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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.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Trashy Company
#2
Man, That's Really Cheap... Oh
Demi Zwaan 3 years ago
Holy sh*t. Seriously? It’s 24 dollars an hour just to park? Ridiculous!
To find out more about false marketing, Bored Panda reached out to Atul Minocha, partner at marketing consulting firm Chief Outsiders and author of a recently published book “Lies, Damned Lies, and Marketing: Separate Fact from Fiction and Drive Growth”.
Generally, false advertising involves companies giving out false and misleading information to advertise products to their customers. This covers product descriptions, pricing, and quality. Big organizations might advertise benefits you won't actually get or give features you didn't expect to see in the first place.
#3
Packaging For These Markers
#4
And During A Pandemic
Hans 3 years ago (edited)
Hans' pro tip: make exams in which you actually assess students' knowledge and problem saving skills. You can even make these open-book and allow them to browse the Web. As long as they do not plagiarise and cite correctly, everything is perfect. What do you say? Too much effort, you rather go for mindless multiple choice? Well, then do not complain that students try to game the system.
Atul Minocha told Bored Panda that false marketing has an effect on everyone; it's bad for the businesses that practice it and it's obviously bad for the customers. “It simply builds distrust. In fact, if a customer has been through this a lot, she or he will start distrusting even good and legitimate messages,” he said.
When asked why deceptive marketing is so widely used, Atul said he doesn't actually think it forms the majority. “In other words, most of the marketing is legitimate. Unfortunately, a few bad apples can create a lot of stink and distrust,” he explained further. Having these kinds of doubts might lead customers into thinking that all marketing is more or less self-serving.
#5
I Have An Ad In My Fortune Cookie
#6
Bought A Chicken Pot Pie Thinking It Was The Size Of The Outer Tin Before Cutting Into It And Seeing This Monstrosity
According to this study, almost 70% of British consumers don't trust advertising (which is a slice of the marketing pie) in general and 42% distrust brands, seeing them as remote and unreachable. The internet era has turned customers into researchers. The ability to fact check “has built cynicism as consumers investigate multiple sources“ to reach the truth. The same study shows that six in ten buyers claim they have become more loyal to the brands they trust.
However, some companies still choose to hide disclaimers on billboards and posters, lie on product packaging and deceive their customers into signing agreements without asking to read them first. “People who practice [false marketing] still do it because, perhaps, they are what we might call fly-by-night operators who are really not interested in long-term success. They are only interested in short-term and immediate gains,“ Atul Minocha told Bored Panda.
#7
New Cereal Box Is 11% Taller With 1.6% Less Cereal
#8
So Basically Every Price
But how should consumers react when they see deceptive marketing examples? According to Atul, customers should stay vigilant. If you have suffered from it, you should do at least one of these things (maybe even both): “One, file a complaint with the authorities. And two, use the power of social media to call out any misleading marketing encountered,“ he said.
Lastly, Atul is asking you not to reject all marketing, since most of it is actually good. “Great marketing starts with understanding the customer. This helps customers receive what they would want to receive,” he said. This way, there's trust between a company and its customers and that is crucial for any successful long-term relationship.
#9
Imagine Cleaning A Fan So Well That You Uncover 2 New Blades
Andy Acceber 3 years ago
If they clean it even more, maybe it'll turn into a whole air conditioning unit.
