Why do we buy compulsively? I've lost track of how many mornings I've woken up to an Amazon purchase that made no sense. Like who in the world believed we were gonna ZAP the fat away? (Apparently I did! Thanks vodka) So many of these random products have emptied endless bank accounts just because the sale was so enticing or because we saw it on 'Shark Tank'. Damn them. Hold onto your pennies people. Don't make purchases as sheep.
Redditor u/WeirdDude_95 wanted to know what useless things we shouldn't wasted our money on by asking..... What's the worst hyped up product you have ever used?Slap
Napoleon Dynamite Fighting GIFGiphySlap Chop is absolutely useless. What the commercial doesn't tell you is that all the food just gets stuck in the blade. It's literally impossible to do multiple slaps in a row because you have to scrape the food out of the blade after each one. Just use a knife instead.
Face Issues.
Proactiv for cleaning your face. Meant to help get rid of pimples. But it didn't do anything. I counted the days I used it and I think I used it for about 200 days before finally realizing that the product is a waste of time and money.
No amount of topical product will get rid of hormonal or cystic acne. This is the only truth I've learned in my 30+ years of being alive and still dealing with occasional breakouts as an adult. They told me this crap would go away after puberty but monthly cycle hormones disagreed.
All for $60....
The original Hatchimal.
You give it to a kid who then has to be patient because it takes ages to hatch, then it hatches and that's it. Only hatches once and does nothing else exciting. All for $60. I worked at TRU when they were all the rage and hard to find. Just shook my head every time someone dropped that kind of dough on it.
Launch Fail
Anthem. This game killed the hype within hours of launch.
Let me put it this way... the one kind of interesting/novel (and specific) idea in the game, the flight? It was something an EA executive pushed for, and which the devs fought against including, and ultimately crippled.
Sort of sums up that game perfectly.
Jason Schreier did a couple of good write-ups on that game over on Kotaku if you want all the dirt.
Wow those Eggs....
eggs GIFGiphyCostco sells Super Extra-Large Peanuts under their Kirkland brand. "Holy crap," I thought, "they must be the size of eggs!" When I got them home and opened the package, I was disappointed to find that they were approximately the size of peanuts.
The Rolling Revolution....
The Segway.
Edit: Not saying segways are terrible, but the older people here will remember the hype. It was supposed to "revolutionize" the way we travel. Now it's only used by mall cops or tour guides.
Big cities quickly banning it from sidewalks really crippled it. It is also the sort of thing that seems nice when you imagine you are the only one around with one and everyone gets out of your way, but imagine the congestion if the actually became popular.
Ah Snugs....
Consensus: if it's advertised using infomercials or a shopping channel, don't buy it.
Disagree. The Snuggie has been a great investment. Works exactly as they claimed and fills a need that I've always had (arms get cold while reading).
Ah yes the Snuggie! They were pretty cool. The exception that makes the rule
My thought on the Snuggie was that it was just a bathrobe worn backwards.
Skip the Beat....
Beats headphones. I totally fell for the hype. Twice. That is an absolute garbage product. Both sets literally fell apart and the sound quality was not worth it.
Thank you!! I had one pair and the sound was ok but the headphones themselves were super uncomfortable. I bought a pair of Sony headphones for about 1/3 of the price and they are 10 times better.
Google Fail.
Google glass.
The only person I've ever seen use one was this dude who dyed his beard pink and treated everyone around him, including wait staff, like crap. That guy was insufferable, and the Google glass didn't help.
The only person I've ever seen use one was a Google employee on the Google campus. He let me try it but I guess I didn't understand the point. It was just a tiny faint blue screen in front of one of my eyes.
Twinked....
happy dance GIF by Coleture GroupGiphyTwinkies, they seemed to be everywhere in the TV shows imported to the UK and so I always wanted to try one. When I finally did it tasted of disappointment and dust, worst Christmas gift ever.
Magic
When I was a young kid, I saw the Fushigi Ball commercial on TV. It claimed it was a "magic gravity ball". After begging my parents, I finally got it and it was more than just a disappointment. The only good thing I got was a lesson on how marketing works.
The Wizard...
savage GIFGiphyThe Nintendo Powerglove.
Fred Savage's movie The Wizard really sold that junk as elite status gamer equipment. It didn't really work. Oh, for sure.
But most of us didn't want to admit it didn't work, so we just kept messing with arranging and resetting and recalibrating the little sensors that went on the corner of the TV. Hoping that if we just got it set up right this time it would work. And of course every now and then it would kind of almost work which would keep your hope going.
