People Divulge The Luxury Brands That Only The Super Rich Know About
Reddit user Halyycon asked: 'What are the “quiet” luxury brands that only the super rich know about?'
We all have brands or companies that we might admire from afar (or at the very least via their website or catalog), but know we will likely never shop there ourselves.
For the simple reason that their products and merchandise are simply out of our price range.
As a result, we may find ourselves like Holly Golightly at Tiffany's while window shopping, but never actually making a purchase.
However, there are some brands that are so luxurious, that even catalog or window shopping is out of the question.
As they are not only luxurious but also exclusive, only a certain few even know of their existence.
Redditor Halyycon10 was curious to learn about any and all of the luxury brands that cater exclusively to the wealthiest people on earth, leading them to ask:
"What are the 'quiet' luxury brands that only the super rich know about?"
Allow Me To Take You Upstairs...
"An Italian friend arranged a visit to a Murano glass gallery."
"After the general public cleared out of the public showroom, the gallery's people took us up some stairs to the 'real deal' gallery with shelves full of breathtaking art pieces."
"We admired one vase on a shelf, but were told that it would never be offered for sale -- it was too important as part of the island's legacy & heritage."
"I think that the way we zeroed in on it somehow convinced them that we were top art dealers "'in stealth mode'."
"For the rest of the afternoon, we were treated like VIPs."
"What a day that was...."-- funhousefrankenstein
Uncharted Territory
"I work in the Luxury Travel industry."
"I know quite a few."
"Exclusive Resorts is an invite-only membership club for very high-end travel."
"They don’t post their prices online, but I know people that work there."
"They have personal cell phone numbers for people like Jeff Bezos, Waltons, and people that live at that stratospheric titan of industry level."
"Their cheapest membership package is $100,000 to join, and can run up to $250,000."
"That’s just the price to join the club."
"You have to pay for any travel you want to book on top of that."
"They have a $600M portfolio of properties they own throughout the world, that only their members have access to."
"Want to guarantee availability for a finish-line view villa in Monaco during the Grand Prix?"
"Want to get a ski-in cabin next to the Walton’s cabin in Aspen over Christmas?"
"Want a luxury penthouse in Paris during fashion week?"
"These are your guys."
"They cap their membership at 3,000 people, so you may have to wait for a long time until you can get in."
"Another interesting one: White Desert is your tour operator of choice if you want a private expedition with your buddies to the South Pole."
"Their packages can run $100,000+ per person for a private jet to their base camp on the Antarctica plateau and then another custom-build ski-plane transfer to their camp on the South Pole."- El_mochilero
GiphyNothing More Valuable Than A Good Night's Sleep...
"Duxiana."
"For people who can buy a mattress that costs as much as a car."- Hot-Dress-3369
A Perfect Fit...
"Tailors on Saville Row."
"Wealthy people get their clothes custom made."- mecyh
Nothing To Give It Away...
"I had a rich friend once tell me that Gucci is what poor people think rich people wear."
"Since then I noticed that all of her clothes fit perfect, but she never has logos on anything."- hoptownky
gucci GIFGiphyThese Boots Might NOT Be Made For Walking...
"John Lobb bootmaker in St James."
"Make beautiful handmade shoes for royalty, celebrities and rich types."
"They are well known but not a household name."- queenirv
Free For All...
"I used to be of the opinion that really wealthy people wore stuff that you wouldn't really notice, but disappointingly (having spent some time around folks with extreme wealth recently), the true answer is just: whatever the hell they like."
"If someone really liked branded gear before they were wealthy, you'd better believe they're going to be dressed like Ali G once they make it big."- AvaRCordero
Pay Up To Dress Down...
"Jeff Goldblum was on the Conan podcast and talked about where he got his jeans."
"It was from this hard-to-find shop in New York that not many people had heard of.
Come to find out, not surprisingly, their jeans are insanely expensive, and only the very rich could afford them." - Reddit
Jeans Pants GIF by Post MaloneGiphyFor All Your Million Dollar Needs...
