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40 Ideas People Believe To Be Normal But Are Actually Propaganda Created By Corporations, According To Folks In This Online Group
It's not a secret to anyone that companies vastly care about money. Some are still interested in their consumers being satisfied with the products – others solely care about profits. Unfortunately, it is a massive problem in our society, and organizations have yet to overcome this issue.
Corporations will go out of their way to find a method of making even more pennies, and it's fascinating how nowadays we don't really question anything. For instance, one of the best examples would be commercials. Those endless ads you see on a website that don't allow you to binge-watch your favorite video in peace, practically forcing you to get that premium subscription – it's truly a brilliant technique.
Well, this online user took it to one of Reddit's popular communities to ask folks about certain things that might feel normal today, but are just successful propaganda made by companies. The thread received over 61K upvotes in just a few days and almost 40K comments debating over hugely influential business tactics.
More info: Reddit
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Immigrants are ‘taking’ our jobs, instead of employers seeking to pay criminally low wages to people with fewer choices.
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#2
The lie, in the US at least, that billionaires and CEOs are self made men and women. Most wealth in this country is inherited and most who claim to be "self made" were already born into wealthy families.
#4
Working 5 days a week for 8 hours a day and still not being able to afford necessities.
Ally MacMann 2 years ago
What makes this worse is the fact it's the result of the very, very few at the top living in obscene luxury.
#5
That global warming is the responsibility of the individual and not about 100 corporations.
#6
Referring to insurance as "healthcare"
Insurance companies do not provide healthcare. They have inserted themselves as middlemen. Physicians, nurses, etc. provide healthcare. Insurance provide payment for costs that are inflated because insurance companies provide payment.
#7
Logo T-Shirts. The consumer literally pays to advertise a brand.
#8
"Ask your doctor if JDGYRHKX is right for you!" WTF isn't that his job? I don't ask my mechanic or plumber if I need a certain product. Pharmaceutical marketing is a total ruse.
#9
Dandelions are weeds. They’re actually very nutritious and great for pollinators. Big Grass are a bunch of d**kheads
Susie Elle 2 years ago
Technically, weeds don't exist at all. Where I live, they've now been rebranded to "wild flowers and plants" and are actively being handed out to plant everywhere because, as it turns out, bees are better off with more of these types of plants than they are with the garden varieties. Or so I've been told.
#10
Attaching health insurance to your job and if you have a family and leave your job, you're f**ked.
Huddo's sister 2 years ago
I never understood why/how this started in the US. I don't think anywhere else in the world has it tied to their job.
#11
Sugar industry blaming fatty foods for obesity, sparking the low-fat trends and ignoring how bad sugar is for your health.
#12
Politicians being a middleman for corporations to influence government policies, instead of middlemen for the people to influence government policies.
Powerful Katrinka 2 years ago
The Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court practically guaranteed that this would happen. Equating corporate money with free speech was one of the most destructive legal decisions in the last 100 years.
#13
Planned obsolescence
Zaza 2 years ago
So some company, many years ago, made nylon stockings. All the workers were given a pair for their wives to try out. They discontinued making the same stockings, because they were high quality and never wore out, so these ladies never had to buy new pairs. They purposely made crappier ones after that. A lot of companies are doing it and it should be illegal. Not only because of the morality, but also because of the toll it takes on our environment to create (and have to transport and put to waste) 10x time amount of stuff that would otherwise be necessary
#14
Plastics Recycling.
It was pushed by the plastics industry back in the early 70s when laws were about to be passed to deal with the environmental impact of plastics. In reality a lot of the plastics that have a little recycling symbol on them are not feasible to recycle at all.
They are still pushing the lie to this very day.
Huddo's sister 2 years ago
And they ship them off to poorer countries to handle because 'we don't have those capabilities'.
#15
Everything about wedding and engagement rings
Sasquatch The Almighty 2 years ago
Everything about weddings, imho. Such a con. I played in a wedding band a couple weeks ago. We were paid obscene money. I overheard a woman explaining to a friend that she and her fiance had saved $30k toward their wedding and therefore were about halfway there. I just find spending that on a one-day party to be absurd, I wouldn't expect someone to drop 30k just to show they love me. Good gods, just tell each other you love each other and put the money towards a house
#17
Buying bottled tap water.
