Consumers these days are required to do some research before making a purchase on something they don't necessarily need.
But advertisers have upped their marketing strategies to persuade customers that they need certain products and that they are being offered them at a competitive rate.
Don't be fooled. There's a reason why the Latin phrase "caveat emptor" –Let the buyer beware– is commonly thrown around.
Not every product out there is life-changing.
Instead, they are nothing but a tactic to manipulate consumers to fork over their hard-earned cash willingly.
Curious to hear examples of this, Redditor Leather-College2557 asked:
"What's a famous product that is a complete scam?"
There is no shortcut to losing weight. But you'll never hear that from companies trying to sell you snake oil.
Fat Zapper
"Anything that claims to target the loss of fat from a specific area of your body."
– DarthDregan
They Just Promote Waste
"All of those weight loss teas influencers promoted a few years ago. They’re just laxatives."
– the-cosmic-kraken
Ad-dress-ing The Solution
"They pretty much have exactly one good use, emergency weight loss. Need to fit into your bridesmaid dress this weekend and the zipper won't close? Sh*t your brains out until it does. You're going to feel like sh*t and that weight is coming straight back as soon as you eat something, but hey at least you didn't have to get emergency dress alterations I guess?"
– JMEEKER86
Instruction materials for college have always been a rip-off.
Text Book Example
"Single-use access codes for college textbooks is pretty much racketeering."
– colonelsmoothie
Workarounds
"I stopped buying books. Anyone that says to buy them early is lying to you. No the store never runs out of books. If it’s one with a code you can literally just buy it online whenever you want and get full access with the code if those are needed."
"If it’s a class without a code I wouldn’t get the book till absolutely necessary and when I did it was an Amazon online rental. I’m not spending $200 on a book when I can spend $15 for 5 months of access to the book through the kindle app."
"Some classes you can get buy without even buying the book."
– micheal213
Exorbitant Prices
"Years ago, when I was in college, I spent like some insane amount of money on my books. Like over $1000 or something nuts. I had to walk to my car on the entire other side of campus. So I asked for a bag. Then they tried to charge me 10 dollars for a bag. I was so annoyed."
– BeerNcheesePlz
Online security can cost you. Is it worth it? These Redditors didn't think so.
No Protection For Being Fooled
"McAffee and Norton antivirus software."
– FriendlyFloyd7
Preying On The Elderly
"It didn't used to be, but now windows has built in software that is just as good."
"The real crime is Norton, scamming old folks into paying a yearly fee smh"
– Superb_Extension1751
They say these products are beneficial to your life. Don't fall for it.
Spill The Tea
"Herbalife... the shakes and 'teas' which aren't actually teas at all.. It's processed garbage that just so happens to have vitamins and protein added to it. Fake sweeteners, artificial dyes, yeah no thanks."
– cardinalcandy
Hear This
"Ear wax candles. Burn one not in an ear, and it still fills up with wax."
– JustSoHappy
I always thought nature was the biggest scammer of all.
Those huge bags of spinach leaves at the grocery store gives the illusion that you're set for your intake of vegetables if good for at least a couple of weeks.
But as soon as those spinach leaves–which actually retain lots of water–hit the pan when cooking, you'll find that the portion has dramatically reduced to a hundredth of its size.
I see you, spinach, and I don't like you for pulling a fast one on me.
There are many cases where a company or product promises good quality or intentions.
But that isn't always the case as some companies fail to deliver and they make off with your hard-earned cash.
In an instantly gratifying world, consumers are quick to go after the things they want with the click of a button as long as they have the funds.
But they should keep a close eye on where their money is going toward.
Strangers online shared what brands to stay away from when Redditor ToastedLeaf- asked:
"What brand can go f'k off?"
They may appear to have good intentions, but of course, that's all they show you.
Putting On A Good Face
"National/international charities that give back minimally to the communities they pretend to serve."
"From charity watch. Top compensation:"
"Name & Title Charity Viviane Tabar, M.D. Chairman Attending Neurosurgery Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center $4,869,769 12/31/2020 Note: Includes $3,350,000 bonus & incentive compensation. Robert W. Stone President/CEO City of Hope & Affiliates $3,827,671"
– shootingstare
Pack Of Thieves
"F'k Autism Speaks, my school decorated the halls for World Autism Day and encouraged us to talk about it in classes as kind of a break from work, and I mistakenly outed myself as autistic to everyone during one of those conversations."
"Later my teacher put on a whole PowerPoint drawing heavily from Autism Speaks and everyone proceeded to speak to me like a f'king ape for the remainder of my time there."
"They don’t respect us, don’t want to help us, and in fact seem to believe if we didn’t exist then things would be much better. They’re a disgusting pack of thieves and they absolutely do not speak for me"
– a-friend-in-sneed
Shady Salespeople
"Mary Kay."
"And all other pyramid schemes that sell themselves as self-employment. F'k off with a sandpaper condom, and that does double for the folks that started as victims and then rope in others to save themselves."