"Buy a copy of The Robb Report magazine at a bookstore and marvel at the insane ads in the back for private jets, yacht brokers, military level trained personal protection Belgian Malinois guardian dogs, personal protection security firms staffed by former US Secret Service and retired Tier 1 operators only in their early 40s and fit with 20 years experience, and even crazier stuff."
"Pfft buying a $400 pair of jeans is pedestrian when you have Taylor Swift money and roll in 2 fully armored Escalades and are escorted on errands by a phalanx of guys in black polo shirts and jeans who have been places and done things in sandy countries that are still classified."- scots
Cruisin...
"Amels."
"They are one of the best super yacht manufacturers in the world with over 100 years of experience."- theassassintherapist
Before You Show Off That Logo...
"Almost all of the well known luxury brands have several lines. "
"The ones with logos all over them are typically the cheapest (I’m looking at you LV, Gucci) etc. which is why they’re so common."
"The same companies will have more exclusive lines that are much more expensive, usually more classic in style, and they’re not covered in logos, so you’d never know what brand they are unless you’re really into that kind of thing."
"For example, my wife wanted to buy me a nice wallet, so we went to the LV shop."
"I liked one that had no logo on the exterior of it, just simple grey leather, and it cost twice as much as the ones with 'LV' stamped all over them."- ToothbrushGames
Black Friday Christmas GIF by FOX TVGiphyPeople Go Nuts For Interior Design
"Zuber & Co."
"Crazy expensive wallpaper and room dividers/panels."
"I love old rococo and baroque things so happed to walk by their store in NYC."
"Stopped in due to the patterns and quickly realized I do in-fact NOT have thousands of dollars per ft for wallpaper."
"For example $5,000 - $30,000 per panel."- Reddit
It's About Time
"When I met my wife she worked selling high end watches."
"Talking about it on our first date I said ‘oh like Rolex and stuff?’"
"She said ‘Rolex customers are just new money, drug dealers and old men'."
"'If people contact us wanting one we just direct them to a watch shop'."
"Then rattled off a list of about 10 makers I’d never heard of which her international clients would fly here just to try on."
"I was wearing a Luminox at the time which I thought was pretty badass but all of a sudden I felt like a kid running around with that gadget from Ben 10."- StrangledByTheAux
As the saying goes, "if you have to ask, you can't afford it!"
Though it must be said, there is also absolutely NOTHING wrong with shopping for watches at a watch shop.
Brands That Abandoned Their Core Audience And Paid Dearly For It
Reddit user Fflewddur_Fflam_ asked: 'Who abandoned their core audience and paid the price for it?'
As the saying goes, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Nonetheless, several brands and businesses will sometimes make noticeable changes, be it to reach a wider audience, or simply to shake things up a bit.
In some cases, the effort pays off, like Dunkin' Donuts, who decided to stretch beyond simply selling doughnuts and coffee, eventually even dropping the "Donuts" from their name, but losing none of their popularity.
Other times, things don't go as smoothly, such as when IHOP (an acronym for the International House of Pancakes) temporarily changed its name to IHOB (International House of Burgers), which turned out to be nothing but a weeklong publicity stunt, but was met with anger and vitriol from it's fanbase during that controversial week.
Redditor Fflewddur_Fflam_ was curious to hear what other brands the Reddit community thought betrayed their core audience to disastrous results, leading them to ask:
"Who abandoned their core audience and paid the price for it?"
Humans Are Technically Animals...
"Animal Planet."
"Their tagline became 'surprisingly human.'"
"Nobody wants to watch ANIMAL Planet for people."
"They have other channels."- rainbirdmelody
You Could Say Their Mission Slipped Through The "Cracks"...
"Cracked.com."
"There were a couple years there where they transformed from a second rate Mad knockoff to some of the smartest, funniest stuff on the internet."
"Then the people who held the purse strings decided listicles and photoshop contests were more profitable than a writing staff."- MichaelMyersResple
"StumbleUpon."
"It was a small website giving you randomized internet pages which I used to browse for hours as they were so fun."
"Now it turned into Mix and I have no clue what it is."
"Pretty sure no one uses it and it makes me sad."- MightyDaisy
Working On It GIF by KAT BALLGiphyLess Handcrafted, More Hand-Me-Down
"Etsy."