In the end most of us ended up just playing with the standard (backup) controller that was built into the wrist pad. At least it looked kind of futuristic.
Flames....
The Boring Company Not-a-Flamethrower. Damn trigger started breaking after one can of propane, so now it's finicky getting it to start/stop "throwing flame".
Spyra One. Seemed like it was going to be the best squirt gun ever made. It's neat, but far from the best thing ever. Maybe if they were cheaper?
Vicks Vap-o-Rub....
Head On - Apply Directly to the Forehead!
Crap was like a glue stick made of Vicks Vap-o-Rub. I've learned that headaches exist in countless forms and that everyone has their preferred method of dealing with them. I'm very sensitive to smells, so rubbing a cooling agent on my head like those has the opposite effect for me. In my case, I usually have some coffee as the caffeine really helps. I also take a nasal decongestant if they're really bad and that helps the throbbing go away.
Forget Madden
Madden 21. This game sucks big time.
Worst part is to NOT get the games cancelled or postponed you have to pay for the DLC, but it's EA so you should have been expecting that.
Madden is the same thing as FIFA, same game every year. Just it doesn't get made fun of as much.
Painful Feathers....
wake up friends GIFGiphySock 'em Boppers. Turns out they are NOT more fun than a pillow fight.
They were painful! Imagine getting hit full force with a wet towel on your face. Thats how it felt. Forget those things.
make it rain....
Received a ridge wallet as a gift. Absolutely the stupidest most inconvenient thing I've ever seen. You know why every single wallet making company makes identical wallets? Because they work perfectly and require no improvement,and they hold coins, and you can see each one of your cards before you take them out, and you don't have to clip your cash to the outside of the freaking things so everytime you pull it out of your pocket you make it rain unintentionally.
The YT Generation....
Was a fan of this GTA YouTuber for a long time, and of course around Christmas time he made ugly Christmas sweater merch. His looked bad so I asked my mom to buy me one. 30 damn dollars, plus I think 12 for shipping. Comes in three days before Xmas Eve and mom lets me open it early.
It turned out to be literally just a normal red sweatshirt with the "Xmas sweater" design on the chest in a small square. Didn't even cover the full chest. Probably about 4" x 4.5" on the center of the chest part. About 45 bucks for just that. Next time I buy YT merch, it's gonna be a more popular one so the merch isn't so crappy.
Balloon Destruction
That machine that blew up a crap ton of water balloons at once, came out probably 6 or 7 years ago and I asked my mum for it and showed her the commercial and she agreed it looked real fun so she ordered one, and we got it and some of the nozzles weren't working so it probably blew up about half of what it said it would but still there were probably about 20 balloons tied and everything. It barely blows them up before tying them and i don't know what God awful rubber they used because getting hit by one was like getting hit by a freaking rock, then it would fall to the ground and break open.
I hate tickles....
sesame street fainting GIFGiphyWith my kids when they were little... Tickle Me Elmo. Sorry Elmo! I still love ya but... really? Day after Christmas, you were in the bottom of the toy box.
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- The Worst Movies Of All-Time - George Takei ›
Generally speaking, we watch movies to escape our current realities and be transported to other worlds.
As a result, we don't always walk into movie theaters hoping for a truly authentic or genuine experience.
After all, how many people in real life actually met the love of their life at the top of the Empire State Building on Valentine's Day, after hearing them on the radio?
When it comes to historical fiction and dramas, however, some might say the facts and historical accuracy are a bit more important.
Indeed, part of the ongoing grudge over Shakespeare In Love's surprise Oscar victory over Saving Private Ryan was the latter was applauded for its accuracy, while the victor was anything but.
However, what probably helped in Shakespeare In Love's upset despite its many historical inaccuracies was that when push came to shove, it was a very good movie.
Redditor Agreeable-Beach-3009 was curious to hear what other films people thought were so good, that their anachronisms and inaccuracies should be overlooked, leading them to ask:
"What's a historically inaccurate movie that gets a pass because of how good it is?"
You Mean, Rasputin WASN'T A Demonic Sorcerer?
"'Anastasia'."
"Can you imagine getting murdered, then a movie gets made implying the woman who claimed your identity was the real deal and had to fight a freaky wizard's curse, and there were two knockoff movies made in the same year?"
