It is estimated that in 2021 an average person might be exposed to as many as 10,000 ads per day. It seems like a lot, but when you think about it, ads bombard us on social media, TV, billboards, and even inside our fortune cookies. We get so used to them that we don't even notice.
One would like to think that marketing and advertising should bridge the gap between the seller and the buyer; make people trust the product and encourage them to use it. But their words often sound too good to be true. And they often are. If you see a big sign yelling “Everything's 30% off”, it might be designed to make you miss the small line at the bottom where it says that the offer applies to a handful of selected items only. Congratulations, you've just encountered false marketing.
This time, we will check out a few 'sometimes ridiculous, other times alarming and infuriating' marketing techniques that evil businesses use to take advantage of us and manipulate customers into buying more stuff. Continue scrolling and see these examples for yourself!
After you're done reading, don't forget to check out this previous Bored Panda post with 30 pictures that companies do not want you to see.
#1 I Live In Minneapolis, Some Jerk Is Leaving This In Tip Jars Around Town Ahead Of Trump’s Rally Today
Image credits: catherine_zetascarn
#2 Went In For The $1.99 Lunch Special. Sorry Sir, That Says $7.99 Lunch Special
Image credits: JeffTrav
#3 I Love Ads On My £250 Console That I Continue To Pay £6 A Month To Play On
Image credits: TS_Optics
#4 Trashy Company
Image credits: mkbhd
#5 And During A Pandemic
Image credits: Colon Brew
#6 Man, That's Really Cheap... Oh
Image credits: LuMo096
#7 By Opening The Envelope For The License Agreement, You Agree To It
Image credits: PandaKing185
#8 Walmart Employee Here. We Were Given These Shirts Today. Walmart Profits Billions Off Of This Pandemic, Then Compares Their Sacrifice To WW2 Veterans
Image credits: TehAwkwardOne
#9 So Basically Every Price
Image credits: BrendanTFirefly
#10 I Have An Ad In My Fortune Cookie
Image credits: Full_Metal_Machinist
#11 Packaging For These Markers
Image credits: Chev_350
#12 This Advertisement Designed To Look Like An Amazon Package
Image credits: Nic0lodeon
#13 Walgreens Replaced Their Freezer Window Panels With Screens That Constantly Flash/Move And Don't Even Accurately Represent What's Inside The Fridge
Image credits: catmomextraordinaire
#14 I Just Found 20 Tunisian Dinars (7.5 Dollars) On The Ground, Then After Opening It, It Was Just An Advertisement For Some Stupid Discount
Image credits: khalil-ammari
#15 Dish Network Sent Out Advertisements In Envelopes That Make It Look Like A Special Occasion Card
Also, trying to manipulate people by making the cards look handmade by a child.
Image credits: Pie-Makers-Mistress
#16 I Just Got Ad In The Mail Disguised As A Hand-Written Letter. Address Is Covered So I Don't Doxx Myself
Image credits: pillager_of_poopers
#17 Food Delivery Service That Tells You “Someone Is At The Door! Okay We Lied”
Image credits: kmartshoppr
#18 They Took Away The In-Store Signage To Force You To Download Their App
Image credits: JustDewItPLZ
#19 Bought A Chicken Pot Pie Thinking It Was The Size Of The Outer Tin Before Cutting Into It And Seeing This Monstrosity
Image credits: ItRhymesWithFreak
#20 This "Gold" Chalk That My Daughter Received As A Gift. White Chalk Spray-Painted Gold
Image credits: Benci007
#21 This “Dual” Camera Smartphone Doesn’t Have Two Functioning Cameras
Image credits: Funnyonol
#22 The Mixed Signals Of This Shoe Sale Advertisement
Image credits: MNgirlinaNDworld
#23 Got A Letter In An Envelope Which Said My Lease Was Terminated. Just Another Ad
Image credits: enderr920
#24 What A Gimicky Way To Sell Less For The Same Price
Image credits: masterjkh
#25 Retail Sign At H&M Today. The Small Line Is Hard To Read In Person
Image credits: DarkRoastt
#26 Nearly Didn't Notice The Cheapest Car Wash Program
Image credits: tarek122
#27 That Would Explain Why My Ankle Hurts
Image credits: ASAPxSyndicate
#28 This Vending Machine Is 100% Sold Out. It Only Tells You That Items Are Sold Out After You've Put Money In/Used Your Card
Image credits: Digiboy62
#29 This "Avocado" Oil
Image credits: BoringGrass0
#30 Chipotle Goes All-Out Advertising That For The Next Week Delivery Is Free, And Then Casually Makes The Delivery Menu Priced Higher Than The Regular One
Image credits: Arucious
#31 This Company Re-Packages Sour Patches For A Jacked Up Price
Image credits: TenticaledGoose
#32 I Got A Ticket. No, Just An Ad For A Tattoo Place
Image credits: Hummocky
#33 New Cereal Box Is 11% Taller With 1.6% Less Cereal
Image credits: ______---------
#34 Unremovable Ads On My $2,500 Samsung Smart TV
Image credits: BrownLandlord
#35 Sign The Contract Without Reading It Please
Image credits: cy6nu5
#36 This Post Card Is Made To Look Like It’s From The Dealership. It’s Printed To Look Like The Information Is Smudged So That You Will Call Them
It’s a third-party warrantee company.
