People Explain Which Cheap Purchase Ended Up Being The Absolute Best Decision
Sometimes the cheapest things end up being the best investments. Seriously, the dollar store has pretty much everything you could ever need, and there are bargains everywhere from Ebay to thrift shops. It all just depends on where you look.
Reddit user MrAnimeFanime asked:
What was a sketchy cheap buy, that ended up being one of your best purchases?
A solid investment.
"Seed packets from the dollar store."
"While in college my boyfriend and I were broke.'
"Really broke.'
"But I still wanted to do something to celebrate spring."
"We were getting a few cheap things at the dollar store when I noticed they were selling these seeds packets from a big old bin that you had to dig thru. 4 for $1."
"No tax."
"I immediately begged to buy one despite our strict budget."
'Boyfriend was incredulous I'd want to buy sketchy seeds but dutifully handed me a quarter."
"I ended up picking out tomatoes."
"Well we got home and I carefully placed about 3 seeds in washed out cans."
"I watered them and watched them sprout."
"I loved tending to my little garden."
"I ended up with 3 beautiful HUGE tomato plants."
"It was a bumper crop."
"More than we could eat."
"I sold the extra produce to my classmates."
"Made like $25."
"Good seeds!"- viceroywaffles
Thanks, Sanrio!
"I was traveling in Japan and needed nail clippers."
"All I could find is this cheap pink Hello Kitty grooming kit."
"These clippers are the best I ever owned."
"They have stayed sharp and functional for 20 years."
"I'm very protective of them."
"Everyone in the house knows, you don't touch Dad's pink Hello Kitty nail clippers."-miraculous_spackle
GiphyWe love a good flannel.
"Dad bought me a flannel jacket for $2, from the equivalent of a dollar store, in 1994."
"Wore it for everything you can think of."
"Wore it yesterday."
"Still going strong after 25 years."- Essembie
Nice of them to give him advice.
"Guy said there were a bunch of bricks in his back yard he wanted to get rid of."
"$5 for all of them if you'd come pick them up because they were 'larger than regular bricks and were very heavy'."
"I grabbed a friend and headed out because I needed some cheap brick for the edging of my garden."
"Guys house was across the river and in some really run down looking neighborhood, really glad I grabbed my friend at this point."
"We pull up and the guy is waiting outside, and he looks like he's 80 but I know he must have been a 35 year old guy who just smoked 10 packs a day."
"So the guy takes us to his back yard and shows up the pile of bricks, which turn out to be 50+ antique Louisville Fire Bricks."
"So I look at the guy and tell him, 'I'll take half of them...and as payment I'll give you $20 and some advice'."
"And of course the guy is looking at me like I'm an idiot, but he accepts my money and helps me and my friend load up about 30 bricks."
"After I close my truck and get in the car to drive off I tell him to google the antique fire bricks and adjust his craigslist listing."
"I went back to look at the listing a few days later, and he had changed the price from $5 for the whole pile, to $5 PER BRICK, which was the going rate at the time."
"Nowadays they go for $20/brick."
BEST BUY EVER!- Whylizlovesyou
Meow Factory!
"Bought my kitty for 20 bucks on Craigslist from a druggie."
"I had never had a cat before and this little meow factory has been my best friend ever since.-Rubixcube3034
Giphy$5 bras are the best bras.
"I was traveling from a different city straight into work, where my uniform was a white shirt, with a conspicuously black bra."
"Wasn't stopping home, so I did stop on the first corner store I found and bought a five-dollar white bra that looked roughly my size as they had nowhere to try them on."
"Just to wear one night."
"10/10, comfiest bra I ever owned, wore it every day of my life for about a year."
"It gave in at some point - it was still a 5 dollar bra."
"But damn, I dream of the day when all my bras fit that well."- NewVerses
That's a super lucky Lyft ride.
"I was giving these college aged young women a Lyft ride."
"One asks how 'that Craigslist thing went' so my ears perked up."
"The other says something like 'he complained it went back too far, just don't put it back so far, duh'."
"Eventually, I deduce they are talking about a recliner - which I've been looking for one for some time now."
"I interject and ask about it."
"Lady has a Laz-E-Boy electric recliner she just wants 20 bucks for."
"I'm like, 'listen I know it's sketchy but if you've got Craigslist rando's in your house Lyft at least gave me a background check."-
"We pull up, I end the ride, and follow these ladies into their house."
"I knew I wanted it as soon as I laid eyes on it."
"So, this college chick is helping me stuff a recliner into my back seat and all I can think is this is how Buffalo Bill kidnapped that girl in Silence of the Lambs."
"Twenty dollars for a recliner so lazy it reclines for me."- OctoberThirteenth
RIP sunglasses.