"Songs were boppin tho."- vworpstageleft
"CRETACEOUS Park" Just Doesn't Have The Same Ring To It...
"Most of the dinosaurs you see in 'Jurassic Park' are actually from the Cretaceous Period."- 3loodwolf117
First Hand Accounts Were Probably A Bit Hard To Come By...
"Gladiator."- chewie8291
"Almost nothing about the movie 'Gladiator' is historically accurate, but it doesn't matter."
"S tier historical drama."- Pixelated_Penguin808
Russell Crowe Gladiator GIF by MOODMANGiphyThose Costumes Though!
"Amadeus."- Sgtp3ppers
"I feel like 'Amadeus' gets a pass because it's an adaptation of a stage play and as an adaptation, it's not trying to be historically accurate but to instead tell a great story, which it does phenomenally."- LadicusRex
Making His Lies Even More Far Fetched...
"Catch Me If You Can."- Bender_Wiggin
"While it all being bullsh*t does take some of the magic out of it, it’s still an entertaining story."
"And the soundtrack absolutely slaps."- rnilbog
It's Safe To Assume The Spanish Inquisition Had A Lot Less Singing And Dancing...
"History of the world part I."- whopper68
"Rome didn't have bullsh*t artists collecting unemployment?"
"Did Mel Brooks lie to me?"- CrunchyDonut42
GiphyGood Delivery Can Disguise Almost Anything...
"Tombstone."
"But I really do love it."- Iwouldntifiwereme
"Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life"
"The Life of Brian."- Visible_Claim_388
"'He’s not the messiah he’s just a naughty boy'."- dcrico20
For One Thing, Dogs Can't Talk...
"Balto?"- rmr236
"I love how the premise is that the little girl is telling the story as an old woman, but she was unconscious the whole time."
"She’s definitely pulling that shi* out of her a**."- TheFufe10
sad shame GIFGiphyThere Is, Indeed, A Sucker Born Every Minute. Including Many Who Thought This Movie Told The Truth...
"'The Greatest Showman' makes PT Barnum look like a better person than he was in real life."- viridianvenus
He Was A Man Of Many Talents... This Wasn't One Of Them...
"Abraham Lincoln Vampire Slayer."- nogoat23
"That movie crosses the absurd into awesome, and I love it."- FactoryOfBradness
Stretching It...
"A Knights Tale."- SoCalRc
"I always wondered how Queen never admitted to stealing such a banger from hundreds of years ago."- londoner4life
heath ledger love GIFGiphySome Of The Irish Accents Were Less Than Authentic As Well...
"'Gangs of New York'."
"Historically accurate setting, costumes and some characters/gangs, but the plot and the events supporting it are largely fictional."
"Damn good movie though."- Lieutenant_Skittles
Tom Cruise Swinging A Sword Is More Than Enough For Some People...
"The Last Samurai."- The Last Samurai
"I was surprised at how good this movie was when I saw it this year for the first time."
"The costumes, action, and acting were all quite good."- OutlawQuill
More Memorable Than The Truth?
"The 1970 production 'Tora, Tora, Tora' pulled off one of the great cons of modern cinematography."
"It convinced an entire generation of Americans that after the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese Admiral Yamamoto had said 'I fear that all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve'."
"There is no evidence that the quote was ever spoken by Yamamoto."
"But it was so perfect and convincing that subsequent Hollywood movies released in 2001 (Pearl Harbor) and 2019 (Midway) unquestioningly passed it off as legitimate."- InstrumentRated
Movies are, first and foremost, a source of entertainment.
As a result, most viewers pay no mind at all to all the complaints historians and scholars may have about them.
If you're looking for speedy answers for a history test or essay, it's best to stick to the textbooks and not rely on Spielberg or Scorcese.
Redditor Jarvis_Strife wanted to hear about the times the price tag left people a little shook, so they asked:
"What turned out to be A LOT more expensive than you anticipated?"
Used cars.
HOLY MOTHER OF GOD?!
How does a 20 year old car with 250,000 miles on it cost THOUSANDS of dollars?!
MADNESS!
Open Wide
Dentist GIFGiphy"Root canal with a crown. I understand now why a lot of people just get the tooth pulled."
Bitey_the_opossum
"Dental insurance barely covering anything is crazy to me. It’s extremely important to keep teeth healthy, being that an infection can kill you, so you think it would be covered under preventative care, but nope."
Jamie9712
The Usual
"Car repairs."
