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It can take thousands, or even millions, of people to popularize something: a game, a hairstyle, a style of music. But unfortunately, it can all be changed in an instant, as it only takes one bad apple to turn something from fun and exciting to inappropriate (or even illegal).
One curious Reddit user recently asked others to share some of the things that one person managed to ruin for everyone else, so you’ll find their most relatable responses below. Enjoy reminiscing about "the good old days" before these things were tainted, and be sure to upvote everything you wish was still the same today!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
The female body image, by the Kardashians. Yes, I consider them all one person, since they all seem to have been built by the same plastic surgeon. Millions of girls and women worldwide seem to think that surgery, teams of hairdressers, nail and make-up artists, personal stylists, shapewear, Instagram filters and photoshop make them real women. That whoie family should be cancelled, instead they're billionnaires. Sign of the times ..
RELATED:
#2
Tipping. Businesses are pushing their customers to tip because they don’t want to pay their employees fair wages.
#3
Twitter, by Elon Musk. Pretty basic, I know but geez. This man's just an arrogant child with waay to much money.
#4
Vaccines by Andrew Wakefield. Thanks to that a*s hat we have way too many antivax idiots.
#5
I hate to be dark but, as a gymnastics coach: people like Larry Nassar and my own coach
As a gymnastics coach myself, I have to be extremely careful how I touch a kid in a sport where I have to….pick them up and move their body around and stuff. And obviously, I’d never purposefully put my hand in an inappropriate spot, but if I accidentally do while saving a kid from falling or something I have to profusely apologize and feel anxious. 99% of the time, the kid doesn’t even notice I grabbed them or something. Or, they don’t care because they’re happy I saved them from snapping their neck.
Some gyms ban coaches from giving a kid a hug and whatnot. We have strict rules in the gymnastics world where two or more adults have to be with a kid if they are alone in the gym. Which hey, I support. When I train male coaches, I tell them to be extra careful since they are more likely to get accused. Groomers gonna groom, but if a guy accidentally brushes a girl’s boob when he spots her, it shouldn’t be world ending. With the abusers that people know of primarily being men, male coaches are watched like hawks. I can get away with a gaggle of little four year olds tackling me and laying on me for a group hug. A male coach has to be veeeery careful.
But, it’s sad it has to be like that. I wish I could text a kid myself, set up a private lesson, meet them at the gym alone, we work on stuff, their parent picks them up. That’s not reality. People should just…not be weird to kids. Adults should be respectful and not abuse their privilege and a child’s innocence.
Now, people have a terrible perception of the sport I love because of the abuse myself and others faced. And, I don’t blame them.
#6
The internet was ruined by whoever it was that invented pop-ups. And video ads, for that matter.
#7
A s**t ton of symbols have had their meaning completely changed because some mentally ill dude got rejected by an art school.
Chrissie Anit 1 year ago
I have got a St. Brigid's Cross in my house, which is an Irish house blessing symbol, but looks vaguely like a swastika. I live in Germany and feel that I have to explain to every guest what that symbol actually means...
#8
Telemarketing. Owning a phone used to be a good thing, now almost every phone call is some shady insurance scam or panhandler looking for money.
#9
The name "Karen".
#10
A small town permanently cancelled Halloween because one kid was bullied and the mother lobbied and won. Turned out the kid was not bullied but was stealing other kid's candy and they fought back.
#11
Sex ...by my kid.... wtf little dude. You can watch paw patrol for 2 hours straight but then I snatch yo momma in for a min and we can't even get through the warm up!?
Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! 1 year ago
I'm sorry, but I laughed. Good luck to you and your SO.
#12
Guys on 9/11 ruined flying honestly. All the security means when u fly u have to get there super early and stand in lines all day.
#13
The arsonists who set the Quebec forests ablaze, placing the North western hemisphere under smoke for a third of our summer..... Natural disaster caused a lot of the fires still going today but intentional sabotage didn't help.
#14
American flag… every time I see one I automatically think the person flying it is racist. I think we all know who.
Wesley Clifford 1 year ago
I fly my American flag proudly over my rainbow flag pronouncing things such as "black lives matter" and "no human is illegal." You shouldn't have to be a terrible person in order to love your country.
#15
The Cosby Show.
Because of Cosby.
