History SpringtimeForHitler / RealLifeExamples

* The UsefulNotes/{{Dada}} movement of the 1920s was a potshot at man's unquestioning admiration of anything labeled "art". Dadaists such as Marcel Duchamp used things like urinals, postcards of the Mona Lisa with a mustache painted on it, and objects intended to be destroyed, offensive and otherwise without any major artistic qualities. Most surviving Dada works are considered genuine art, if only as a commentary on the definition of art.

* At the dawn of UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks, Creator/DCComics was having a blast with its successes, which led to competitors trying to catch up with imitations. One particular writer was forced by his publisher to follow in ''Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica''[='=]s footsteps and create a team book to compete. However, the writer was fed up with being forced to write along with what was popular at the time and decided he had enough of the business. At the encouragement of his wife, he plotted to create a team book like his publisher wanted, but instead of what was conventional at the time, he'd fill the book with all kinds of AuthorAppeal such as money problems, squabbling teammates, and a monstrous "hero". Believing that nobody would want to read what ''he'd'' like to read, the writer expected for the book to be a major flop so he can bail out of the comics industry and pursue screenwriting for Hollywood. That writer was Creator/StanLee, and the book was ''ComicBook/TheFantasticFour'' -- and that's how we got the Franchise/MarvelUniverse.

* In 1955 somebody got the idea to adapt a popular episode of a TV anthology series to film. Creator/BurtLancaster and his business partner decided to fund it, figuring the low-budget picture wouldn't make any money (who would pay to see a film they could watch for free on TV?) and they could use the expenses as a tax write-off. Compounding this plan was their casting of [[Creator/ErnestBorgnine some fat, ugly guy best known for playing villains]] as the romantic lead. The film? ''Film/{{Marty}}'', which became a huge box office smash and ended up winning four Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor, along with the UsefulNotes/PalmeDOr at Cannes. ''Website/{{Cracked}}'''s [[http://www.cracked.com/article_20660_5-classic-movies-made-by-people-who-wanted-them-to-fail_p2.html 5 Classic Movies Made by People Who Wanted Them to Fail]] describes its production as having "literally started out as the plot of ''The Producers''."

* Several decades before Pastafarianism, [[Literature/PrincipiaDiscordia Discordianism]], an intentionally [[UsefulNotes/{{Dada}} absurdist]] faux-religious tract achieved such a large cult following that it persists to this day.

* Did you know that Microsoft's game console family was almost never called "Platform/{{Xbox}}"? That's because Microsoft's marketing team disliked the name (which is derived from the [=DirectX=] UsefulNotes/ApplicationProgrammingInterface), and left it among the suggested names at focus testing to show its unpopularity. Instead, the focus groups loved the name, leading to it being selected.

* ''LetsPlay/TheRunawayGuys'':

* ''LetsPlay/PartyCrashers'': It's not a big surprise that Brent is TheAce when it comes to anything ''Mario Party'' related, with him winning most of the games. [[DownplayedTrope And while he isn't actively trying to lose]], he makes it apparent that he wants the others to win in later games. Unfortunately for him, the RandomNumberGod will usually have other ideas, which usually end with Brent going from dead-last to first place. Brent is not happy at all when this happens.

* When The Church were recording "Under the Milky Way", vocalist/bassist Steve Kilbey waited until everyone else left the studio and, as a joke, added an [=EBow=] guitar solo that sounded a lot like a bagpipe played backwards. The producer and the band loved it and it was left in the final mix of the song, which became a SignatureSong for the group.

* This was what happened behind the scenes of the original ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|1978}}''. Creator/{{ABC}} only greenlit it because they were hoping it would flop -- they figured so many people were playing FollowTheLeader after the success of ''[[Film/ANewHope Star Wars]]'' that people were going to sour on sci-fi sometime soon. They had the numbers to back it up -- no sci-fi series since ''Series/{{Star Trek|The Original Series}}'' had lasted longer than one season. They figured they could air ''Galactica'' as a loss-leader for their cheap sitcoms, which the audience would demand after they got bored with the sci-fi. But ''Galactica'' proved to be a huge hit, leaving ABC with a show that was too popular to cancel -- but too expensive to continue producing. They resorted to [[ScrewedByTheNetwork screwing the show over]], hoping to drive down viewership without losing face with an up-front cancellation. And the stunt didn't help ABC's sitcoms at all; none of that season's new series were hits, and last season's big hit ''Series/MorkAndMindy'' bled ratings thanks to a bad ReTool.

* ''Series/{{SCTV}}'''s Bob and Doug [=McKenzie=] were created as a TakeThat to Creator/{{CBC}}; after the program moved to the network, CBC requested that they add two minutes of "distinctively Canadian content" as {{Padding}} since it was running shorter due to having fewer commercials. The show's staff felt that the request was ridiculous; in particular, performers Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas jokingly suggested that they should just put up a map of Canada and act as [[CanadaEh stereotypically Canadian as possible]]. Moranis and Thomas ended up doing exactly that, and wound up creating the most popular characters in the show's history, as Canadians [[MexicansLoveSpeedyGonzales loved the mocking stereotype of themselves]].

* When Alfonso Obregon Inclan did a casting test to be cast as Kakashi Hatake in the Latin America dub of the ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' anime, he REALLY didnt want to do anime, and knew just how long the series was and didnt want to work for years on a series with so many episodes. Thus he deliberately tried to bomb the audiotion, making his best to come across as bored, uninterested and dry. Unfortunately for him, the licensors felt his performance fit Kakashi's dry wit and humor so he got the part.