BlackLesbianTroll
"My usual shop tried to charge us $700 for a coolant flush, engine air filter, battery, and spark plugs. I did all of it but the spark plugs myself in an hour for about $120. I have started doing my own oil changes and it's about 50% cheaper. It's crazy how much places by me charge for cheap and easy stuff."
gaybatman75-6
"The fact that every service ends up being an extra $100+ is frustrating sometimes too 😮💨."
-Tired_Phoenix-
Flooring
"Rugs. Biggest shock when I got my own place."
spnginger3
"One of those things I can’t believe people pay full price for. Those things are like 85% margin if you buy them from retail. Find a local auction website and search through it to find a rug distribution center that usually does quarterly (or so) liquidations at auction. You can get thousands of dollars in rugs for a couple hundred bucks."
FairState612
Window Dressing
"When I bought my first house about 5 years ago it was a new build, as such it had no blinds or curtains etc. I’m a blinds guy so we got a company Dunelm Mill to make us measure blinds for the whole house. It was a couple thousand pounds but we had allowed for it when buying."
"The blinds ended up being a little delayed, not a crazy amount but a bit of a frustrating amount - maybe 2 months or so. They straight up gave them to us (and still fitted them for us) literally for free, and they had given us a temporary more basic blind for our bedroom in the meantime!"
jw205
Why so much?
Angry Organized Crime GIF by Law & OrderGiphy"Kitchen garbage can. Why are they $50+!?"
redheadscorp
"Man mine was double that! Options are apparently either a five-dollar plastic bin with no lid that is borderline useless or a $100+ Ferrari trash can. I just wanted one with a lid and a foot pedal to open it."
BellicosePost
Seriously garbage bag prices have gotten out of control.
There has to be a better way to sell this product.
Get Another Quote
Doors Doorways GIF by Joe MerrellGiphy"I had someone come out to the house and he quoted me almost $20k to replace four doors. I passed."
stoneman9284
"I'd get another quote. I spent $1,500 to have an exterior door replaced last year. I had quotes come in from $1,500 to $7,500 for the same scope of work."
Milehighcarson
In the dirt
"Landscaping. Even by yourself."
alwaysyardening
"There's that saying 'cheap as dirt' but soil/dirt is expensive AF."
notjanelane
"Getting quotes on having some landscaping done and wow... it is insane. Four quotes ranged from $1500 to $8500 for the same work. To the point where I called the $1500 and told them maybe I forgot to include stuff because their quote was so much lower. LOL!"
Miserable_Emu5191
"Landscaper quoted us $20k to re-rock flower beds that already had [some] rock in them. We were getting more of the same rock to just freshen it up. I laughed them out of my house. We did it ourselves... very. very. slowly. And very painfully. Still spent $12k after everything was done."
thatChickinBFE
Chronic
"Being sick/chronic illnesses/becoming disabled. Everyone thinks that having a chronic illness or becoming disabled is a great excuse to sit at home and watch TV all day. The constant doctor visits, surgeries, prescriptions, medical devices, and therapies add up to thousands a year."
"And the more you make the more you spend, when I could still manage to work I’d pay for or buy any type of treatment or device I could that promised some relief. $100 massages every week? Ok fancy chiropractor at $40 a visit, sure. $100 massager tool, ok. I’ve spent tens of thousands just because I got in a car accident that left me with chronic back pain and surgery that left me disabled."
"And these are just the monetary costs, there are plenty of costs that aren’t money. Want to enjoy a day out, well now you need to be on bed rest for a week. It’s constant and unrelenting, and unless a miracle happens it will be the rest of my life."
PinkPrincess1224
Every Week
"Seriously, groceries, it's insane how high the prices have risen on everything."
Ddowns5454
"The really shi**y thing is it keeps going up basically on a weekly basis. I work for a major national grocery store and I hang the sales tags for the grocery department. We apparently have this AI that will see how much money they can milk out of customers."
"It will set a price higher and I think based on how much we well over a specified amount of time the system will lower the price if the changed price cuts too much into their profits. I've seen crazy price jumps of like $2 or $3 because they are just trying to f**k with the prices until they hit that sweet spot."
jpaugh69
Every Breath
life GIFGiphy"Life. Even just sitting in my apartment doing nothing costs $2000 a month."
Eyfordsucks
"For real. I pay 1600 for half of a beat-up duplex. After everything, it's like I have my Xbox and that's it."
Lovetopuck37
Life. What a scam.
Even breathing feels expensive.