Angi 1 year ago
Does it make me a bad person that I can still enjoy it even knowing? I'll never stop loving that 70s show either. I know what they did is wrong but I still enjoy the shows. Hell I'm watching glee as we speak. If we give up every show that has an evil actor what's left to watch.
#16
The a*****e who poisoned Tylenol in the 1980s and made it acceptable to make everything, not even just medications, very tamper-proof, but also pretty damn user-proof if you have any dexterity limitations at all.
#18
Giving out free product when we are just going to throw it away anyway.
We used to do this at the end of the night, last few hours of the day if we had a lot of donuts or bread BUT because of certain people who use this as an opportunity to sue a business with the excuse of "They gave me spoiled food and i got sick" now it's not allowed and we have to put coffee grounds on everything we throw away.
Also the drug addicts who think it's funny to just throw it all over the parking lot too.
Also bathroom privileges. Since it's apparent that people don't know how to use one properly, we don't have to let the public use them and yes that includes your kids as well since you don't clean up after them.
Ginny Weasley 1 year ago
My school just introduced passes that the teachers have that unlock the bathrooms during class. U literally have to get a pass from a teacher who forgets it half the time just to go to the bathroom bc some people decided to graffiti the walls and damage stuff etc…
#19
Not sure if its been said but Kanye ruined Kanye for everybody.
Lucille 2 1 year ago
I find Kanye fascinating in a morbid kinda way. Like what a weird, sad little guy. I will admit I genuinely love a lot of his music, especially his older stuff as a longtime fan, but some of his music really hits differently these days. He honestly seems like a tortured soul - not in a romantic, poetic way, but in an unfortunate, problematic, weird sad racist kind of way. He went from one of my musical idols in the 2000s to someone whose name is now a joke in my circle of friends (“ok kanye” is our new “ok boomer”). It’s like watching the most interesting slow motion train wreck I’ve ever seen. I genuinely hope he gets the help he clearly needs, but also, he’s kind of just a d**k all on his own. (He also apparently refuses any medication for his mental health issues)
#20
Red baseball caps.
dishonourableaccount replied:
"MAGA hats" became popular with his supporters and very unpopular with those who hated him.
Issue is, baseball caps are pretty popular and common to wear in a lot of places. Especially among sports fans. Teams like the Kansas City Chiefs, Washingtons Nats, and the Phillies all have red caps that-- at first glance-- looked like MAGA hats. So people felt self-conscious, not wanting to be mistaken for supporters.
#21
One guy has a heart attack and the entire world is pressured, by him and other lobbyists, into changing their fast food menus from natural ingredients (beef tallow for fries for example) to artificial s**t to satisfy new requirements for "healthier fat free foods" when... it was never confirmed the guy had it because of fast food. It turns out most fat free foods are full of sugar and are HORRIBLE for you, and whole, fat inclusive foods are much healthier
PolymathNecromancer 1 year ago
The whole stigma on fat was a gaslighting scam by the sugar industry
#22
The shoe bomber.
Editor's note: After “shoe bomber” Richard Reid's attempt to take down a flight from Paris to Miami in late 2001, footwear started coming off at security checkpoints.
#23
Back in the middle ages when I was a child in Detroit, the electric company gave out free light bulbs. You kept the burnt out ones in a bag, and when it was full, Dad would take it to Detroit Edison and exchange them for free ones. Then some guy who owned a store (I remembered it as a pharmacy) sued because he couldn't sell light bulbs and that was the end of free light bulbs.
#24
Your last meal before execution in the U.S. used to be whatever you wanted, until one guy ordered an 18 course feast and didn't touch it. After he was executed a law was passed saying all death row prisoners' last meal would be the same as all the other prisoners.
#25
When i was overnight stocking at walmart one of the rules was you can't have headphones. A lot of us did it anyway. We kept it low profile. Music loud enough only you can hear, only one earbud in so you can hear a customer or manager speak to you, we would run the wire under our clothes so you could pretty much only see the bit coming from your neck to your ear, color that matched/blended into our skintone. Management would just turn a blind eye to it. We hire some new guy. He starts rolling around with both earbuds in, music blaring, highlighter pink wires outside the shirt. We tried to mention to him he might wanna keep that low profile. He didnt listen. Less than a week later daytime management came through our shift and told us earbuds/earphones will not be tolerated. to top it off. that guy got fired like a week later. Heightened enforcement of the rule stayed in place.
