. Miss Brooks, leaving a film of the poem "Lady of the Lake" with her class, instead leaves a poem of "Sirens of the Screen, Past and Present". Mrs. Davis intends to show her Ladies Aid Club "Shearing Sheep at Big Billabong, Australia. The ladies club sees a film with showgirls in their dressing room. When Mr. Stone investigates, Miss Brooks, Mr. Boynton and Mr. Conklin intend to show the probity of the school by playing a film about the "Board of Education". Instead, they end up playing a film about gambling in Las Vegas.

* ''Tabletopgame/BattleTech'' has many, most of which are in the ''Experimental Technical Readout: Boondoggles'' -- a collection of {{Flawed Prototype}}s. The LIB-4T ''Liberator'' had a torso design that made it incapable of [[OverHeating dealing with its hot engine]], leading to the battlemech's torso violently exploding during a live-fire demonstration when the heat caused its ammo to cook-off; the design was then canned and the prototype was later used as target practice (ironically by a descendant of the tank that ''it'' was using as target practice). The Bright Star jumpship was built to explore systems autonomously with no crew. Come demonstration day, the ship goes along its assigned 10 planned jumps before going off the rails, jumping from system to system for decades or possibly even centuries.
* ''TabletopGame/DamnationDecade'': The Omega Ray would have, if it worked, provided limitless energy for pennies, freeing any state that used it from reliance on fossil fuel. A suicide bomber from the Consortium blew himself up during the demonstration the Omega Ray, causing the device to emit vast quantities of Omega particles, which ended up breaking the world and causing all the horrible things that mess it up further. Even without the bombing, the book implies that Ampersand Vole IV and his Vigorous Petroleum researchers didn't fully understand Omega and something bad (but maybe not as catastrophic) would have happened anyway.

* ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheUnwoundFuture'' begins with Layton and Luke witnessing a public demonstration of a time machine. It explodes, with the prime minster as the test subject in it. [[spoiler:All according to plan, it was staged to capture him.]] It is later revealed that this isn't the first time a time machine has exploded.

* In the episode "[[Recap/TheNewBatmanAdventuresE14Critters Critters]]" of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' (Well, technically ''The New Batman Adventures''), Farmer Brown's demonstration of giant farm animals goes awry when the giant sheep he's presenting breaks out of its cage. The idea behind the giant animals was to create a means to end world hunger, but because of the incident Farmer Brown was ordered to stop his work, which of course led to him becoming the villain of the episode.

* The classic cliche is the door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman, who starts by dumping dirt (or worse) on someone's carpet to demonstrate the amazing cleaning power of his vacuum, only for something to go terribly wrong. One joke goes like this, after the victim repeatedly telling the salesman he has no use for a vacuum: "If this vacuum can't clean up this pile of garbage, I'll eat it!" *click* *click* *click* "They cut the power a week ago... you want some salt and pepper?"

* 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. The train was one of the first to use an active tilting mechanism designed to counteract centrifugal forces on high speed turns. However on the maiden voyage, full of reporters, the tilting mechanism induced nausea, one of the carriages was stuck in tilt mode and the brakes came close to failing.

* When the Columbia Mark IX, a prototype automobile with the Entz Magnetic Transmission, was taken out on its test run, the transmission threw out a spark which hit the gas tank. The resulting fire destroyed the car.
* The prototype of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M247_Sergeant_York 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]]''.[[note]]Thankfully, the only injuries resulted from said [=VIPs=] scrambling for cover.[[/note]] 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.

* 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 encountering a slight wind 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. When it started looking like the person who bore the ultimate responsibility was ''the King'', the whole thing was quickly swept under the rug, attributed to an act of God, and never spoken of again.
* In the late 1930s, Lockheed was developing a new interceptor, the twin-boomed XP-38 Lightning. The Army was so impressed with the secret project, that they made it public and arranged for Lockheed to perform a transcontinental speed run to demonstrate the new aircraft's performance. Unfortunately, the pilot undershot the runway and crash-landed, totaling the plane. In a {{subversion}} of the trope, the Army was still delighted with the aircraft, and ordered a development run of thirteen more YP-38s with various changes and improvements. The P-38 Lightning would go on to be one of the most successful American fighters of the war.
* In 1950, Captain William Brown assumed command of the USS Missouri, his first capital ship command, which was at Norfolk, VA preparing for a cruise to Cuba. Due to several miscommunications with the other officers, Captain Brown, on his first voyage on a battleship, managed to run the ship aground in full view of a number of admirals at Hampton Roads, not to mention other high ranking military personnel.
* Similarly to the Lockheed XP-38 Lightning, Boeing had a crash with one of their prototypes, the Model 299, being developed to compete for a new Army requirement for a long-range heavy bomber. The prototype crashed on takeoff on 30 October, 1935, resulting in the deaths of two of the crew. A crash investigation revealed that a safety pin had not been removed from one of the control surfaces, resulting in the plane being uncontrollable. One long-term result of this is the modern aviation practice of using checklists to ensure no minor or major detail is overlooked. Like the Lockheed Lightning, the Boeing 299 was still able to enter service as the B-17 Flying Fortress, one of the most successful bombers of the war.
* An intended disaster gone off plan was the controlled impact demonstration in 1984. Meant to test anti-mist kerosene, fuel with additives to keep it from atomizing, a remote flown plane was deliberately crashed into some concrete structures to create holes in the fuel tanks and see what happened. On the day, one side of the plane hit the ground first, causing it to skew and hit the structures at an angle instead of straight on, slicing through an engine which managed to ignite a typical crash fireball. The demonstration was both a goof in the botched landing and for anti misting fuel, which still ignited in the crash, possibly being less dangerous at first but taking a long time to extinguish. However, the test still served its purpose and collected useful data.