'Used to be a fairly cool place to buy and sell mostly handcrafted stuff and items to make handcrafted stuff."
"Now it's basically shady Amazon with worse shipping."
"Everyone seems to be drop shippers and a lot of the more niche crafter/artisan things are pushed out and overwhelmed by cheaper, mass produced goods."- THIS_IS_MY_JOYSTICK
The Dreaded Paywall...
"Photobucket!"
"Back when forums were still a thing, Photobucket would host your images for free."
"Then one day they decided EVERYONE would have to pay monthly, no free tier, nothing."
"We all collectively agreed we would not be paying, and that was that."
"I feel like it may have contributed to the death of forums."
"Ruined a few of my car build threads, that's for sure."
"To this day they still send me emails a couple times a year threatening to delete all my photos if I don't come back."-pr0b0ner
Arguably, All For The Best?...
"Yik Yak."
"It was a way to have conversations with people in the area anonymously (really popular on college campuses)."
"They made an update to create user profiles and pretty much everyone just stopped using it because anonymity was the whole point."- Fakjbf
episode 16 moe GIFGiphyChocolate Lovers Revolt!
"This is incredibly niche, but in Norway there used to be two providers of chocolate powder, the kind you mix with hot or cold milk to make hot chocolate or chocolate milk."
"They were O'Boy brand and Nesquik, equally loved and enjoyed a healthy fanbase 'rivalry'."
"O'Boy is a Swedish product sold in Scandinavia and the Baltics since the 50s, Nesquik is of course Nestlé brand and sold all over the world."
"Sometime in the 2010s Nesquik decided to change the formula of the choco powder."
"I imagine to save money."
"And for making hot chocolate the new recipe was fine."
"What Nestlé underestimated, however, is that most Scandinavians drink their choco powder cold to make chocolate milk."
"The new recipe had a different type of sugar in it that wouldn't dissolve in cold milk, leaving a crunchy powder in the milk."
"Norwegians outraged, Nesquik was deemed useless, nearly everyone in the Nesquik camp migrated to O'Boy, and Nestlé lost almost all its market share overnight."
"A few months later, Nesquik is gone from the shelves nearly everywhere, never to recover from the blunder."- -Yngin-
Tornados Filled With Sharks Are Not For Everyone...
"Sci-Fi Channel."
"At some point there was no sci-fi on it."- AlienBeingMe
Tara Reid Storm GIF by SYFYGiphyNot Everyone Can Keep Up With The Times...
"RadioShack."
"They went from selling electronic components, little gadgets, and interesting tech bobbles to nerds to trying to sell expensive cell phone plans and sh*tty batteries to a different audience."
"We saw that the customers who came to RadioShack shifted from middle/upper-income engineers and tech geeks to lower income people in a six year period."
"Then we saw the geeks stop coming in at all because they would come in for some capacitor or breadboard, and the person there wouldn't know what that was."
"If it wasn't a phone, they didn't know."
"Even if it was a phone, they probably couldn't tell you anything about it."
"Old RadioShack employees were knowledgeable and well paid."
"New RadioShack employees didn't give a sh*t about technology."- 001235
Seems FittingThat Their Old Audience Is "History"...
"Anyone else remember when The History Channel was about history and not about aliens?"- rienjabura
Found Footage Video GIF by Eternal FamilyGiphyThere's A Reason They're Not So Well Known For Their Food...
"Every restaurant that opens in the UK goes through the cycle:"
"New and interesting food."
"Very different from most British food."
"Becomes very popular."
"Owners sell to a large company."
"Large company decides that being popular isn't enough, they want everybody to eat there."
"Make the food more British."
"Looming failure is hidden for a while because they attract new customers at exactly the rate they lose old customers."
"New customers have tried it, realize they can get that food anywhere, stop going."
"Chain closes and is replaced by a Greggs or Nandos, depending on the size of the location (not dependent on how far away the nearest Greggs or Nandos is."- skztr
Money Doesn't Solve Everything
"Quora."
"There were excellent groups with intelligent discussions."
"Then it became monetized and people submitted 100s of questions a day."