Huddo's sister 2 years ago
Yes! I can only see the point if it's an area where the tap water is undrinkable.
#18
The whole work grind and everything associated with it. 40+ hour work week, health insurance tied to it, the need for daycare $$$, time spent commuting…how did all that ever become normal?
Emmett O'Brian 2 years ago
Because unions fought to get the work week down to 40 hours. Corporations wanted you to work 12 hour days seven days a week.
#19
Diamonds.
Real men eat meat.
That cost of printer ink.
#20
Sending your DNA in for sequencing is a fun and easy way to find out things about yourself, at least according to companies who contractually retain the rights to any and all findings, don't give a s**t about your medical privacy, and are constantly looking for ways to monetize that information.
Mermaid Elle-Jaye 2 years ago (edited)
I found my dads mum and family this way, no regrets and I’m a nobody, they can keep my dna 😂
#21
That it is ok to produce a ton of single-use packaging as long as you don’t “litter” it.
Huddo's sister 2 years ago
I really wish the government would bring in regulations to limit the use of single use packaging. They banned plastic shopping bags of a certain thickness, but have not gone any further. (In Australia)
#22
Most products made for the care of babies. Babies need very little in the way of furniture, gear, special foods etc. But people are so willing to buy so much stuff.
#23
"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day" was a marketing campaign used by Kellogs to help sell their cereal.
#24
Companies like Intuit have lobbied to make sure filing taxes can't be free and easy.
Jenny Shmurak 2 years ago
US is weird. The government already has all your information. In most countries people don't need to file taxes every year, unless they own a business.
Christine Beard 2 years ago
Does your government look for loopholes to lower your taxes? It's all about the deductions in the USA!
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May 2 years ago
Your government should be doing that for you. At least mine does. I just have to check it and say if I agree.
oktopus 2 years ago
In Japan, like many countries, employee taxes are handled by the employer, including basic deductions for things like insurance and home loans. Only need to file yourself if you have a more complex situation and/or are self-employed, and the process is entirely free (though accountants and tax software are available). The tax office even offers free advice on filling out returns.
MyOpinionHasBeenServed 2 years ago
They can be free if your info is really simple. But now the CRA put in inside lingo and contradicting definitions for the same terms for different areas of the return, causing you to doubt you're filling it out correctly. But the biggest scam is H&R Block.
Shane S 2 years ago
It is free and easy now for most people after the tax reform. I’m seeing companies offer tax filing that previously had no footprint in tax processing. How they market now is to get people their tax refund “now”, which usually involves fees and extra charges. It’s preying on poor people who need their money now. If they world just wait a week or two, they’d save a couple hundred dollars.
ZAPanda 2 years ago
Best you don't let them know you have undeclared income in your country, they will come to bring democracy to your checkbook.
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Psy Yobutishyne 2 years ago
Most people don't file their taxes. They file their tax return. The 1040 forms are Income Tax Return Forms.
WhatEvenIsLife 2 years ago
The IRS has a free tax filing service. It's just that companies like H&R Block and Turbo Tax have worked to make sure people don't know that.
Christina Keenan 2 years ago
When Franklin said " the only sure things in life are death and taxes", didn't realize it is like death filing taxes".
M. A. McKnight 2 years ago
Tax refunds are the government's way of telling you they taxed you too much...
Shane S 2 years ago (edited)
Well it’s not supposed to be a savings account. Refunds technically shouldn’t happen. You shouldn’t be paying more in than required. But we have a culture of getting “free money” come tax time. Americans are bad at managing our money.
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Nolgoth 2 years ago
Turbo tax is free and easy for most people submitting their federal taxes. The issue is having to do them at all. The govt knows how much money they took out and how much you may owe or get back, theres no reason for us to try and figure that stuff out. People with more complicated taxes tend to hire a professional to do them anyways, doesnt need to be so convoluted for us regular people
marianne eliza 2 years ago
The gov't is too short sighted on this. I'm sure it costs much more to manually handle millions of tax return papers than it would be to provide free electronic prep and filing to the majority of the public. Right now the IRS is trying to clear 24 million returns from last year.