#10
That Would Explain Why My Ankle Hurts
#11
By Opening The Envelope For The License Agreement, You Agree To It
#12
Walmart Employee Here. We Were Given These Shirts Today. Walmart Profits Billions Off Of This Pandemic, Then Compares Their Sacrifice To WW2 Veterans
#13
This “Dual” Camera Smartphone Doesn’t Have Two Functioning Cameras
#14
False Advertising Should Be A Felony
#15
When You Thumbs Down Trash Like This On Netflix But It Keeps Coming Back At The Top Of Your Homepage
#16
Went In For The $1.99 Lunch Special. Sorry Sir, That Says $7.99 Lunch Special
#17
The Mixed Signals Of This Shoe Sale Advertisement
#18
Unremovable Ads On My $2,500 Samsung Smart TV
#19
My Mother Recently Passed Away. This Morning I Thought I Got An Email From Her. Nope, Just A Spam Tabloid Naming Their Contact "Mom"
#20
This Packaging. Was Wondering Why It Ran Out So Quickly
Layla Corman 3 years ago (edited)
I have this same exact product so of course I had to go see if my bottle looked like this too. After prying the top open for 5 minutes, sure enough mine looks the exact same, BUT I can't complain. The bottle is labeled as .5oz, which is a bit less than standard for skincare products. (For reference, a typical foundation is 1oz). This type of vaccum packaging helps us get most of the product out of the jar with little waste. The alternative would be to scoop the remaining product out with a cosmetics spatula. For the price of this, you definitely don't want waste. The good news is the glass jar is recyclable. Tip- when buying cosmetics and skincare, always look at the ounces and not the package/tube/jar!
#21
Walgreens Replaced Their Freezer Window Panels With Screens That Constantly Flash/Move And Don't Even Accurately Represent What's Inside The Fridge
#22
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.
Lauren Caswell 3 years ago
Will result in *smudge* repair costs. Prey on anxiety. This is so sad
#23
This "Avocado" Oil
#24
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.
FABULOUS1 3 years ago
I had a guy from the cable company come to my door to try and convince me to change our carrier. He almost had me at the cheaper price per month, but further research it was only for 3 months than I would be charged regular price. But he continued to hound me after I told him that it wasnt a good time to talk because I had all 4 of my grandkids that day. I dont like to be pressured on a sale, took a while for him to understand the word no.
#25
I Live In Minneapolis, Some Jerk Is Leaving This In Tip Jars Around Town Ahead Of Trump’s Rally Today
#26
An "Empty" Ink Cartridge That Probably Could Have Printed Another 50+ Sheets
#27
Sign The Contract Without Reading It Please
#28
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
#29
This Website Hilariously Just Stretches The Pixels To Turn Regular Clothing Into "Maternity" Clothing
#30
They Took Away The In-Store Signage To Force You To Download Their App
#31
I Just Got Ad In The Mail Disguised As A Hand-Written Letter. Address Is Covered So I Don't Doxx Myself
#32
This Pamphlet I Got On My Door Making Me Not Want To Touch My Doorknob Until I Realized
Andy Acceber 3 years ago
Eh, I don't have a problem with this one. It's attention-getting but clearly only an ad as the ants are 2-D not 3-D.
#33
This "Gold" Chalk That My Daughter Received As A Gift. White Chalk Spray-Painted Gold
#34
I Love Ads On My £250 Console That I Continue To Pay £6 A Month To Play On
#35
Is That Really Free Delivery?
#36
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
#37
Food Delivery Service That Tells You “Someone Is At The Door! Okay We Lied”
#38
This Kettle Saves 70% Energy. As Long As You Need To Boil 70% Less Water
#39
Nearly Didn't Notice The Cheapest Car Wash Program
#40
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
#41
Advertise Free WiFi But Make Sure The Customers Know The Procedure For How To Pay For It
#42
Retail Sign At H&M Today. The Small Line Is Hard To Read In Person
Lauren Caswell 3 years ago
There's always been a joke about these sales. Somewhere in the store, in the most unlikely place, is a $3 facecloth. So prices do indeed start at $3
#43
I Got A Ticket. No, Just An Ad For A Tattoo Place
#44
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
#45
Who Thought It Was A Good Idea To Put An Image Of 7 Churros For The Sign Of 3 Churros
Don Golosso 3 years ago
$4 for three churros, Damn! I mean, it's literally some fried dough with sugar on top.
#46
Please, Just Stop Using Fake Money As Advertising
WilvanderHeijden 3 years ago
Most companies have a freepost number. Collect the unwanted garbage, pack it in a box with a brick and send it back to them. They have to pay for the weight of the package. In the Netherlands you can send packages up to 30 KG (66 Lbs) to a freepost number which will cost the company €17 on postage.
#47
Got A Letter In An Envelope Which Said My Lease Was Terminated. Just Another Ad
#48
How To Dissapoint Every Student On Campus
#49
Film Producers: "We Need To Advertise We Have Multiple CGI Dragons." Marketers: "Say No More"
Add New Image
What do you think ?