#26
The toothbrush mustache. Made famous by people like Charlie Chaplin and Oliver Hardy, ruined forever.
Jeremy James 1 year ago
Imagine how different history would be if Hitler had ruined some other facial hair configuration instead, like mutton-chop sideburns.
PurpleKU77 1 year ago
If so, I would never look at Chester Alan Arthur the same way
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ADJ 1 year ago
My greatuncle wore this mustache till the day he died some 20 years ago. All kids in the family called him uncle Hitler, which as you may imagine was frowned upon by all adults... especially since Adolf Hitler is not much liked here in Poland to put it mildly.
Jessica Cifelli 1 year ago
Changed so much that I didn't know it was called the toothbrush mustache. Always just called it the Hitler mustache.
René Sauer 1 year ago
That thing looks ridiculous, period. How people ever thought that it was a good look is beyond me.
Khall Khall 1 year ago
This mustache style came about in WWI because you could have a mustache and still get a tight seal with your gas mask. Idk. Always found that interesting.
John Harrison 1 year ago
I wish Hitler had sagged his pants, and then no one ever did that afterward.
Jeff White 1 year ago
This is one of the clearest examples of, ONE person, ruining something for EVERYBODY.
Elle Brown 1 year ago
This is the second Hitler post and I would like to say that he pretty much ruined everything.
Roan The Demon Kitty 1 year ago
iirc, shitler styled himself with that moustache because he was actually a fan of Chaplin?
Christof Irran 1 year ago
Nope, this moustache was extremely fashionable in Europe at the time, and that's why Hitler, and millions of others, wore it.
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Cyber Returns 1 year ago
They were great for kissing. Switch side halfway through without stopping the kiss and you can brush hers as well
Sonja 1 year ago
Erm no. Charlie Chaplin wore the toothbrush mustache to mock Hitler in his movie 'The little Dictator'. So no, no one spoiled it for Chaplin, they made it easier to be mocked
BluEyedSeoulite 1 year ago
He did but he had been wearing that style of mustache for decades. The Tramp was in 1921 and Chaplin had his famous mustache
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Phillip Shepard 4 months ago
SEE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Dictator. This was Chaplin's satire film of Hitler in 1940. It didn't go over big in Germany or Italy. Charlie didn't need to grow a new moustache the main role.
Fanstacia D 8 months ago
Growing up, we didn’t call this “tooth brush” mustache, we called it a “Hitler stache”.
Roe Rainrunner 1 year ago
Didnt know it was called toothbrush mustache. In Germany it‘s simply called „Hitler beardie“
John Harrison 1 year ago
Smh @ the number of people on this thread saying "It looks dumb". I mean, yup, that's kinda how fashion works.
Rebecca Ferguson 1 year ago
Umm, I think Adolf Hitler probably killed that look. To be fair, it's a pretty hideous moustache anyway.
Anthony Jordan 1 year ago
Any wonder Chaplin starred in The Great Dictator? No need to shave the mustache.
#27
Germany, i am British and lived there for 3 years and it’s an astonishing country but gets the worst reputation bc of an artistic thanos.
#28
A kid in my high school got their nose broken and had a severe concussion because the guys would take dodgeball so seriously. They banned it my freshman year because multiple kids got hurt and this one guy would not chill tf out.
We also stopped being allowed to play soccer because this guy hit a girl in the face so hard he broke her glasses, gave her a nose bleed and knocked her out.
Basketball was almost banned because of the same guy. He got mad and chucked the ball.. right into my face. He was on the floor laughing and could barely even say sorry through his laughter. Even the kids that bullied me were like “dude wtf it’s not funny”. Dude had a huge ego from playing soccer for the high school team and obvious anger issues.
GettingCereal 1 year ago
Awesome. Instead of banning this one kid from ball sports, the whole school doesn't get to play ball sports? That's weird.
#29
The idea of a secure white collar jobs is ruined by Jack Welch, who first pioneered the practice of laying off masses of people just to buy company stock prices.