"At the end of a long road trip with some mates, I bought a $20 pair of sunglasses in a gas station just outside Chicago."
"They fit me better than any pair of sunglasses ever did, or ever will, and they made me look awesome."
"For years I constantly received compliments about them and was asked where I got them."
"I lost them after 5 long years and have hated myself for it every since."
"They were so no-name they didn't even have a brand name on them at all, so I have no idea who made them."
"I have no way of finding that gas station, either."
"I've literally spent hundreds of dollars trying to find sunglasses that come close to that same perfect fit/style, but I can't."- visijared
GiphyDefinitely cursed.
"The Bra of Mystery."
"First strike: I bought it from a grocery store."
"Second strike: It was marked down to $2, and plastered with stickers reading, 'Final sale!', 'No returns!', 'We're not liable if this kills you!', 'I'm sure there are people who love you!' and the like."
"Third strike: Upon ringing it through, the cashier did a double-take at the screen, looked at me with great concern, and asked if I was sure I wanted to buy it."
"After failing to self-combust and send me straight to hell, it wound up being one of the nicest bras I ever had."
"Wore it for two years before the inevitable underwire tit-shanking."
"I still wonder what they thought was wrong with it."- mus_maximus
A nice surprise.
"I randomly found a wedding videographer online and booked him for a very affordable rate for my wedding assuming it wouldn't be very good quality."
"Two weeks after the wedding, he emails me a high quality, well-edited video."
"He had a drone I hadn't noticed because he was outside of the venue getting b-roll with it before I even started getting ready for the big day."
"I was floored and now I recommend him to everyone who ever plans to get married ever."
"He has definitely upped his prices since then, he did the videography for my wedding last summer, and rightfully so, because he does great work."- Ticonderoga10-11
What a steal.
"Traded a kid in middle school a sandwich size ziploc bag of lego pieces for a ps1 and thought I got best deal ever."
"But when I got home it didn't work at all."
"My dad opened it and found a couple broken pieces stuck inside and fixed it up and it worked perfectly after that."
"Made me learn how easily a deal could be too good, but at least that kid felt stupid after I told him how easy it got fixed."-malificide15
GiphyWish
"I buy things off Wish that are a serious gamble."
"For those who are unfamiliar, wish is an app where you can buy things for seriously cheap, and sometimes they're just that — cheap."
"I once bought a long line trench coat for $4."
"Either it was going to be sh*tty, or it was going to be a great $4 well spent."
"2 years later I still wear it during the fall and I still get compliments on it! "
"I love Wish sometimes!"- nasty-otter
Matchbox car
"I bought a 1970s matchbox car for my father's birthday from ebay."
"It was a very old car and description said it was used."
"The pictures of car were quite blurry."
"It was 15 dollars and 4.33 for shipping."
"I bought it."
"The box came and I opened it to find the car in mint condition."
"The box it was in hadn't even been opened or scratched even."
"Apparently the guy inherited a complete matchbox car collection with cars in their original boxes and was selling them off for cheap prices like 15 dollars."
"I checked online people were selling this car for $250."
"The lowest I found was $95."- km1180
Good deal.
"I had been searching for a sofa bed for less than $100 for months to put in my music/multi-purpose room when I finally found an old, kind of worn-in looking one for $50."
"I was psyched, it fit the aesthetic of the room perfectly, so I brought my buddy with who offered the kind lady $30 for the thing."
"She said, 'how about you give me $50 and take anything else you want in this garage!'"
"We ended up making out of there with the comfiest rocking-style chair, throw pillows, and a coffee table."
"We only stopped there because the bed of the truck was full."
"She also let us take pictures of the Toyota Camry she is selling, so I've been in contact with her about picking that up on the cheapy cheap, too."
"I've met some awesome people by trying to buy sh*t cheap on Craigslist."- MercilessMiser
Quality blanket.
"When my Dad was stationed in Mexico in 85-86, he bought a Mexican blanket for a couple of bucks."
"To this day we still use it as a beach blanket and the colors haven't faded at all."
"He's had that blanket longer than he's known my Mom."
"Considering the quality of that blanket I'm surprised it wasn't worth more."- KentuckyWallChicken
Friends in high places
"My bf and his roommate knew this guy that would get us a lot of food in exchange for a gift card that wasn’t even a third of the price."
"We would always get pizza, panda express, wings, or whatever we wanted at the time."
"$50+ worth of food for a $15 amazon gift card."
"Son’t know how the dude did it, but we definitely used his services a LOT."
"Good times."- maloraen
hungry spirited away GIFGiphyJust have a little faith
"I’m a Canadian hockey fan that likes an American team, so both cities in my province only carry the jerseys of primarily their respective home team, and small stock from other Canadian teams."
