Ugly Babies

Every parent thinks their baby is the most beautiful creature to ever grace the planet. This is as it should be! This biological imperative is powerful, and it’s a reason for our survival as a species.

No, I’m not here to talk about how some babies are actually really ugly. Even suggesting that such babies might exist out there—babies so ugly you don’t even want to look at them, hideous little creatures whose appearance seems to threaten to turn you to stone—would be beneath this publication.

Instead, let’s turn to Ernest Breech and the Edsel for a moment.

Ernest Breech, the executive chairman of Ford during the late 1950s, once likened launching a new product to giving birth to a new baby.

With pride and anticipation, Breech was responsible for introducing a new product to the world: the Edsel. Named after Henry Ford’s son (no pressure), the company wanted a new flagship product, and Breech was eager to give them what they wanted.

There were a lot of warnings, though, from within the …