PolymathNecromancer 1 year ago
YES this MF forever destroyed job security, loyalty, longevity, and worst of all SINGLEHANDEDLY fueled the wage and resources gap & created 1%ers
#30
My primary school removed the monkey bars after some kid called Ben fell from them and broke his arm. Thanks a lot, Ben.
VioletHunter 1 year ago
What nonsense! Soon they'll force all the parents to permanently wrap their children in bubble wrap until they turn 18.
#31
The kid who jumped off of 7th floor of a building here in Turkey because he thought he was a Pokemon. They stopped airing the show because people thought it was "bad influence" on kids. And Pokemon was huge back when i was a kid so pretty much every kid back then was devastated.
#32
There was a coffee shop that everyone loved that did the thing where if you buy 8 drinks, you get the next one for free. For 2 years I went there religiously at least once a week. Then one day, they told us that the stamp cards were no longer good because someone had stolen the stamp and had been abusing it by stamping their own cards. I just didn't like the accusatory tone when they explained to us what happened, I felt like I lost something that I made an effort to earn (although only maybe 5/8th of one drink), and they were punishing the loyal customers. It was just terribly handled. I never went back after that. The once bustling coffee shop that everyone loved closed down 6 months later.
Basically, they probably killed their business over one person who maybe got a few free drinks at most.
#33
Remember the chick that licked all the ice cream in the store? Now we got a bunch of plastic s**t to cut through.
Patrick Linnen 1 year ago
The plastic covering was there for some brands before she did her thing.
#34
The name Adolf.
Katja Katze 1 year ago
Until 1945, many people in Germany were called Adolf. Partly because it was a very common name, and partly because parents named their children Adolf as a reference. After 1945, suddenly no one was named Adolf anymore. Each used their middle name or, less commonly, the abbreviation "Adi" as a proper name
#35
Someone installed an AC incorrectly in their window at my in-laws building. It ended up falling out and killing a 2 year old girl and now everyone is banned from using window AC's (in certain buildings, not all) (This was in Scarborough - Toronto)
#36
The guy who stole my Amazon package. I used to have treats outside my door for delivery people but decided to remove all the snacks and the basket they were laid on.
similarly 1 year ago
A long, long time ago, when I was a kid, if there were a delivery from the USPS or even something like UPS, and you weren't home, they left you a note, and you could call or check a paper, etc., and arrange to either go pick it up and have it delivered another time. Around 1995 or so, I noticed my local USPS would just leave stuff at the door, and I complained, because I'd never seen that before. I said "Anybody walking by could just steal it?" I thought it was crazy then, and I think it's crazy now. In Japan? They leave a note. And this is in a country where I've seen people walk past MONEY on the street and not pick it up because it isn't theirs.
#37
The sushi terrorist who licked things on the conveyor belt of the Japanese chain Sushiro for clout, making them stop doing the conveyer belt thing. (Tbf, he wasn’t the only one, but the one that comes to mind.)
similarly 1 year ago
Sushi-maru in my area still does the conveyor belt, but one of my favorite places now is Hama-zushi. Not the BEST sushi, but it's cheap. They changed their conveyor system so that now, when I order sushi on the little table i-pad, the conveyor brings it right to my table. I do kind of miss the old days of just watching what floated past, but I'll admit, the conveyor is pretty fast, and it's better in a lot of ways.
#38
Whoever made it so we can't bring our dogs to the office anymore. F**K that guy.
#39
Pokémon cards at my school. Some Kid lost a battle and (as playground rules dictate) he had to hand over his losing card to the victor. However, this was a particularly rare card that had suffered a surprise loss when his opponent whipped out an even rarer and more powerful Pokémon to battle it. The kid never expected the defeat and had no intention of handing the card over; a fight broke out and teachers got involved. Being this was one of a multitude of Pokémon related fights breaking out at the time, the teachers (at the end of their tether) gave the boy a choice; hand over the card or Pokémon gets banned in the school…. And that’s why my school had no more Pokémon from that moment on.
Jrog 1 year ago (edited)
In the US, playing "for ante" (i.e. betting one card on the match outcome, in all its form) is considered illegal gambling. WOtC initially included ante plays as a rule in the game, quickly switching to making it optional because it was hated by most players. Then, they banned it altogether when the lawyers they could finally afford managed to hammer some sense into Richard Garfield: the rule was making the game fall into federal gambling rules so much that places running tournaments should have had to apply for a gambling license. Garfield in 1995 scrapped the rule, made all the cards using the "ante" effects illegal in all sanctioned play and changed some rules so they would be basically useless in friendly games.