"I wanted a jersey from the goalie on my team and checked the NHL store and it was $250 for a customizable jersey so I didn’t buy it."
"About 3 months later I see an Instagram ad for a company selling knockoff jerseys, so being the dumba** I am, decided to check it out."
"I made a version of the jersey that I was looking for 3 months prior, and went to checkout."
"I saw they used actual real PayPal so I figured why the hell not, went and made a quick PayPal account, and put some money in and bought the jersey."
"A month goes by and nothing had shown up so I chalked it up as a $50 loss and went about my business."
"The next week, I come home from work to a package from China, I open it up and lo and behold it’s the jersey I bought."
"I think that they must have been jerseys made for professional leagues by adidas and didn’t meet some standard so they were sold for cheap to the company I bought the jersey from, because on the jerseys there are tie downs on it, which aren’t put on jerseys purchased from stores or NHL.com."
"But the jersey is correct on everything, even down to the shoulder logos, and the font for the numbers, and because they’re (pretty sure) jerseys made for actual game use, they don’t have the ugly, not-removable patch on the bottom of the jersey that shows the size on it."
"Only downside was the website did not have goalie size jerseys, and I am a goalie."- therealpylon
Don't always believe the reviews
"I bought an extremely cheap GS7 off Amazon, bad reviews."
"Best phone I ever had, all the reviews were false."- BlueCannonBall
Who needs new technology?
"My phone."
"Only 6.500 rubles (~100 dollars) I bought it about 1.5 year ago."
"But I still use it!"- MrLaviceMan
Add Hasan Minhaj GIF by MOODMANGiphyA streaming alternative
"The website FlixTor.com every single movie and tv show for the price of Netflix."
"I thought I lost my money at first but it is really good."- Colin1023
A serendipitous purchase!
"I went to WHSmith this one time to hide/escape from being social, and I bought a whole mini desktop shelf as my excuse as to why I was in there, it’s amazing."
"It goes with my room, it fits perfectly, it’s just the right size and everything."- merrivale-tearooms
Go away, I'm busy!
"LA Noire on the 360."
"Quickly became my favorite game, although sadly I never finished it on the 360 cause disc 3 was busted."
"I did buy it on Switch and finish it on there, though."- Ericbazinga
Video Games Game GIF by For Better or for WorseGiphyThe currency of the future
"$20 bitcoin."- DrNukeDukem
A noble steed
"I got an ex harness horse / pacer for free."
"He’s only seven years old and in full health."
"People gate the breed and say they’re ugly and have bad movement or whatever but I just wanted a companion for my other horse, and if it turned out to be ridable that would be a bonus."
"Eight months later and he is legitimately the best horse I’ve ever owned, he’s so funny and full of personality and is the most reliable and safe boy I could imagine."
"My husband, who can’t ride much, can get on him and fool around and come out with me and my horse and I know Max will always look after my husband."
"He’s a credit to his breed and the loveliest horse I’ve had in 25 years of working and living with horses."- shine-notburn
Man's best friend
"My family got our beautiful, pure bred chocolate lab as a puppy from a random couple they met at Lowes."
"We just bought the house, and we're talking about what kind of dog they wanted to adopt."
"Couple overheard and said 'well our AKC registered labs had a litter a while back, we only have the runt of the litter left' and my parents agreed to buy him."
"Met in a parking lot at like 8 at night during a small snowstorm and paid them cash."
"Our amazing dog is turning 10 in November, and is the greatest pup we could have asked for."
"When my brother was a toddler, the dog was so patient and would let the kid climb on him and pull his ears/face."- elodieme1
Chocolate Lab Puppy GIFGiphySometimes the cheapest items can be the most useful... or at least the most fun.
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Things People Secretly Love But Would Never Admit To In Public
Reddit user sweet_chick283 asked: 'What do you secretly love that you would never admit to in public?;
What makes us all unique is our passions and the things we love, whether it's singing in the shower, reading books, or listening to specific music artists.
Unfortunately, we live in a world where we are judged for our various tastes and interests thanks to social media, and it makes us consciously selective about sharing the things we love on the internet.
Curious to hear about people's personal desires under anonymity, Redditor sweet_chick283 asked:
"What do you secretly love that you would never admit to in public?"
These aren't really chores for the following Redditors.
Good Clean Fun
"Mopping, im a janitor and generally hate my work... but damn mopping is so good."
– MrDDog06
"When you have a great rhythm going it is something special. I get the same feeling while I vacuum, but won’t let my wife know I enjoy it."
– Bogus_34
Act Of Unwrinkling
"Ironing clothes. A dozen of them. Can’t explain how it relaxes me. I told one person and they looked at me like I’m crazy."