* The presentation of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' during the E3 2010 was catastrophically botched. Promising a Zelda experience with full motion controls, the demo quickly turned into a mess. The Wiimotes did not seem to be calibrated correctly or were suffering from interference. The input was so bad that if someone were to casually walk into the conference without context, they would quickly assume the game was a broken disaster. The game escaped relatively unscratched from the ordeal but it is theorized this is one of the reasons, along with the legendary awful E3 2008 show, of why Nintendo eschewed live presentations during E3 in lieu of the prerecorded Nintendo Directs that continue to this very day.
* In a live demonstration meant to show how hard it was to break Tesla's "armor glass", Elon Musk had an assistant throw a metal ball at a car's windows. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMWwImDX3ks Both the windows broke.]]

* The infamous New Jersey amusement park Ride/ActionPark once tested the Bailey Ball, designed by a ride enthusiast park owner Gene Mulvihill met at an amusement convention. It was a plastic sphere big enough for an adult to fit in, partially covered with small wheels, with another ball inside equipped with a seat and a shoulder harness. The idea was guests getting in the ball, then being sent down a slope made of PVC that would direct them to the bottom of a mountain. The issue they didn't take into account was the PVC expanding under the summer heat, which caused the ball to go off the track during a test in front of an inspector. The ball and the park employee inside careened uncontrollably down the mountain, through the parking lot, crossed a road and ended up into a small lake in the Motor World area of the park. The park employee got out covered in blood. The park owner didn't even ask for the inspector's report, the PVC track was removed from the mountain side and the ball disposed of into the woods.

* An intended disaster gone off plan was the controlled impact demonstration in 1984. Meant to test anti-mist kerosene, fuel with additives to keep it from atomizing, a remote flown plane was deliberately crashed into some concrete structures to create holes in the fuel tanks and see what happened. On the day, one side of the plane hit the ground first, causing it to skew and hit the structures at an angle instead of straight on, slicing through an engine which managed to ignite a typical crash fireball. The demonstration was both a goof in the botched landing and for anti misting fuel, which still ignited in the crash, possibly being less dangerous at first but taking a long time to extinguish. However, the test still served it's purpose and collected useful data.

** Buddy later holds a demonstration of the stolen formula before the board of a biotech corporation, only for Sherman to trick Buddy into accidentally ingesting a dose of it. In the ensuing chaos, Buddy is regressed to infancy, flees the room naked, urinates in the Dean's face, tears the top off a female onlooker and [[DeathByDeaging melts into a puddle of slime]]. Ultimately subverted: once it becomes clear that the formula belongs to Sherman, the board are willing to pay any price he wants for it.

[[folder:Comics]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

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

** Lewis has several prototypes fail impressively when he tries to demonstrate them. He manages to cope well until this happens with his final model at a science fair [[spoiler: really a case of SabotageToDiscredit by the Bowler Hat Guy]] [[TheLastStraw at which point he snaps and tries to give up on inventing entirely]].

** Averted in ''Film/RoboCop2014''. At first it looks like it'll be played straight -- Murphy suffers a HeroicBSOD while downloading the police database, including CCTV footage of the car-bombing that maimed him. Ordered to get him on his feet immediately for Robocop's first press conference, Dr Norton tampers with Murphy's neurochemistry to completely repress his emotions. Murphy stomps past his family and ignores the Mayor's outstretched hand, scanning them and everyone else in the crowd for potential threats. Fortunately he sees one - a man wanted for murder - and leaps into the crowd and tasers him. The event is then spun as an example of Robocop's amazing abilities in comparison to regular law enforcement, who failed to notice a wanted man in their midst.
* In ''Film/{{Splice}}'', the transgenic organisms Fred and Ginger tear each other apart during a live TV promotion for their creators' gene-splicing technology, thanks to the scientists that ''should'' have been monitoring their development being preoccupied with their new pet project [[spoiler: and not noticing that Ginger has become a male]]. As a result, the program that created them is cancelled.

* 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 a blackout sketch on ''Series/TheBennyHillShow'' he plays a TV pitchman selling a new cleaning product; he tosses some liquid (juice?) on the wall and a man in a labcoat uses the product to clean up - except the product doesn't clean off the stain, it cleans the wall's decorative paint off while leaving the stain.