"'What time does the Walmart close in Boise?'" "
"'My 16 yr old came home with an A- so I took away their phone for 6 months'."- JanuarySoCold
Bored Sales GIF by EGiphySuccess can be a very dangerous thing.
As it can make you think about nothing but getting bigger, often resulting in your leaving people behind along the way.
A cautionary tale for young entrepreneurs.
Everyone has those brands that they love and will stay loyal to until their dying day.
For me, that brand is Bryers. Whenever I go to the store for ice cream, I first check to see if Bryers has the flavor I want on sale before I settle for anything else. If it's been a while, I sometimes splurge and just buy it at full price. That's because, to me, Bryers is the gold standard when it comes to ice cream.
Redditors have those brands that have their undying loyalty are ready to share which brands those are.
It all started when Redditor Loesser asked:
"Which brand are you actually loyal to and why?"
Life Changing
"Scrub Daddy makes one hell of a sponge."
– kbups53
"I'd been aware of them forever. "Just a sponge," I thought."
"Tried them last month and my mind is blown."
– gehanna1
Sparkling Dishes
"Dawn dishwashing liquid cuts through grease like crazy. Mix it equal parts with white vinegar for an excellent bath rub soap scum remover."
– Aunt-jobiska
"I used to wash dishes in a restaurant. A LOT of dishes. They rotated through a few food service-grade dish soaps for a while, which I always assumed would be a little stronger because they're commercial-grade, and they aided in destroying my hands every night (steel scrubbers and hot water certainly played a major role, of course."
"Then we switched to Dawn. It wasn't some special food service formula, just regular Dawn. Same exact blue one you get at any grocery or convenience store. That was the first time I would soak the hardest-baked-on crap and practically be able to wipe it off after 15 minutes. I have never found a soap even close."
– Lothar_Ecklord
Q's Way Or The Highway
"Q-Tips."
"Every other cotton swab is inferior, and I think I've tried them all. Either there isn't enough cotton, or the stick is too flimsy. Only Q-tips get it right."
– CA1900
Strong And Sturdy
"Osprey. Super comfortable hiking backpacks, and their lifetime warranty is actually legit. They will repair or replace any damage or defect for any reason on any model ever made."
– RustyPickles
"I beat the sh*t out of mine and it’s in perfect shape. All the zippers work, no rips… amazingly constructed bags."
– CurtMoney
"My company gifted me one this year and I am in awe! I love useful backpacks and i always saw them and never went for it….so glad I have one now because I take it everywhere and I’m so confused how the little guy fits so much."
– imhereforthemeta
Quick Facts
"Not sure if this counts but Wikipedia - I've been donating since given the option and I appreciate that it's remained generally unchanged unlike most modern platforms/services."
– TaalKheru
"Yesterday while chatting with my wife I mentioned how I donate Wikipedia every year. She had no idea and it blew her mind a little bit, she asked me why and I tried to explain just how frequently I use that site. Any time I remember some random historical event or criminal case or famous scientist etc. etc. I'm straight to Wiki. It's an absolute treasure trove of useful and useless information alike and I f**king love it."
– thewokestlocust
All Intents And Purposes
"Victorinox - cuz Swiss Army knives rock, and they make great watches too. Add top-notch customer service, and they've made me a happy customer for life."
"Edit: forgot about my awesome Swiss Army card that a friend brought back for me from Geneva. I keep it in my car, and it's pretty fantastic too."
– ISmellElderberries
Created To Last
"Fiskars. Everything they do is top quality. That brand is like a national treasure to Finnish people. They do plenty of products with metal and plastic and pretty much everyone around here has had a pair of Fiskars scissors for up to 20 years. Sure, their products are more expensive but they're made to work and last for an eternity."
– hiemanturha
"Everyone else always complained about their "house scissors," how horribly dull and awkward to use they were, and I never understood -- my "house scissors" were indestructible and so sharp I wasn't allowed to touch them until I was 10. A few decades later I realized why: they're Fiskars. Those scissors are older than I am, and they're still going strong."
– ClearBrightLight
None Other
"Ain’t no cream cheese like Philadelphia cream cheese."
