- Ever wonder what your favorite brand does on the side?
They say that if you’re good at something, you should stick to it. Then again, they also said that you shouldn’t let opportunities pass you by.
Many famous companies and people known for their primary industry or profession run various side ventures and businesses. Known as diversification, this strategy allows them to avoid putting all of their eggs in one basket while also making an extra buck.
Sometimes, though, those side ventures turn out to be… Unexpected. Here are seven examples of weird side hustles by famous companies and celebrities.
7. Paul Newman’s Food Business
Do you like ranch dressing? Then you’re probably at least passingly familiar with actor Paul Newman’s food brand, Newman’s Own.
Paul Newman was a celebrated movie star, reaping a slew of rewards for his performances in between the ‘60s and the ‘80s (including an Oscar for Best Actor). In 1982, he founded Newman’s Own with author A. E. Hotchner.
They didn’t just slap their name on someone else’s food business, either. The whole operation started with them making salad dressing that they handed out to friends.
The stuff turned out to be so good that people told them to sell it. Newman may have died in 2008, but Newman’s Own is still in business — and donates all of its profits to various programs to help children.
6. Sony Sells Life Insurance
PlayStations, TVs, Walkmans, oh my! Sony is best known for its electronics, but the company also sells life insurance — and has been for decades.
Sony Life was founded all the way back in 1979 in Tokyo. It has since expanded to other countries as well, including China and the Philippines.
In fact, in addition to life insurance, Sony runs a bank and nursing operations.
5. McDonald’s Goes into Fashion
Did you know McDonald’s has been active in the fashion industry for decades? The Golden Arches first graced clothing in the 1970s when McD’s partnered with Sears to produce a line of children’s clothing.
Since then, the fast food chain has worked with an absolutely bizarre collection from fashion houses. One of the highest-profile ones is the Italian luxury brand Moschino.
Yet, perhaps the strangest McDonald’s fashion stunt came in 2015, when the company introduced a limited line of clothing in Sweden, featuring pictures of the Big Mac on a plain white background. The butt-ugly clothes sold out almost immediately.
4. Target’s Forensic Science Lab
When thinking of forensic science, your thoughts probably go to C.S.I or Law & Order. But perhaps you should be thinking of Target.
The retail chain runs two fully equipped forensics labs in Las Vegas and Minneapolis. As you might expect, the company mostly uses the labs to tackle retail crime.
Yet, the forensics teams also regularly collaborate with law enforcement offices, from local cops all the way to the FBI. They’ve analyzed evidence and data to crack cases involving organized crime and even homicide with their state-of-the-art equipment.
3. PepsiCo’s Revolutionary Ambitions
What do Che Guevara and Pepsi have in common? If you guessed “overthrowing Latin American governments,” you’d be correct.
In the 1960s, Pepsi worked actively with the U.S. government and the CIA to undermine Salvador Allende’s socialist government in Chile. Pepsi ran multiple bottling plants in the country and it didn’t want those pesky reds potentially threatening their business.
So, in 1970, PepsiCo asked President Richard Nixon (an ex-Pepsi lawyer) if he could do a little something about Chile. By the end of the year, a CIA-backed coup overthrew Allende and established the Chilean junta.
Sure, the junta government of Augusto Pinochet might have been brutally oppressive. But at least the economic environment was really good for Pepsi.
2. Justin Timberlake Bought Myspace
Remember Myspace? In the early 2000s, it was one of, if not the first global social media website, becoming particularly known for hosting music and helping other websites, like YouTube, take off.
Those other websites, however, ended up overthrowing Myspace and the service was virtually obsolete by the end of the decade. Then, in 2011, singer and actor Justin Timberlake (together with Specific Media Group) purchased the platform.
Well, that deal didn’t end up being worth it, considering we can’t remember the last time we even thought about Myspace until now. But imagine a world where Justin Timberlake would be one of the big social media techies next to Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk.
1. Hooters Air
Yes, we’re talking about the restaurant chain. In 2003, Hooters — best known for its skimpily clad waitresses — launched its own airline.
The airline operated flights from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, connecting to many major airports across the U.S. Marketed particularly toward golfers, the big highlight of the flights was the flight attendants dressed in the traditional Hooters uniform.
To everyone’s shock and surprise, Hooters Air didn’t prove popular or profitable. It shut down only three years later in 2006, leaving the company some $40 million in the negative.