Caroline Sinclair 3 years ago
Many of these are absolutely appalling. What happened to integrity, decency and honour? Apparently they don't bring in the money
G. Ross 3 years ago
They never existed in the first place. At least in the world of business.
Load More Replies...
Nikki Sevven 3 years ago
This article could have been entitled "How to Market Your Product to Guarantee No One Will Ever Buy Anything from You Ever Again."
Hans 3 years ago
There are no "Evil Companies". This is a myth, and it makes the problem seem intangible. There are evil people who refuse to behave ethical. They work in these companies, from simple jobs to management. If they would refuse to work in places that treat people like crap, pollute, tax-evade, etc., and if those managers would put ethics before gains (you can have both if you are good!), all the stories here would not exist.
WilvanderHeijden 3 years ago
Partially agree. Evil companies are run by low lives who use "company policy" as an excuse to scam, defraud and deceive people, but at the same time they are out of their job if they don't follow the policy of the evil company. So evil companies exist.
Load More Replies...
Lara Verne 3 years ago
Remind me of certain e-shop, that add random items to your order and make it very hard to notice before you complete it. Or mobile game ads, that are nothing like actual game.
Kitty Jordan 3 years ago
Not many people know this, so public service announcement! If you get tons of "pre-approved" credit offers in the mail, you can opt out of those in the U.S. by filling out a form here: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/prescreened-credit-and-insurance-offers You'll still get regular junk mail (though if you are so inclined, you can look and they'll have in very small print a way to get them to stop sending them), but it cut back on my junk mail significantly. It also makes me feel better knowing that they're not wasting paper and ink on something I'm going to just throw away.
That_One_Harry_Potter_Nerd 3 years ago
I absolutely HATE the apps that don’t cost money to download, but do cost money to use. Like, if you are going to make me pay for this, don’t wait until I have actually downloaded it to tell me. Disgusting.
Yosua Kemicho 3 years ago
Never had any of these "aggressive" marketing at my country But, at the same time my countrymen are known to bash and destroy the booth of plane company that keeps delaying their flight
RatherLoopy 3 years ago
The goal of the corporate world is to enrich themselves by deceiving and cheating us. Everything's a hustle. It's the same in politics.
Tom Hardeveld 3 years ago
on a positive note, I ordered something from an online "buiseness-relations-gifts"company and now they send me offers in the mail every month but always wit a gift, like pens, a flashlight and this week even a swiss pocketknife. Now that is how you keep costumers!
Alexandra Grey 3 years ago (edited)
If I got one of these, I'd Google review and trash them on their own Facebook page. Especially that Ford Dealership ad that looked like someone's lease was being terminated. Scaring potential customers does not get you customers.
Henrik Lukas 3 years ago
Oh man, you guys need laws about misleading advertising. We have that in Denmark (and Scandinavia in general I assume) and it can be REALLY expensive for a company to mislead or lie to the public. I guess it's an uphill battle in cases like these because the political culture favours the companies, not the cunsumers.
IlovemydogShilo 3 years ago
My local super market (Tesco) is a great one for things like this. It's something new every week. This week's special offer was cans of Pringles crisps. €2.50 each or save money by buying 2 for €5.00. Where's the saving in that. Another one was by a box of 12 eggs for €5.19 or 1 box of 6 eggs for €1.75 or 2 boxes of 6 for €3.00. I can't think why nobody was buying the box of 12 eggs. I really think Tesco think their customers are as bad at maths as they are. Thankfully, we're not.
Paradise 3 years ago
The other day I got an email from Panera for $25 off full price Shutterfly. I know they never have anything full price, they bank on people thinking their item is on sale (or free but pay shipping for every item singularly). What they did: with coupon, they took off the sale price and charged full, so my total was $125. So thats how they sometimes charge full price... Without the coupon, their "sale" prices were in effect, it was an $80 purchase.
Tiny Dynamine 3 years ago
I recommend that if you ever see any of these in person, destroy them, whether they are in a shop or outside somewhere. If they see that their unethical practices are going to waste, they'll have to change their tactics.