– eerie_white_glow
"My mum misses the days when dad would be out on a Friday night, my brother out with friends and me upstairs quietly playing PS1. She would pour herself a Bacardi & Coke and do the ironing while watching her TV shows."
"I'm sure she doesn't really miss it now that we've moved out and they've retired but it was her wind-down after a busy working week so I can see how people can find it relaxing."
– xdq
Our solo actions can spark joy.
Big Brother Is Watching
"pretending to be on the Truman show and whenever im in my house i act all inconspicuous so they dont know that i know that they’re watching me."
– Bec_121
"C’mon man, you’re not supposed to let him know. You signed a contract when signing up for live views. I’m reporting you."
– doeswaspsmakehoney
The Multi-Tasker
"Playing video games naked at home while eating cheese."
– thickening_agent
Releasing The Kraken
"I love the feeling when you've eaten good fibre and let out a solid long train log in the toilet. That feeling is heavenly."
– therapoootic
"Even better when it’s a clean wipe and not a poo crayon."
– TheWarmestHugz
Ultimate Comfort
"My (male 41) weekend routine is coming home from work, make hot chocolate, start a fire, dress in a ugly pink nightgown made for old ladies and watch forensic files."
– crazyloomis
Some people are obsessed with collecting things.
So Kawai
"Sanrio stationery stores. All those different multicolor pens, a thousand kinds of erasers, spiral bound notebooks galore... my kids sadly have absolutely no appreciation for this wonderland..."
– HavingNotAttained
It's A Staple
"Office supplies have a weird, special place in my heart ever since I was a kid. They don't even have to be 'cute' necessarily."
"Japan's legendary stationery stores is unironically a reason I want to go."
– _CozyLavender_
Not Caring Anymore
"The older I get the shorter that list gets. Not because I love less things, but because I don't care about hiding it."
– Bi-Beast
"YES!! I'm 53 now. I'm working my first job in public since 2006. Today is Halloween and we're allowed to dress up so I am sitting here waiting to go to work dressed as a VERY bad Wednesday Addams. My bf said I'd 'look stupid' because no one else will probably dress up and I'm like, 'WHO CARES!' My makeup looks horrible and not like I practiced, but I DO NOT CARE! I'm having fun with it anyhow and I don't care if my coworkers dress up or not. I'm bein' ME! :)"
– deanie1970
Honorable mentions start here.
The Savior
"Picking up worms from the street and sidewalks when it rains and moving them into the dirt so they don’t burn in the sun, every time it rains I do this."
– sky_kitten89
Hero Of The Moment
"Yoooo I scoot SO many snails and worms. I work as a tech/mechanic at an automotive shop, I had a peoject car towed to my house the other day and it was covered in snails. I saw them when the tow guy/coworker was unloading and I was like, 'oh! It comes with free snails!' and began moving them. He laughed then realized and said, '... Oh, you're serious. Uh... Okay.'"
"I don't care who knows it. These little things barely can look out for themselves, why shouldn't we if we can take a moment to help? I don't care what happens next, it probably doesn't matter overall but I can help this moment."
– chris14020
Why should some of the hidden desires mentioned above have to be secret?
Redditors opening up about some of these would make them a hit at parties–no shaming.
As a matter of fact, I'll totally be down for a Forensic Files viewing party where we all make hot chocolate, light the fireplace, and cozy up together in our respective pink ugly nightgowns for old ladies.
We've probably all heard some variation of the saying "Truth is stranger than fiction."
Real life isn't just strange, it can also be downright ridiculous.
History is riddled with moments of absurdity.
So ridiculous that people have a hard time believing real life is, well, really real.
A Redditor asked:
"What’s an event in history that is so ridiculous it sounds fake?"
Moostaken Identity
"Hannibal saved his army by tying torches to the horns of 5,000 cows and driving them in one direction."
"The Romans thought they were the enemy army and converged on them, while Hannibal quietly snuck his 10,000 man force out of the valley by another route."
~ Marxbrosburner
War Without Casualties
"That time Denmark and Canada (I think) had a 'war' over Hans island."
"Every time a Navy vessel drove by they picked up the flag of the over nation, planted their own and left a bottle of alcohol."
"I heard it stopped not that long ago."
~ FairyQueen89
"It also means that both Canada and Denmark now share a land border with more than one country."
"Also (jokingly) means that Canada could potentially join the EU, as it now borders an EU nation."
~ millijuna
Oh, 💩
"The Erfurt Latrine Disaster occurred on 26 July 1184, when Henry VI, King of Germany (later Holy Roman Emperor), held a Hoftag (informal assembly) in the Petersberg Citadel in Erfurt."