– shavemejesus
"In Brazil cream cheese is just basically called "Philadelphia.""
– mrubuto22
Just Easier
"Brother Printers, especially the laser variant. It just keeps working and there is no cartridge nonsense like that other brand."
"I would recommend it to everyone, always. Nobody ever has issues with them."
– mahade
"Their software is also far less obnoxious. Pretty solid brand for <$500 printers."
– AlmostRandomName
The Best Store
"Costco. It's not too expensive of a membership, and you get some great savings on gas (pretty big here in California) and buy in bulk items. Of course, I probably buy a bit more than I need to for my family, but the 3 month hassle-free return policy is very generous. It's kind of a game changer for expensive devices like laptops since we can always return them if they suddenly break within the first few weeks or were defective."
"Not to mention the $1.50 hot dogs, average but affordable clothes (esp. socks & underwear), and Costco Travel isn't half bad with some of the discounts when it comes to rental car & hotel packages. Sure there's cheaper ways to get stuff out there, but, generally speaking, Costco delivers pretty good value for the price."
– imbearnanas
Saving Me Money
"Aldi. They were there for me when I was broke and currently keep me from going broke with grocery prices these days. Some of their brands are superior in my opinion eg. salsa."
– gomez1608
Inactive Choosing
"OXO. Most of their kitchen stuff is fantastic. I don't deliberately set out to buy OXO, but it winds up being the best choice on a lot of things."
– VinLeesel
Everything Else Pales In Comparision
"Heinz Ketchup. Not Hunts, nor Red Gold, especially not Sir Kensington."
– rich-lol
Old Faithful
"Honda, both cars and motorcycles. That sh*t just does not break."
– Adddicus
Honda is the definition of reliable. Those are the kinds of brands to stand behind!
Companies often chase change when profits dip.
But if they aren't careful, they can destroy the very thing that appealed to consumers.
Anyone remember "new Coke"?
Intended to be a permanent replacement for their flagship product, it was branded New Coke by the public.
Backlash lead to "Classic Coke" being reintroduced to the marketplace.
The product was a reformulation introduced by The Coca-Cola Company in April 1985. It was renamed Coke II in 1990 then finally discontinued in July 2002.
It's now taught as a lesson in what not to do in business and marketing.
But Coca-Cola isn't the only one to stumble.
Reddit user onlyahippowilldo asked:
"What's the dumbest corporate rebranding?"
Who Are You?
"Ditching the name 'HBO' is certainly a decision."
~ 44035
"And now they're releasing HBO originals on Netflix. It's like they're literally destroying a household name that was the only thing going for them."
~ esoteric_enigma
"HBO Go -> HBO Max -> Max"
~ nthroop1
"I loved how Peacock responded with a statement not to get excited, they weren't doing that."
~ Ok-Cheetah-9125
"Haha, had to look it up and sure enough:"
~ fixedtypo
Then Whose Is It?
"Not really a rebrand, but when Oldsmobile went to the 'This is not your father's Oldsmobile' campaign, they basically alienated the only group of people who actually were buying Oldsmobiles at the time.
"And now, nobody is buying Oldsmobiles."
~ jpiro
So, Where Is It?
"The University of Western Sydney just recently spent millions of dollars to rebrand to Western Sydney University."
~ Orion2200
"The Canadian version of this is when The University of Western Ontario spent a bazillion dollars rebranding to Western University."
~ VonVilhelmVilhelm
"What’s western about it? It’s not in the west of Ontario."
~ theducks
"That’s easy. It’s west of the centre of the universe (Toronto). It doesn’t matter that it’s eastern canada and eastern Ontario."
~ skippy2893
"I thought I heard that even after they did this, they're still legally called University of Western Ontario in an official capacity."
"So what was even the point?"
~ aureentuluva1
GiphyJuicy Details
"Tropicana; removing the famous red-white straw directly into the orange imagery for...an unbranded clear glass of orange juice in a generic-looking (white-labeled-looking) package."
~ KBeeFree
"They lost $65 Million! They spent $30 Million on the rebrand and lost $35 Million in sales."