#26
Women shaving. In the US, Women shaving any part their bodies wasn’t even a thing before WWII, but all the men got drafted to war and razor companies took a big hit, so they successfully convinced all of us that natural hair growing anywhere out of a woman’s body besides her hair and eyebrows is disgusting.
I’m talking specifically about western culture/the United States. Evidence of ancient Greeks and Egyptians/etc shaving has no relevance in this instance.
Huddo's sister 2 years ago
There was also the fact that there were silk and nylon shortages during the war, so women's legs were on show so unshaven legs were noticeable. Then of course you had the swimwear fashion changing in the 60s+ and more skin was seen. The swimwear companies wouldn't show models with bikini lines in their ads, so razor companies profited from this too.
#27
Terms of service agreements example when you buy a phone do you read all 30 pages of your service agreement letting you know that they have basically proprietary control over everything you say and do.
Suzi Q 2 years ago
Years ago one company hid a prize in the terms and conditions that you only got if you read them.) It had instructions to claim the prize.) It might have been Apple, anybody remember that? I don't think that would happen today because the trick would be blasted on social media and defeat the incentive to read them.
#28
The way we celebrate holidays is much more of a production than it used to be - Christmas, Halloween, Valentine’s Day. Just more excuses to consume c**p en masse.
Guy MacGregor 2 years ago
what does "c**p" means? English isn't my first language and slang isn't my strong suit.
#29
That you need to drink milk in order to get calcium. Calcium is a mineral and can be found in leafy greens and broccoli to name a couple. The whole, “got milk?” campaigns and all that were funded by the dairy industry. Pretty successful propaganda!
#30
Buying a diamond ring when you propose
Julia Winfield 2 years ago
100% agree. Pointless. Use the money for something important and worthwhile. Down payment on something..or an emergency fund. A year after I was proposed to we sold the ring. He didn't pay for it so we just profited off it. Never regretted it.
#31
Mothers Day. The original intent was to have a holiday to appreciate mothers, corporations ended up making it a big money grab, and then the person who petitioned for mothers day spent the rest of their life trying to get the holiday removed.
Got Myself 4 Dwarves 2 years ago
I don't want anything shop bought for Mother's Day, I couldn't care less - I live getting handmade cards from my kids, breakfast in bed and having them take over for a day - zero money involved, ideal day for me to sit and relax
#32
An entire nurdle of toothpaste on your brush.
You don't need that much. A pea-sized amount is enough.
#33
COMMERCIALS. they’re everywhere, YouTube, TV, Hulu, Spotify, etc. the only way to get rid of commercials is to, surprise surprise, pay more which is ANOTHER commercial. Just now realizing that commerce is the basis of commercial lol
Johnny Rodriguez 2 years ago
This could have been the perfect place for this 'I make 123000$/month'-b******t..
#35
Not discussing your income with coworkers. At least in the US, employees are protected, so they are allowed to discuss income amongst each other without fear of getting fired for it. However, a lot of companies have kept the idea that it is taboo or that your job may be at risk for doing so and a lot of people still buy it to this day.
Yes, most people that live in the US know that all states (except Montana) are "at-will" states, meaning that they can fire you for no reason at all, meaning that while technically they won't fire you for discussing pay, some companies will not like it and find any excuse to let you go, so keep that in mind.
Also, some companies will try to stop if right off the bat by having it in your employee handbook that you are not to discuss pay, so make sure you check that out in your case. My company actually has the opposite, stating that they will never go after someone for discussing pay, and they even have it posted in public areas. However, I'm not naive and understand that while it may seem that way, they can just be doing that to protect themselves, so who knows. I've been there for a few years now and we have not heard of anyone getting fired for anything that could be even remotely related to pay discussions.