Image credits: Darknight1993
#37 My School Has Vending Machines With Candy That Costs 1.50. They Conveniently Leave Off The 1 So It Looks Like It Costs 0.50
Image credits: Lopad_NotThePokemon
#38 Amazon Making You Pay $18.99 Per Season, Henry Danger Only Had 5 Seasons But Amazon Stretched It And Made It 12 Seasons Each $18.99
Image credits: Skully_boi265
#39 Zoom In On The 5th Star
Image credits: reddit.com
#40 How To Dissapoint Every Student On Campus
Image credits: sharkyboi
#41 The Sneaky “& Up” On The Sign Of My Local “Dollar” Store
Image credits: Bulbasaar
#42 This Will Make Me Order Food From You
Image credits: TAN_Man44cx
#43 Drop An "F" For All The Parents Who Will Buy This For Christmas, Not Knowing That The Game Is Free
Image credits: HugeSquirrel
#44 Advertise Free WiFi But Make Sure The Customers Know The Procedure For How To Pay For It
Image credits: mauricewilliams455
#45 Please, Just Stop Using Fake Money As Advertising
Image credits: notbeatrizportinari
#46 This Pamphlet I Got On My Door Making Me Not Want To Touch My Doorknob Until I Realized
Image credits: yusefudattebayo
#47 This Facebook Ad Which Has A Fake "+100" Which Makes People Click On The Ad
Image credits: No_Sink_4655
#48 This Packaging. Was Wondering Why It Ran Out So Quickly
Image credits: GreenCupcake23
#49 My Mother Recently Passed Away. This Morning I Thought I Got An Email From Her. Nope, Just A Spam Tabloid Naming Their Contact "Mom"
Image credits: Raise_Master
#50 When You Thumbs Down Trash Like This On Netflix But It Keeps Coming Back At The Top Of Your Homepage
Image credits: wozmatic
#51 Shrinkflation Used By Cadbury To Literally Cut Corners. The Bottom Chocolate Bar Is More Than 8 Percent Smaller
Image credits: Flying_Dutchmen_13
#52 120 Mbps Plan Has 100 Mbps Download Speed. When I Asked The Explanation On The Phone, They Said That "120 Mbps" Is Just The Name Of The Plan
Image credits: keben_
#53 Imagine Cleaning A Fan So Well That You Uncover 2 New Blades
Image credits: erkang06
#54 Saw These On Every Single Car Parked Behind Me Today Only To Realize I Had One As Well
Image credits: bs310
#55 So, Which Is It, Campbell's? 30% Or 40% Bigger?
Image credits: CivilizedPsycho
#56 Makes You Think It Has An IGN Award, Until You Read The Fine Print
Image credits: J_Bear
#57 Is That Really Free Delivery?