~ Wearesyke
When Your Office Logo Is NSFW
"The former UK Office of Government Commerce, which spent £70k on a logo redesign circa 2008."
"The logo was the initials OGC, which when turned 90° looks like a guy having a wank."
"The best part of that fiasco was the response of a spokesman."
"'It is not inappropriate to an organisation that's looking to have a firm grip on Government spend'."
"firm grip"
~ MonseigneurChocolat
GiphyIf You Don't Know By Now...
"It’s been years since Angie’s List was rebranded to Angi and they’re still running ads that clarify who they are based on the old name."
"Great work, everyone."
~ patopatogris
"I haven't heard anyone explain the rebranding, but I strongly suspect that morons were confusing them with Emily's List and assuming they were a pro-choice group."
~ Cultural-Company282
Laser Kiwi!
"New Zealand spent 26 million on a new flag and then it lost to the old one in a vote."
~ thorpie88
"The insane thing is... They. Didn't. Hire."
"They crowd sourced. I sh*t you not."
~ davetenhave
"Did it actually cost millions then?"
~ sbenfsonw
"The design of the flags no, but the referendum to ask the populace if they want the new flag did."
~ confused_yelling
@ThompsonLars/Twitter
The Jokes Write Themselves
"The parcel delivery company Hermes which became Evri."
"Now Evri parcel is lost."
~ AHat29
"I used to have a subscription with a company that used Hermes, I had two parcels that hadn't shown up in the same month so I requested new ones, these too didn't arrive so I cancelled the order completed."
"A few months later they were back in touch to offer me a new deal, I declined and when pushed said they had a new courier; the 'new' courier was Evri..."
~ E17AmateurChef
THAT Pat
"ABC Family to Freeform. I never understood."
~ Kai-Tlyn
"That particular cable channel has probably rebranded more than any other:- Christian Broadcasting Network
- CBN Family Channel
- The Family Channel
- Fox Family
- ABC Family
- Freeform"
"They’ve been trying to distance themselves from Pat Robertson’s (yes, THAT Pat Robertson from 700 Club) who owns a significant portion of the network."
"They are legally required under a long standing contract to play Christian Broadcasting Network content. It’s a good way to not have the ABC/Disney brand connected to that religious content."
~ jimb575
New Name, Same Great Service
"Comcast -> XFinity"
"I was involved in some of the meetings for that as a outside contractor. It was the dumbest move ever."
"90% of the people involved knew it was dumb, but a handful or morons at the top really thought Comcast's bad reputation would just magically disappear with the rebrand."
~ woogychuck
"I was a third party contractor who would sometimes get contracted out troubleshoot or install Comcast internet or cable."
"It was right around the time of the rebranding and let me tell you, it confused the hell out of every single person."
"The consumers, the techs, the bosses, nobody knew what to call anything for a while."
~ IWearBones138__
"I can't imagine what it was like as contractor."
"One of the websites my company was hired to build was intended to convince contractors to pay to have their own vans painted to match the new branding."
"When we told Comcast/Xfinity marketing folks that literally no contractor was going to willingly spend $3-6k to rebrand their vehicles, they acted like we were crazy."
"They geniuinely thought installation and repair contractors we be so excited about the 'earning potential' of the rebrand that they would spend thousands to do it. We fortunately lost the project to another company."
"They were seriously disconnected with reality."
~ woogychuck
"A marketing department disconnected with reality‽‽ No way!"
~ chapswithnocaps
GiphyNot Comic Sands?
"In 2010 the Gap paid an ad agency a bajillion dollars to rebrand. They came up with the name typed in Arial (Helvetica?) font.
"The Gap announced the rebrand. They were roundly mocked for spending a gorillion dollars on something that it takes two seconds for anyone to create."
"They decided to just continue using the old logo. The rebrand lasted six days."
~ VonAether
"'We believe this is a more contemporary, modern expression. The only nod to the past is that there’s still a blue box, but it looks forward'."
"It always cracks me up hearing big market whiz guys trying to explain the most mundane, boring attempt at innovation."
"Not a single consumer in the world is going to look at the Gap logo and thinking that."