"On the morning of 26 July, the combined weight of the assembled nobles caused the wooden second story floor of the building to collapse and most of them fell through into the latrine cesspit below the ground floor, where about 60 of them drowned in liquid excrement."
~ amerkanische_Frosch
Running On Empty
"The 1904 Olympic Marathon in St. Louis."
"32 athletes took part, but only 14 were able to finish—there was only one water station in the entire 26-mile course. The 'winner' was later disqualified because they found out he drove half the race in his car."
"The new winner (the guy who came in second) had to be carried over the finish line by his trainers because they’d been dosing him the whole time with a strange mixture of strychnine, brandy, and egg whites."
"Several people almost died of internal injuries. Multiple runners stole things from passersby."
"Most people in the race weren’t even Olympic-level athletes, just amateur runners, many of whom didn’t even have to run a full marathon to qualify."
~ Blacl-Owl
Stonewalled
"When two perfectly working pistols failed to fire on US President Andrew Jackson who then beat his would-be-assassin so badly that the presidential security detail had to pull him off to save the man's life."
~ sleepwalkfromsherdog
The Log Shot First
"The guy who founded Scientology once engaged in a multi-day naval battle with a log. He would then go on to commit an act of war against Mexico."
~ Duck_Whistle
"In June 1942, Hubbard was given command of a patrol boat at the Boston Navy Yard, but he was relieved after the yard commandant wrote that Hubbard was 'not temperamentally fitted for independent command'."
"In 1943, Hubbard was given command of a submarine chaser, but only five hours into the shakedown cruise, Hubbard believed he had detected an enemy submarine. Hubbard and crew spent the next 68 hours engaged in combat."
"An investigation concluded that Hubbard had likely mistaken a 'known magnetic deposit' for an enemy sub. The following month, Hubbard unwittingly fired upon Mexican territory and was relieved of command."
"In 1944, Hubbard served aboard the USS Algol before being transferred. The night before his departure, Hubbard reported the discovery of an attempted sabotage."
"I believe he had his men fire into hills in Baja California. He must not have realized that you can’t just use another country for target practice."
~ csfshrink
Bling, Bling
"The Field of the Cloth of Gold, where King Henry VIII of England and King Francis I of France tried to out-bling each other."
"The fact that two monkeys covered in gold leaf were far from the most ostentatious display is a good indication of how tasteful it was."
~ notatravis
"I assumed you meant two statues of monkeys in gold leaf."
"But no, actual real-life monkeys. Somebody painted actual real-life monkeys gold."
~ Youre_so_damn_fat
Sorry We Can't Shoot You
"When America went to war with Spain, the Spanish forgot to tell their territory, Guam.
"The US sent a single warship to the island where they took 13 shots at the fort."
"The leaders on the island rowed out to apologize they couldn't return their 'salute' because they had no gunpowder."
"That is why Guam is a US territory."
~ Wetworth
Ribbit
"The Great Windham Frog War."
"In 1754 Windham, Connecticut was still a frontier settlement. One hot night the residents awoke to gruesome sounds that convinced them that the local Natives were attacking."
"Throughout the night they strove to drive off the attackers with steady gunfire. In the morning they crept out, to find thousands of dead frogs who had spent the night competing for the dwindling water."
"Rather than being ashamed, this has become a central part of the town’s character. The town’s symbol is a frog and the bridge is decorated with large frogs at each corner."
~ DdraigGwyn
Psych!
"Operation Mincemeat."
"Basically, the British dressed a random dead guy in a military uniform, put fake invasion plans in his pocket, and dropped him on the shore of Spain."
"The Spanish found the body (and invasion plans) and informed Germany."
"Germany, believing the invasion plans were real, sent an army to Greece—which is exactly what the Brits wanted, because they were actually going to invade Sicily."
~ ThePinkTeenager
They Got Worms
"For a very long time the Roman empire was able to acquire silk through trade over 'the silk road' to China, but never able to unlock the secrets of producing it domestically themselves."
"Until 552AD, when two monks preaching in India then travelled to China, where they witnessed the guarded methods of using the live silk worm to spin the famous thread."
"Knowing the importance of what they'd learned, the monks returned to Constantinople to report directly to the emperor Justinian."
"He personally met the monks, heard all the details of what they'd seen, then asked them to return to China and find a way of smuggling these worms back to the empire."
"They agreed, and prepared for the 2 year ~6,500km (4,000mi) trek back to China on foot, hoof and wheel."
"Once back in China they acquired either eggs or young larvae, since the adults are too delicate for transport, and tucked them into hollowed bamboo canes for the long journey straight back home."
