Some products are in dire need of upgrades. We upgrade our technologies every five seconds, it seems rational to believe that a new design on a mayo bottle or some easier way to coordinate the driving experience is an easy given. But apparently taking even our most used and popular products into the future... or at least catching up to the present, is more arduous than one imagines.
Redditor u/loztriforce wanted to know what products have made some errors in the rollout by asking.....
What are the biggest design flaws of popular products?
The King.
GiphyMattresses need to be like 6 inches longer. overandunder_86
California King is your answer. If you have the room. overandunder_86
gender pocket inequality....
No or small pockets in women's jeans. Give us the damn pockets. tinyclumsyhands
It's to give you the illusion of gender pocket equality without actually giving it. MUAHAHAHA!! ChocolateBunny
The List Goes On....
The gap between a car seat and the center console. I know it is for safety but things fall in that gap and are difficult to retrieve.
Touch screens in cars for essential functions. One should be able to adjust the heating or cooling by feel.
Android Auto does not work with all Android phones.
Outlook spam filtering when using just the local software.
Bar codes too small for the scanner at the checkout.
Milk cartons
Individual coffee stirrers in paper wrappers. It is supposed to make us feel safe from bacteria but it is annoying. Maybe not a flaw.
Dog poop baggies with a bad seal. About once a month I stick my hand in the bag, pickup the poop only to realize my fingers went through the other end of the bag and touched the poop.
Breakfast cereal in a bag in a box. About 10% of the contents at the bottom are crushed flakes, not edible cereal pieces. dantooine1977
Be Reasonable.
I have an acquaintance in a senior position with a potato chip manufacturer. He claims resealable bags will never ever happen on chips OR brand name cereal because the companies are completely dependent on their products going stale and being replaced. He claims estimates as high as 25% for consumer loss from old stale product. msk1974
Slow the Roll....
GiphyToilet paper rolls keep getting larger and larger, but traditional holders can't hold them properly. The tool can't spin so the roll has to sit on the counter for a couple days. MyBroPoohBear
Be Moderned.
Modern cell phones, despite repeated updates and improvements still cannot make a call and record a video at the same time. This is exactly what every witness should be able to do if they see a crime occurring; gather evidence and call 911 simultaneously. Notredamerock
within a track....
A lot of music playing apps have buttons to skip tracks but no buttons to skip forward/backward within a track, instead just relying on a clumsy slider that is hard as hell to use with any sort of precision. A lot of podcast apps, on the other hand, have such buttons (e.g. to skip forward 30 second or backward 10 seconds) - not sure why the music apps don't do the same thing. allothernamestaken
Falling Out...
GiphyAll of my pajama pants have a single button on the fly, and it's positioned 1/4" from the top of the opening and 6" from the bottom... so my penis just falls out while I'm walking. answermethis0816
I've noticed this borrowing my husband's pj pants before and was completely perplexed by it. You can practically feel a breeze while walking, the gap is so big. ShelloBiafra30
NOPE!
I have a pair of wired Beats noise-cancelling headphones.
They use powered noise-cancelling, so you have to charge them with usb. Since they're wired, you'd think that if they run out of charge, you could still use them without noise-cancelling, right?
NOPE!
When they die, you have to charge them. Even though they're wired. Stupid. Dumb. velour_manure
No Sliding.
Far too many affordable cutting boards won't stay perfectly in place when you're chopping on them. Seems like that would be easy to fix, but maybe not. somepeoplewait
Some of mine have little rubber-ish feet and are fine. Some of them do slide around. Try a folded dish towel underneath. AugustaSugarbean
Ice Age.
GiphyIce dispensers in refrigerator doors that send out ice with such energy that some pieces end up on the kitchen floor. Back2Bach
See the Light.
Modern vehicles making changing a burned out head light a major nightmare. It used to be you took off four screws, changed the bulb, replaced for screws. Now it takes a degree in engineering to find all the hidden things holding the light in place. Why? RonSwansonsOldMan
Too Stupid.
Scissors that come in that stupid tough as nails double layered plastic; that can only be accessed by a pair of damn scissors. laurenmax96
Larry David has entered Reddit. BeardsuptheWazoo
It's Exhausting!
Netflix interface: they added a toggle that stopped the despicable auto preview, but finding things is still very difficult. You'll only see what The Algorithm wants to show you and there's no way of just flicking through a comprehensive A-Z of shows.
This means you only see the same stuff cycling round unless you do a specific search, and let's face it: text searching using a TV remote or Xbox controller is a PITA.
And so there's probably a load of stuff on there you'll never see.
And that wretched left-right scroll too. Amazon isn't much better either. dogsolitude_uk
Upside Down.
GiphyI just want to say it took Ketchup long enough to turn the bottle upside down. I mean for God sake they turned it green and purple before they decided to work on getting the bloody crap outta the bottle. shelbycher
"signal interrupted"
Simplisafe, and pretty much all wireless home security systems, all operate on a very limited band of frequencies. A portable ham radio, which you can buy on Amazon for $80, can be tuned to its exact frequency and can blast out enough white noise to interrupt communication between sensors and the home base. At most you'll get a "signal interrupted" message but no alarm. I'm not going to tell you how to find that exact frequency, just know that it is shockingly easy. MrStringyBark
Rinse.... Lather... Repeat....
Shampoo bottles that have screw-off caps.
Unscrew cap, pour product into palm.
Now I have one hand holding a bottle while the other is occupied by a pool of soap.
How do I replace the cap without spilling my shampoo? OpenQuote2
Car Inventions....
Why in the world don't automakers make some kind of dual, fold away sun visor that can simultaneously cover both the front AND side window. cicalino
Some cars have these, but I guess the cost/benefit isn't there. Same with extendable visors; same with the little visor to cover the windscreen above the rearview mirror that Volkswagen used to have. poktanju
Input three times, then enter.
Remote controls for tv... so amazingly non-intuative. Also need 3 remotes to watch tv, dvd, speakers. I have to type out instructions for old parents. I curse the engineers who refuse to improve design or the companies that refuse to adopt better remotes. Input three times, then enter. Find guide, press enter.... WISeptember
Just Dip....
GiphySalsa should come in wide flat containers, not tall skinny cylinders so that you can dip directly from it. Munkiejunk
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?
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?