Caroline Sinclair 3 years ago
Many of these are absolutely appalling. What happened to integrity, decency and honour? Apparently they don't bring in the money
G. Ross 3 years ago
They never existed in the first place. At least in the world of business.
Load More Replies... Nikki Sevven 3 years ago
This article could have been entitled "How to Market Your Product to Guarantee No One Will Ever Buy Anything from You Ever Again."
Hans 3 years ago
There are no "Evil Companies". This is a myth, and it makes the problem seem intangible. There are evil people who refuse to behave ethical. They work in these companies, from simple jobs to management. If they would refuse to work in places that treat people like crap, pollute, tax-evade, etc., and if those managers would put ethics before gains (you can have both if you are good!), all the stories here would not exist.
WilvanderHeijden 3 years ago
Partially agree. Evil companies are run by low lives who use "company policy" as an excuse to scam, defraud and deceive people, but at the same time they are out of their job if they don't follow the policy of the evil company. So evil companies exist.
Load More Replies... Lara Verne 3 years ago
Remind me of certain e-shop, that add random items to your order and make it very hard to notice before you complete it. Or mobile game ads, that are nothing like actual game.
Kitty Jordan 3 years ago
Not many people know this, so public service announcement! If you get tons of "pre-approved" credit offers in the mail, you can opt out of those in the U.S. by filling out a form here: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/prescreened-credit-and-insurance-offers You'll still get regular junk mail (though if you are so inclined, you can look and they'll have in very small print a way to get them to stop sending them), but it cut back on my junk mail significantly. It also makes me feel better knowing that they're not wasting paper and ink on something I'm going to just throw away.
That_One_Harry_Potter_Nerd 3 years ago
I absolutely HATE the apps that don’t cost money to download, but do cost money to use. Like, if you are going to make me pay for this, don’t wait until I have actually downloaded it to tell me. Disgusting.
Yosua Kemicho 3 years ago
Never had any of these "aggressive" marketing at my country But, at the same time my countrymen are known to bash and destroy the booth of plane company that keeps delaying their flight
RatherLoopy 3 years ago
The goal of the corporate world is to enrich themselves by deceiving and cheating us. Everything's a hustle. It's the same in politics.
Tom Hardeveld 3 years ago
on a positive note, I ordered something from an online "buiseness-relations-gifts"company and now they send me offers in the mail every month but always wit a gift, like pens, a flashlight and this week even a swiss pocketknife. Now that is how you keep costumers!
Alexandra Grey 3 years ago (edited)
If I got one of these, I'd Google review and trash them on their own Facebook page. Especially that Ford Dealership ad that looked like someone's lease was being terminated. Scaring potential customers does not get you customers.
Henrik Lukas 3 years ago
Oh man, you guys need laws about misleading advertising. We have that in Denmark (and Scandinavia in general I assume) and it can be REALLY expensive for a company to mislead or lie to the public. I guess it's an uphill battle in cases like these because the political culture favours the companies, not the cunsumers.
IlovemydogShilo 3 years ago
My local super market (Tesco) is a great one for things like this. It's something new every week. This week's special offer was cans of Pringles crisps. €2.50 each or save money by buying 2 for €5.00. Where's the saving in that. Another one was by a box of 12 eggs for €5.19 or 1 box of 6 eggs for €1.75 or 2 boxes of 6 for €3.00. I can't think why nobody was buying the box of 12 eggs. I really think Tesco think their customers are as bad at maths as they are. Thankfully, we're not.
Paradise 3 years ago
The other day I got an email from Panera for $25 off full price Shutterfly. I know they never have anything full price, they bank on people thinking their item is on sale (or free but pay shipping for every item singularly). What they did: with coupon, they took off the sale price and charged full, so my total was $125. So thats how they sometimes charge full price... Without the coupon, their "sale" prices were in effect, it was an $80 purchase.
Tiny Dynamine 3 years ago
I recommend that if you ever see any of these in person, destroy them, whether they are in a shop or outside somewhere. If they see that their unethical practices are going to waste, they'll have to change their tactics.
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