"Once the monks made it back to Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey), domestic silk production slowly ramped up and the need for long journeys along the 'silk road' ramped down."
"Over time, this allowed the same type of silk monopoly which China had enjoyed through the prior centuries to now be established in the Mediterranean, becoming one of the bedrocks of the Byzantine economy for the next 700 years.It's crazy to think about these two guys."
"1500 years before you or I were born, making their second multi-year, 6,500km trek back from China, smuggling two bamboo canes full of bugs which would fuel the economy of one of the world's largest civilizations for the next 700 years."
"I wonder if they knew and understood these possibilities when they went to scoop the worms from their baskets in China...Imagine the anxiety trying to keep them hidden and alive the whole way back!"
~ ChipHazardous
Ape 💩
"The Gombe Chimpanzee War."
"It sounds like something right out of a Planet of The Apes movie."
"The Gombe Chimpanzee War, also known as the Four-Year War, was a violent conflict between two communities of chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National Park in the Kigoma region of Tanzania between 1974 and 1978."
"The two groups were once unified in the Kasakela community. By 1974, researcher Jane Goodall noticed the community splintering."
"Over a span of eight months, a large party of chimpanzees separated themselves into the southern area of Kasakela and were renamed the Kahama community. The separatists consisted of six adult males, three adult females and their young."
"The Kasakela was left with eight adult males, twelve adult females and their young."
"During the four-year conflict, all males of the Kahama community were killed, effectively disbanding the community. The victorious Kasakela then expanded into further territory but were later repelled by two other communities of chimpanzees."
~ DeadalusJones
Hong Xiuquan Christ?
"The Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864)."
"Hong Xiuquan, who failed the imperial exam on the third try to become a civil servant, had a breakdown and dreamed that he was the brother of Jesus Christ."
"He later led a revolution resulting in between 20 to 30 million deaths. That's the bloodiest civil war in the world and the toll of death surpasses the totality of casualties in WWI."
"British diplomats at the time wanted to support the revolution but later discovered that Hong Xiuquan literally never read the Bible and they thus deemed it would be disastrous if he were to get the throne."
"This historical event feels like a fever dream everytime I hear about it."
~ Freezemoon
Pied Piper
"John 'Mad Jack' Churchill was a British officer in World War Two. He’s famous because he brought along a Scottish claymore, bagpipes, and a bow and got the 'only confirmed longbow kill of the Second World War'."
"One time he was with part of his commando unit and a shell exploded and injured everyone but him, so he played a Scottish Jacobite song on his bagpipes until the Germans captured him and sent him to a prison camp."
"He promptly escaped via a tunnel he dug and almost got to the ocean before he got recaptured."
"By then, it was April 1945, and the German military was falling apart, so they let him go pretty quickly."
"He’s famous for the quote 'any officer who goes into action without his sword is improperly dressed'."
~ 3000ghosts
What absurdly, ridiculous event would you add?
Companies and products rebrand for a variety of reasons.
Sometimes they want to revitalize a dying brand.
Or stay fresh and modern.
Other times they're trying to put a negative public image in their rear view mirror.
And sometimes, someone somewhere in a company has low impulse control.
Anyway...
Reddit user PulakHasan asked:
"What's the Weirdest Rebranding of all time?"
Weight Watchers
"Weight Watchers abbreviated their name down to 'WW' and in doing so, increased the syllables needed to pronounce their new company name."
~ hambone10
"You burn more calories uttering the extra syllables."
~ jungl3j1m
waitr
"Waitr was an extremely successful delivery service here. They had full time employees and you could get food delivered in 30-45 minutes."
"Then, they made everybody an independent contractor and started calling themselves ASAP."
"'As slow as possible' caught on and they lost the majority market share within a month."
~ bravesgeek
GiphyHBO
"I still don’t understand HBO dropping probably the most prestigious name in cable tv/streaming."
~ stoneman9284
"Right?! Also it literally means Home Box Office - that’s the best name for a streaming service????"
~ oreos_in_milk
Nordic Choice Hotels
"Nordic Choice Hotels rebranded to 'Strawberry'."
"They have to mention their old name all the time, because Strawberry could be absolutely anything."
"If only it were 'Strawberry Hotels' but it's not. It's just Strawberry."
"They removed the part that explains what kind of business it is."
"Madness."
~ WoodSheepClayWheat
GiphyUSWest
"USWest-->Qwest-->CenturyLink-->Lumen I don’t care what your name is."
"Can I have more than 10mbps DSL at my address?"
~ Trickycoolj
"In Europe, and it's now Level3--> Centurylink--> Lumen--> Colt."
"I'm sure they rename in the hope people forget the incompetence."