#40
Kevin Spacey ruined Kevin Spacey movies for me.
What do you think ?
What A Day 1 year ago
Russia ruined any chance to have Russian language option on iPad pen. Was waiting to that one couple of years. Ruined to every russian speaker in the world
Mis Stake she/her 🇫🇮🇬🇧 1 year ago
How has no one mentioned Harry Potter and how J. K. Rowlingin has ruined it
Strawberry Pizza 1 year ago
People need to learn to separate the art from the artist.
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similarly 1 year ago
In a nutshell, grassroots reform movements that failed to "organize" or "trademark" which were crushed by someone who suddenly showed up on the news claiming to be the leader, or by groups of people claiming to be members, who suddenly say and do heinous things in order to discredit the group, to make normal people renounce the group in disgust, not wanting to associated with violence or hate. I've seen this tactic used a couple of times to destroy moderate groups that MEANT well, but were too popular, threatened certain establishments, and didn't protect themselves from being infiltrated, misrepresented, or taken over.
Kostas 1 year ago
Letter "Z" ruined by re... mentally ill bunker dolphin. 72cped1vdl...775384.jpg 
Elle Brown 1 year ago
Me. The coffee shop up the street allowed dogs and my dog got sick in there one day. Next time I came in, no dogs allowed. :(
ConstantlyJon 1 year ago (edited)
I used to work at a fast food restaurant where we got free drinks (every food service place I've worked does this). The owners were very stingy though and to save on cups, they provided plastic cups for everyone. We just had to wash out the cup at the end of our shift. One day, they found someone's cup that hadn't been washed in quite some time. They would just hide the cup away in the break area and use it again the next day without washing, so it was very gross. When the owners found it, they lost their s**t, and banned everyone in the store from getting free drinks. A very, very stupid rule that caused a number of good employees to leave.
David A Paterson 1 year ago (edited)
Darwin ruined Christianity for everybody. (I'll show myself out).
Lucy James 1 year ago
I remember when handstands got banned at my school cause some kid up the country broke their neck doing one.
What A Day 1 year ago
Russia ruined any chance to have Russian language option on iPad pen. Was waiting to that one couple of years. Ruined to every russian speaker in the world
Mis Stake she/her 🇫🇮🇬🇧 1 year ago
How has no one mentioned Harry Potter and how J. K. Rowlingin has ruined it
Strawberry Pizza 1 year ago
People need to learn to separate the art from the artist.
Load More Replies... similarly 1 year ago
In a nutshell, grassroots reform movements that failed to "organize" or "trademark" which were crushed by someone who suddenly showed up on the news claiming to be the leader, or by groups of people claiming to be members, who suddenly say and do heinous things in order to discredit the group, to make normal people renounce the group in disgust, not wanting to associated with violence or hate. I've seen this tactic used a couple of times to destroy moderate groups that MEANT well, but were too popular, threatened certain establishments, and didn't protect themselves from being infiltrated, misrepresented, or taken over.
Kostas 1 year ago
Letter "Z" ruined by re... mentally ill bunker dolphin. 72cped1vdl...775384.jpg
Elle Brown 1 year ago
Me. The coffee shop up the street allowed dogs and my dog got sick in there one day. Next time I came in, no dogs allowed. :(
ConstantlyJon 1 year ago (edited)
I used to work at a fast food restaurant where we got free drinks (every food service place I've worked does this). The owners were very stingy though and to save on cups, they provided plastic cups for everyone. We just had to wash out the cup at the end of our shift. One day, they found someone's cup that hadn't been washed in quite some time. They would just hide the cup away in the break area and use it again the next day without washing, so it was very gross. When the owners found it, they lost their s**t, and banned everyone in the store from getting free drinks. A very, very stupid rule that caused a number of good employees to leave.
David A Paterson 1 year ago (edited)
Darwin ruined Christianity for everybody. (I'll show myself out).
Lucy James 1 year ago
I remember when handstands got banned at my school cause some kid up the country broke their neck doing one.
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