** In the "4th Season" special, Moss has developed his own personal Pepper Spray, and the IT Team decide to market it as a Pepper Spray for women. [[spoiler: Cue bad packaging/marketing causing it to be mistaken for perfume at their product unveiling.]]

* ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' - in the second half of the Architect Sketch, Eric's presentation model for a high-rise block of flats lists over, partially collapses, then actually explodes and catches fire...but thanks to his Freemason connections, the planning board approves it. (Note: this sketch was done soon after a newly-built state-of-the-art highrise in London actually ''did'' catastrophically fall apart - hence the flashing caption "SATIRE" over this sketch.)

* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': Madison High School's attempt to use new technology backfires terribly - in front of the head of the school board, Mr. Stone.

* ''Tabletopgame/BattleTech'' has many, most of which are in the ''Experimental Technical Readout: Boondoggles'' - a collection of {{Flawed Prototype}}s. The LIB-4T ''Liberator'' had a torso design that made it incapable of [[OverHeating dealing with its hot engine]], leading to the battlemech's torso violently exploding during a live-fire demonstration when the heat caused its ammo to cook-off; the design was then canned and the prototype was later used as target practice (ironically by a descendant of the tank that ''it'' was using as target practice). The Bright Star jumpship was built to explore systems autonomously with no crew. Come demonstration day, the ship goes along its assigned 10 planned jumps before going off the rails, jumping from system to system for decades or possibly even centuries.

* 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 [[TooDumbToLive 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/DarwinAwards Darwin Award]].

* The infamous New Jersey amusement park "Ride/ActionPark" once tested the Bailey Ball, designed by a ride enthusiast park owner Gene Mulvihill met at an amusement convention. It was a plastic sphere big enough for an adult to fit in, partially covered with small wheels, with another ball inside equipped with a seat and a shoulder harness. The idea was guests getting in the ball, then being sent down a slope made of PVC that would direct them to the bottom of a mountain. The issue they didn't take into account was the PVC expanding under the summer heat, which caused the ball to go off the track during a test in front of an inspector. The ball and the park employee inside careened uncontrollably down the mountain, through the parking lot, crossed a road and ended up into a small lake in the Motor World area of the park. The park employee got out covered in blood. The park owner didn't even ask for the inspector's report, the PVC track was removed from the mountain side and the ball disposed of into the woods.

* 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 park's 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 programmer and the park's game warden, and would have killed 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 ''WesternAnimation/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.
** This also happened to Lewis with his earlier prototypes, as seen in the page image. He manages to cope well until this happens with his final model at a science fair [[spoiler: really a case of SabotageToDiscredit by the Bowler Hat Guy]] [[TheLastStraw at which point he snaps and tries to give up on inventing entirely]].

* Subverted in the ''Literature/NewJediOrder'' series. Lando Calrissian founds a company to build high-quality battle droids to act as {{Elite Mook}}s against the Yuuzhan Vong invaders. They end the demonstration and the prototype promptly opens fire on the crowd ... revealing the Yuuzhan Vong infiltrators spying on the event. The droid did ''exactly'' what it was supposed to.
** Zigzagged when Lando reveals that, ''of course'', with the head of state and a half-dozen influential generals in the next hovercar over, the droid isn't carrying heavy ordnance and has a power regulator on its blasters (meaning it can't shoot much more than a laser pointer). When this reduced arsenal understandably fails to stop the infiltrators, YVH 1-1A demonstrates a further feature, [[ItCanThink its flexible heuristic combat routines]]. Translation: it bear-hugs them to death.

* In ''Series/TheITCrowd'', Moss's prototype bra that he is trying to get investors for production has a bad habit of spontaneous combustion.
** An even better example occurs in the "4th Season" special. Moss has developed his own personal Pepper Spray, and the IT Team decide to market it as a Pepper Spray for women. [[spoiler: Cue bad packaging/marketing causing it to be mistaken for perfume at their product unveiling.]]
* Used on ''Dark Matters: Twisted But True'', to dramatize setbacks in TruthInTelevision research, e.g. dentist Horace Wells' pioneering use of nitrous oxide for anesthesia.

** Nor was it the most cringeworthy demonstration in the entire series, as the team demonstrating a risotto recipe kit (Series 13) found out.
* The Muppet Labs sketches from ''Series/TheMuppetShow'' run on this trope. Perhaps the most notable example is in the Gilda Radner episode, where Dr. Honeydew's new super glue is spilled all over the theater, causing problems throughout the remainder of the show.

* The classic cliche is the door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman, who starts by dumping dirt (or worse) on someone's carpet to demonstrate the amazing cleaning power of his vacuum, only for something to go terribly wrong.
** One joke goes like this, after the victim repeatedly telling the salesman he has no use for a vacuum: "If this vacuum can't clean up this pile of garbage, I'll eat it!" *click* *click* *click* "They cut the power a week ago... you want some salt and pepper?"