The point of my comment was to let people know that the idea of discussing your pay with other employees being a "no-no" or taboo is an antiquated idea started by greedy companies decades ago to help keep the average worker from demanding better wages that they rightfully should be getting in the first place, and that legally they can't outright fire you simply for doing that (with exceptions, of course). I myself have no issues letting anyone know how much I make if they ask, and if they use that to get themselves properly compensated, then I'm happy for them at the end of the day.
#36
Apple
Whoever is behind the apple marketing campaign is a genius and flooding the consumers with propaganda. There's no real correlation between how many apples you eat each a day and how often you visit the doctor or get sick
#37
People eating KFC during Christmas time in Japan because of KFC's marketing campaign that promoted their products as a traditional Western Christmas treat.
#38
Merch drops, secret popup locations, limited runs, etc.
These are just marketing tactics to create Artificial Scarcity and hype/demand that wouldn't be there otherwise.
Jessica Rabbit 2 years ago
That is just using the business rule of supply and demand...In this instance they have to create a demand and pretend that the supply is low in order to justify the higher costs...
#39
Carrots helping you see in the dark was WW2 propaganda to confuse the Germans.
Susie Elle 2 years ago
Carrots contain beta carotene which is metabolized into vitamin A, which is important in proper functioning of the eyes. One of the first signs of Vitamin A deficiency is night blindedness. So I guess it's not that far-fetched, although carrots won't give you night vision :)
#40
“You should pay off debt by getting more debt!”
What do you think ?
Michelle Gosney 2 years ago
Think thees been some confusion/conflation of propaganda and scam.
Anthony Roberts 2 years ago
I am commenting on this post. Thank you in advance for your reading of my comment.
Cheyanne Pavan 2 years ago
Thanks for the pleasure of reading your comment!
Load More Replies... Eb 2 years ago
Shampoo! Consumer care companies pushed the idea that you need to do two washes, and later that you should wash it every day. Actually a disaster for long, curly or dyed hair, but it sells a lot of product.
Eat Dirt Crow 2 years ago
The money I save on shampoo I end up spending on razors.
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Elin Noller 2 years ago
Shampoo and all the other things you need (conditioner, styling products etc) because you f**k your hair up with shampoo.
Kimberly Puchniarz 2 years ago
What do you suggest we wash our hair with? If not shampoo, seriously
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Gerardo McCabe 2 years ago
What a crappy boring article, come on show a bit more effort. Usual woke s**t
CRPerformance 2 years ago
I disagree with almost all of these. No one is forcing anyone to do most of these things. Stupid article written by broke people.
Phyzzi 2 years ago
A lot of these are things society has accepted at a level that individuals can't really choose to avoid them without signing consequences despite them inherently doing more harm than good. I think the list is awfully trite, but I don't think most of these are just things it would be reasonable to expect people to ignore.
Load More Replies... Michelle Gosney 2 years ago
Think thees been some confusion/conflation of propaganda and scam.
Anthony Roberts 2 years ago
I am commenting on this post. Thank you in advance for your reading of my comment.
Cheyanne Pavan 2 years ago
Thanks for the pleasure of reading your comment!
Load More Replies... Eb 2 years ago
Shampoo! Consumer care companies pushed the idea that you need to do two washes, and later that you should wash it every day. Actually a disaster for long, curly or dyed hair, but it sells a lot of product.
Eat Dirt Crow 2 years ago
The money I save on shampoo I end up spending on razors.
Load More Replies... Elin Noller 2 years ago
Shampoo and all the other things you need (conditioner, styling products etc) because you f**k your hair up with shampoo.
Kimberly Puchniarz 2 years ago
What do you suggest we wash our hair with? If not shampoo, seriously
Load More Replies... Gerardo McCabe 2 years ago
What a crappy boring article, come on show a bit more effort. Usual woke s**t
CRPerformance 2 years ago
I disagree with almost all of these. No one is forcing anyone to do most of these things. Stupid article written by broke people.
Phyzzi 2 years ago
A lot of these are things society has accepted at a level that individuals can't really choose to avoid them without signing consequences despite them inherently doing more harm than good. I think the list is awfully trite, but I don't think most of these are just things it would be reasonable to expect people to ignore.
Load More Replies... Related on Bored Panda