~ ConsciousValence
"My mom has worked for them since 1977 when they were Northwestern Bell."
"She's been through a billion name changes."
~ CorporalBB
Circuit City IQ Crew
"Circuit City rebranding their PC technician division from IQ Crew (which predated Geek Squad, by the way) to..."
"Firedog."
"I worked at a Circuit City from 2005-2008 and we all thought it was a prank when we saw the announcement."
"'The intensity of fire with the loyalty of man's best friend'."
"I sh*t you not—that was the marketing."
~ Tiberius_Jim
GiphyBritish Petroleum
"When after a major oil spill, BP changed their branding to Beyond Petroleum for an ad campaign showing how they were investing in renewables."
"Logo change too."
~ RandomAmuserNew
"An oil spilled followed by a huge effort to cover it up, including dumping Corexit into the water to mix with the oil and make it sink."
"So it was no longer visible from aerial shots, but it did far, far more damage mixed with a dangerous chemical and sitting on the sea floor than slowly evaporating or being soaked up on the surface."
~ LurkerOrHydralisk
Amoco
"When BP purchased Amoco, they quickly rebranded all the stations to BP."
"Not sure if it is everywhere but Amoco had a lot of brand recognition in the Midwest and a lot of people just didn’t like BP."
"Eventually, they started rebranding some of their stations back to Amoco to cash in on nostalgia."
"I always thought it was dumb but never realized that so many people hated it until after I worked for BP (very briefly) and was told the story of how much pushback they got."
~ anitabelle
British Petroleum (BP Oil)/Paul Sableman
Overstock.com
"Overstock.com I think qualifies for weird rebrand."
"Bed Bath and Beyond went out of business and was bought out by Overstock and then Overstock just rebranded everything to Bed Bath and Beyond."
"If you go to overstock.com it’s just BBB."
~ WhatsABuckland
Snoop Dogg
"When Snoop Dogg (temporarily) changed his name to Snoop Lion to make a reggae album."
~ RomanOnARiver
"Snoop’s original name on Death Row was 'Snoop Doggy Dogg'. When he left Death Row and went to No Limit, he had to alter his name (which might have been his original name) to 'Snoop Dogg'."
~ GotMoFans
"Snoop’s mother used to call him Snoopy as a nickname which is the origin."
~ OpanaMan
"The Charles Schulz people would have had a field day."
~ GotMoFans
GiphyBooks-A-Million
"Books-A-Million to 'BAM'."
"I was in a parking lot with one and had no idea it was a bookstore, as I was a bit too far out to see more than 'BAM' from where I was parked."
~ lynnyfox
KIA
"Everytime I see the new KIA logo I assume its a NIN [Nine Inch Nails] fan."
~ vinyalwhl
"I thought it was KN for an embarrassingly long time."
~ VulfSki
"KIA changed their logo on their cars and Google showed an uptick in the searches for 'K N cars' because people liked the look of them but didn’t realise it was a KIA."
~ User_Deleted_Content
Mark Chan on Unsplash
Royal Mail
"Royal Mail deciding Consignia was the way to go forwards."
~ PonITdude
"They wanted to go international but they lost so much money that year they had to stay national and reversed the name back."
~ ShinyHead0
"Twitter to X."
~ sandiercy
"And then everyone still refers to it as Twitter."
~ Safety_Drance
"'A user on X, formerly known as Twitter, posted…'.”
~ tommyk1210
"Rather like to see 'A user on Twitter, erroneously known as X, posted...'."
~ SagittaryX
"'A user on twitter, largely unknown as X, posted...'."
~ Pinksters
"A few days ago, I saw an article that said 'Twitter, which Elon Musk incorrectly thinks is called X for some reason...'."
"That was pretty funny."
~ temalyen
GiphyCity Landmarks
"In Chicago we still call it the Sears Tower [renamed Willis Tower in 2009]."
~ baccus83
"And in Pittsburgh, it’s still Heinz Field [renamed Acrisure Stadium in 2022]."
~ NoVaBurgher
"And in Toronto, it’s still the Skydome [renamed Rogers Centre in 2005]."
~ nonanarchist
"And in New York when you take 287 across the Hudson it's still the Tappan Zee Bridge [renamed Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge in 2017]. "
~ keytarin
"A lot of LA people still call it Staples Center [renamed Crypto.com Arena in 2021]."
~ New_Simple_4531
"In Denver we will always say Mile High Stadium [renamed Empower Field at Mile High in 2019]."
~ SheBrokeHerCoccyx
Some rebrandings make perfect sense to the public.
Others are utterly baffling.
What would you add to this list?
I freely admit I'm of a certain age where my primary education occurred before the age of the internet—when our questions were answered with conversations with experts, encyclopedias or knowing how to use card catalogs.