~ IWearBones138__
And the Winner (loser) Is...
"Twitter to X"
~ squid1891
"This is the answer. Twitter had a brand name so recognizable, it became a literal verb that was widely used in the cultural lexicon."
"Sure, Facebook had posts and statuses, instagram had stories, but the word 'tweet' is synonymous with and unique to Twitter."
"Companies spend millions on marketing to try and get something to catch on and stick like that, it’s like striking gold, any marketing exec would kill for it."
"Baby Huey Elon threw it in the trash like it was yesterday’s news for literally the most generic, garbage branding imaginable."
"It’s stranger than fiction."
~ aveganrepairs
"Now instead of tweets we have 'excretions'."
~ Bikrdude
"On an app called X(sh)itter."
~ bobjoylove
"Cue clip of Uncle Eddie emptying his RV septic system. 'Xitter's full!'."
~ Jesus_Is_My_Gardener
"Xitler"
~ valeyard89
GiphyCompanies—and countries—have various reasons for wanting a rebrand.
When it works, the results can be phenomenal.
But when it flops, no one will ever let you forget it.
GiphyWith social media on the rise, internet advertising feels absolutely inescapable.
With our newsfeeds peppered with ads, more social media influencers turning to user-generated content opportunities, and ads pausing our video-watching experiences, ads are seriously everywhere.
After seeing some companies and brands over and over again, we're less likely to support them, just on principle. They're like the Top 40 songs we hate on the radio because of the frequent replays.
Redditor bethebumblebee was ready to call some brands out when they asked:
"What is one brand that you'll never buy from?"
Immediately No
"The ones that constantly pay YouTube channels to do spots for them. It just makes me very suspicious of their quality. Raycon is a good example."
- RahvinDragand
Morally Questionable
"Better Help is a huge one that I think Youtube channels need to step away from. It’s not a product, I guess, but it’s still a service that’s sponsored by a lot of large content creators. I haven’t used it but i’ve read endless things about how awful it is."
"I got a list of therapists from my doctor and by looking things up. It makes it seem like it’s so accessible because you don’t have to search and search for therapists, but in reality, they just pair you up with s**tty ones. I’m sure there are actual good therapists on there but from what I’ve heard, it’s mostly negative."
- i-am-a-salty-b***h
Wrong Audience
"I get spam-advertised for Grammarly, an automatic grammar helper tool thing because I work with languages. If I ever need a tool like that, I won't go with them because of how they have hounded me."
"This is especially frustrating because I actually work with languages as a profession and therefore DEFINITELY don't need it."
- turquoise2j
No MLMs Welcome
"Herbalife. One of their ‘smoothie bars’ has opened locally to me. They posted on the local residents' Facebook page, and I asked in the comments if they were Herbalife affiliated."
"In response, the ‘owner’ DM’d me a long, berating email about how I don’t understand anything and ended it with an offer of a free drink."
"I was already not into MLM stuff but this definitely didn’t do anything to improve my impression!"
- TheElusiveRaspberry
Seriously, No MLMs
"Mary Kay, Pampered Chef, LuLaRoe, DoTerra Oils, Young Living Oils, Norwex, It Works! etc. Any and all of the MLMs."
- Carrann823
Questionable Claims
"SheaMoisture Hair products. I have major issues with the ingredients they list and the sustainability of sourcing them."
"For example, anything they say contains Baobab (Adansonia) oil is majorly suspicious. I was born and raised in Southern Africa and the clusters of trees are 100km apart, with a few fruits here and there, they take hundreds of years to fruit, if at all. It just isn't right."
"Also, the one product they said contained Mafura. That's literally the word for oil, so, what oil? It's just marketing using 'Africa' like we are fools, and I will not support this." - SundaeSwimming128
Safety First
"A friend from college sold Herbalife and I was interested in finding a vegan protein shake for health reasons. Due to a very severe dairy allergy, I cannot have dairy, and whey is a very common and popular ingredient in protein drinks. (Whey is a dairy byproduct.)"
"Unfortunately, I can only buy vegan protein powders and they are so much more expensive. I posted on Facebook, asking if anyone knew any vegan brands that were cheaper than what I was using, and my friend commented pitching Herbalife."