Image credits: theskyopened
#58 False Advertising Should Be A Felony
Image credits: anniemaymoo
#59 Who Thought It Was A Good Idea To Put An Image Of 7 Churros For The Sign Of 3 Churros
Image credits: Imhereforgiofilmsbro
#60 NordVPN's Infinite "Only Now 70% Off" With A Fake Timer That Eventually Resets
Image credits: thedystro
#61 Warranty Void Sticker On The Outside Of The Box
Image credits: PwnerifficOne
#62 Your Virus Protection Expires Soon. Have A Popup You Can't Close With A Counter That Keeps Resetting To 200
Image credits: Sinderi
#63 This Iron Man Blow Up Toy
Image credits: lalalovey
#64 Dollar Shave Club Makes Their Online-Bought Razor Handles Incompatible With Their In-Store Razor Refills
Image credits: mydiarythrowRA
#65 This Ad For Vitamin Water That Claims It Works Better Than Flu Shots
Image credits: AVATARKYOSHI617
#66 Sneaky Bastards
Image credits: Knukun
#67 Nordstrom Rack Is Trying To Sell These Sketchers As Magnannis? A Very Poor Job, No Less. Cool
Image credits: pepe-roni111
#68 A $6.95 E-Mail Delivery Fee
Image credits: LiterallyCannott
#69 Optimum Admail Tricks You Into Opening It With Fake Amazon Gift Card
Image credits: TheCrowsNestTV
#70 This Barbershop Advertises $12 Haircuts In Big White Font But Mentions A Very Important Detail In Small Black Letters
Image credits: XXLchris
#71 I Was Waiting For A Very Important Call And I Just Received This Notification From A Shopping App
Image credits: Waliya10
#72 Plumbing Company Disguised As Missed Package To Get You To Call Them And Setup Appointment To "Test Water". The Blue Ink Was Printed On
Image credits: waldo_ku22
#73 I Thought A Pair Of NZ Police Vans Overtook Me On The Road This Morning. Then I Caught Up With Them On The Lights And Realized
Image credits: Sniperizer
#74 Brand New Package Of Staples. Took A Note From The Chips People
Image credits: kalebdraws
#75 Diphenhydramine (Generic Benadryl) Costs $3 More When Marketed As A Sleep Aid Rather Than An Allergy Medicine
Image credits: 3Vishal
#76 Bought "Genuine" Converse At A Market
Image credits: Swesty_558
#77 An "Empty" Ink Cartridge That Probably Could Have Printed Another 50+ Sheets
Image credits: Anonymous_None
#78 Apple’s Proprietary USB An Extension Cable
Image credits: AberrantDevices
#79 My $108 College Textbook Does Not Come With Binding To Make It Harder To Resell
Image credits: TheRedScot
#80 Wondered Why The New Pens Were Running Out So Quickly. Turns Out There Is No Ink, Just A Tip
Image credits: WholemealBean
#81 Film Producers: "We Need To Advertise We Have Multiple CGI Dragons." Marketers: "Say No More"
Image credits: is_it_a_lie
#82 This Kettle Saves 70% Energy. As Long As You Need To Boil 70% Less Water
Image credits: UnlikeSome
#83 Notice The Extremely Small "Up To" Could've Fooled Me If I Wasn't At A Stoplight
Image credits: PuppyBaby15
#84 This Website Hilariously Just Stretches The Pixels To Turn Regular Clothing Into "Maternity" Clothing
Image credits: LurkeyMcLurkersen
#85 Found Two Of These On My Car Today. I Almost Freaked Out
Image credits: polite__redditor
#86 This Thing I Bought For My Son: You Don't See The Actual Toy Until You Open The Package. It Literally Advertises: "Seems Real!"
Image credits: llondru-es
#87 Interesting How The “Earn Up To” Isn’t The Same Font Or Dark Green Color As The “$13.50 An Hour”
Image credits: SouthwestTraveller
#88 My Wife’s Cell Phone Plan Was Automatically Signed Up For The 1GB Shared. The 3GB Shared Is Exactly The Same Price
Had to navigate manually to find this
Image credits: PM_ME_YOUR_3_WISHES
#89 Illusion 100
Image credits: clickers331
#90 Got Me To Delete My Account There
Image credits: holyshitem8lmfao
#91 I've Ordered Something From Flipkart. So I Panicked A Little When I Saw That 19 Missed Calls From Flipkart In Notifications. Too Bad Flipkart Is A Jerk
Image credits: DR_CHEESE1207
#92 AT&T's New Deceitful Mailing Tactics Including Fake Handwriting, Coffee Stain, And Sticky Note
Image credits: councillleak
#93 Suddenly I Don't Trust All The High Ratings On My New Controller
Image credits: v112358s
#94 Top Slice Of Bacon vs. The Rest In The Package
Image credits: mamonna
#95 Free App, Then Get Forced To Pay $80 When You Download It
Image credits: Gyxo25
#96 This Website Fakes A Chrome Error To Convince You To Disable Your Ad Blocker
Image credits: CatVsHumanity
#97 Spend Two Dollars For 100 Pennies. What A Bargain
Image credits: karen_nfld
#98 Nearly Had A Heart Attack
Image credits: lunchtime_sms
#99 This Is Printed To Look Like An Eviction Notice. Imagine Walking Up To Your Door And Seeing This Ad For Window And Door Replacements. During A Pandemic When Many Can't Pay Rent
Image credits: GodThesePretzelsSuck
#100 Local Market Trying To Trick Me
Image credits: emynnmuil
#101 These Items At A Dollar Store Are Basically The Same Thing In Different Packaging But The One On The Right Is Twice The Price
Image credits: MerGeek101
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