My knowledge of the Dewey Decimal System is largely useless today.
Research is drastically different now—sorry Melvil Dewey. Internet search engines quickly became the difference between occasionally finding an outdated version of the information we were looking for and rarely not finding current information on the most obscure of topics.
Unless your Google game is super weak, you're likely to find what you're looking for or something close to it unlike the good old days when our chances were hit or mis—with lots of misses.
So what do we use this amazing, life-changing tool for?
Well...
Reddit user b-secret asked:
"What is the most embarrassing thing you have ever Googled?"
How Much?
"what's the alcohol percentage in 70% rubbing alcohol?"
~ LightsJusticeZ
"55% alcohol, 15% rubbing"
~ FishOfFishyness
Who?
"I Googled my work because I couldn’t remember my boss’ name after working there for 8 months."
"I just blanked and couldn’t think of it."
~ HCxTC
Spellcheck
"I Google how to spell restaurant all the time."
~ ParkOk6450
"I'm like that but with Febuary."
"EDIT: February"
~ NeoNero_x
"I go into incognito mode to check spellings of words I should know how to spell."
~ LordCaptain
GiphyUm, No.
"I was trying to find the name of those signs where a word is written down the side and each letter is used for a descriptive word."
"Confusing I know."
"So here’s an example: False Evidence Appearing Real"
"I know it has to have a name. So I googled 'Sign where every word starts with a letter' and Goggle responded with 'Did you mean a sentence?'.”
~ Team_Lift
Looks Like...
"Googled green beans once, was super high and forgot what they looked like."
~ testies2345
"I did the same thing with beets."
~ Jjetsk1_blows
Gaby Yerden on Unsplash
That Movie, With the Guy and the Stuff...
"I'll forget the name of a movie and just type in random sh*t I think I remember. Usually it works."
"Like 'that movie where the kid sleeps and has weird dreams and flies on a bed'."
"Works like a charm."
~ fohsupreme
Did They Have Blue Feet?
"big boobies"
"I was only 10."
"I was surprised to find some."
~ PoopPower99
"I’m 39 and I Google this every day."
~ dekkact
"They're nice birds but are they really worth Googling everyday?"
~ redwolf1219
Blue-Footed Boobies
GiphyPredictive Text
"I used to search something like 'no clothes' or 'without clothes' or something like that when I was a kid."
"Then I learnt the word NAKED because of the TV show Naked and Afraid."
"Then searched it so many times that my autocorrect started to show that word first when I wanted to type something."
~ sniper8207
NSF...S?
"My favorite band growing up was 'The Barenaked Ladies'."
"When I was at school, I once Googled them and clicked on a link that said 'free shows!'."
~ BW_Bird
Good Description
"I forgot what a 'gondola' was called so I typed in 'Thing that carries you through the mountains in a basket'."
~ TheGreatJaceyGee
"I once forgot the word for 'door' so my brain reached for adjacent concepts, smashed them together and threw them out my mouth: 'house portal'."
~ Tail_Nom
GiphyIt Just Doesn't Translate
"I have to search a random word 'auf Englisch' or a random word 'auf Deutsch'."
"Every damn day."
"It took me a minute to realize that there was no way to translate Schadenfreude into English."
~ grammar_fixer_2
Ah, Memories...
"I found out that as long as you're logged into Google, all your searches are saved to your Google account (I'm not talking about browser history)."
"So I looked back, and the 1st thing I ever googled after getting a Google account was 'Can ducks fly'."
"I've no idea why I googled this. I know ducks can fly."
~ caca__milis
GiphyYou Ate What‽‽
"Once I was with some friends and I was telling them about how when I was a kid we only got to eat nuts as a special treat around Christmas."
"Then I mentioned how much I liked squirrel nuts and no one knew what they were. So I Googled 'squirrel nuts' with image search."
"Not at all what we ate at Christmas time."
"Finally found out what my family called 'squirrel nuts' were actually called hazelnuts."
~ 123fofisix
100% NSFW
"A few years ago my coworker and I were looking at the calendar at work. It had pictures of birds and we were trying to figure out what kind of bird was pictured for that month."
"I can’t remember what she thought it was, but I darned sure it was a Great Tit."
"We have a great relationship and have been working together for a long time but we tend to argue like an old married couple. So we went to Mr Google for the answer."
"Let me tell you that Googling Great Tit at work isn’t something I will ever do again."
"For the record, I was right. The bird was a Great Tit."
~ pi11bott
Great Tit holds an insect in its beak
A Perry on Unsplash
Hope some of these folks remembered to clear their browser and search histories.
So, what's your hilarious—or embarrassing—little Google secret search?