"At that time, I knew nothing about it so I explained that I wasn't asking if it was vegan as a lifestyle choice but because I could get very sick. You know that scene from the exorcist where it's like split pea soup? That's me with dairy and it can become so bad, I can tear my esophagus, and all the blood vessels in my face burst. It's scary and not fun."
"My friend told me she would double-check with a higher-up about the Herbalife. She got back to me not even one hour later and showed me a screenshot of a Facebook message from her 'leader' saying yes of course!"
"So I believed them and bought some. It came and I made myself a shake. It wasn't amazing but not as gross as some others."
"But guess what. Spoiler alert. Herbalife is NOT vegan. Shortly after I finished my shake, I got sick."
"I tried to go as high as I could and complain, but they said since whey is listed on the ingredients and at that point, it was in my hands, and it was up to me to check what I was consuming. They offered me three free canisters. That's it."
"F**k Herbalife and their s**tty customer service and ill-informed sellers. F**k my ex-friend. F**k anybody who tries to sell you something you would consume that you cannot see the ingredients and nutrition information before you buy."
- Human_Allegedly
We've Got Jokes
"ACME. I've seen documentaries on how their products hurt Coyotes."
- Klotzster
Online Shopping
"Shein. Ugh, and there are people who will defend them fiercely and accuse you of being classist because not everyone can afford well-made or sustainable fashion. I disagree with this because it is more of a quality vs quantity thing."
"When you look at those prices, you know the people making the clothes and the planet are being majorly shafted. So, yeah I'd rather thrift, buy second hand, or just have a few pieces of higher quality."
- Warm-Replacement1839
Sourcing Water
"Fiji water. Aside from the wild overpricing of ALL bottled water, that brand is utterly anti-environment. The bottles are made in China, shipped thousands of miles to Fiji, and filled with admittedly good-tasting water. But they're then put back on a ship, and sailed thousands of miles to the west coast, put on trucks and trains, and shipped east."
"When you work it all out, the amount of oil burnt to get that bottle to you would half-fill the bottle."
"Compare to a local bottled water, or even better, tap water in a reusable bottle."
- cryptoengineer
Annoying Commercials
"Liberty Mutual as their commercials drive me nuts. That and f**king State Farm! At least Geico and Progressive have some entertaining ones."
- Eroding-Moon
Electronic Woes
"Samsung. Had a 16-month-old 70-inch TV die and they reached out to me and offered to repair it at no charge because it was a known issue. A month later, the repair facility canceled the service ticket and when I called Samsung to ask why, they told me that parts were unavailable… because so many had broken they used all the parts up and aren’t making more."
"Then they told me they would replace the TV… a week later they emailed to tell me they would not be replacing it. But encouraged me to have a non-Samsung repair facility fix it… even though nobody has the parts."
"They know the model has issues and did nothing after promising over and over that they would stand behind the product because Samsung cares and all that s**t. F**k them."
- dantasticdanimal
Homemade Is Better
"Welsh’s brand grape jelly or jam. My grandfather was in WW2 when Welch’s gave jelly to the servicemen."
"The ones they got were substandard, filled with seeds and twigs, so my grandfather forbade Welch’s in our house."
- Simple-Mastodon-9167
Ruining Neighborhoods
"American Greetings. They bought up the drive-in theater next to their corporate headquarters and then moved out a few years later."
"That drive-in was an affordable night out for a lot of families in a low-income neighborhood and was always packed."
- hikermick
We Don't Claim Him
"Reebok."
"My grandparents operated a pretty fancy Italian restaurant in Florida."
"Some dude came through and was a huge d**k to everyone. My grandparents asked him to leave and he ranted about how he basically owned Reebok and how he could ruin them and police wouldn’t even arrest him if they were called."
"I forgot his title but he wasn’t the CEO. Anyways, he didn’t represent Reebok well with my family."
- LongFeetMcGee
From annoying advertisements to misinformation to questionable customer relations, these Redditors made it clear that there are many reasons why they would choose not to support a brand. These companies should start taking notes.