– Exciting_Pop_1252
Outed
"They may call themselves 'Xfinity' but I know they a**es are Comcast. F'k Comcast."
– argus_orthanx
Scammers, all of them.
Inconvenient "Convenience"
"Ticketmaster. Surprised i haven't seen it. You'll try and cross shop tickets just to realize they always redirect you to Ticketmaster where you're gonna pay a huge amount in convenience fees. Buying 2 tickets you're pretty much paying for 3."
– pettyhonor
Textbook Thievery
"Anyone who makes college textbooks for outrageous prices."
– AkwardTimeToLaugh
A Workaround
"Oh god i need to buy a math textbook for my class that started 2 weeks ago n it's about $117.50 usd dollars 😭 i refuse to buy it esp since at the end of class my professor allows us to take pictures of his book so we can do the homework."
– Crystal_Princess2020
Stay Out Of Touch With Them
"AT&T can f'k off once for each random a** incremental charge."
– Emmjacob
No Kinda Life Is...
"Herbalife. Specifically those Herbalife 'Nutrition' Drink shops."
– fauxshoah
Beware of the products you purchase. There apparently is corruption in these companies.
Suspicious Sparkle
"DeBeers. One of the main exploiters of West Africa in recent memory, a near monopoly on diamonds jacking up prices, insists that you must buy your loved one a real diamond from them and not a cheaper synthetic one in order to prove that love."
– Flodo_McFloodiloo
Deceitful Threads
"SheIn. Art theft, lead in children’s clothes, undoubtedly slave labor in there somewhere. The $1 fast food meal of clothing."
– steffinix
Bad Spark
"PG&E. They have f'ked over so many Northern Californians between faulty equipment starting fires to working with Gavin Newsom to make the consumer pay for their damages. They suck so much John Oliver made a Last Week Tonight about them. Breweries in NorCal even started making beer called PG&E Sucks."
– gregthetaco
Hidden charges are nothing revelatory.
Service charges in addition to delivery fees when you have food delivered to your home courtesy of the various apps made to make a consumer's life easier is all well and good.
But as one previously mentioned, what Ticketmaster charges with their not-so-hidden fees is basically highway robbery.
It's a shame that while live performances are re-emerging from the effects of the global pandemic, it comes at an exorbitant cost to patrons trying to regain a normal sense of life.
As the years go on, we start to find out more and more terrible things big corporations have done to their workers, their consumers and the environment.
University of Virginia Law professor Brandon Garrett wrote a book called Too Big to Jail. He told Vox prosecutors haven't been following through with the prosecution, only stopping at fines. As much as the fines have gone up in amounts, they have expressed leniency with corporations in hopes they stop breaking laws.
That hasn't seemed to have happened.
Redditors shared which companies are the most evil of them all.
Redditor outdropp asked:
"What is the world's most evil company and why?"
It's incredible what lengths they will go to for money.
A bad history.
"Chiquita bananas - I'm not sure if they're that evil currently but they have a really bad history of killing protesting workers, starting wars and supporting terrorist organizations."
- joujamis
"Ah yes. United Fruit Company. Who used their connections with the American government to overthrow a government in Guatemala because they cared too much about labour rights. And that's not all they've done. Massacre and bananas go hand in hand."
- ballsofstyle
"Imagine destabilizing an entire country just to secure a f*cking banana crop. Absolute bastards."
- SquilliamFancySon95
"The term 'banana republic' came from their relations with nations like Honduras."
- AlliedAtheistAllianc
"Was looking for this. Kinda crazy that the clothing brand Banana Republic became so popular despite this morbid allegiance."
- Alive-Contact9147
"That is bananas."
- Christmas_Panda
Poisoning everything and everyone.
"I am a little biased since I just saw Dark Waters but Dupont."
- Skeledenn
"The montage where they went over every contaminated product still haunts me. I got rid of every teflon pan I had and switched to cast iron after that. Obviously too late, but it's a start.
For those interested, the document on DuPont and Teflon manufacturing is available on YouTube in some countries. It's fairly disturbing however."
- JustStopBeingPoor
"I live 20 minutes away from Parkersburg WV, and you'd be surprised how little people in the area know about DuPont."
- chadwick_dean
"Then the PR campaign is working effectively."
- koushakandystore
"I came for this. DuPont is the biggest evil company most people haven't heard of. They have their hands on or in everything that's made yet no one know much about them. I'm convinced it's because they have so much money they pay to stay under the radar."
"Also you know, they poisoned our entire planet with C8."
"The entire reason weed was illegal and hemp wasn't popular in the United States is because in WWII they lobbied to get the contract to make all the rope for our navy during the war for cheap using nylon. In turn they wanted to have their competitor, I can't remember the name, put out of business and they made hemp rope that was way strong and cheaper to manufacture. So congress put a HUGE tax on hemp that paved the way for weed to be illegal to smoke and hemp pretty much impossible to grow legally."
- MrBojanglez
The own or operate nearly every brand.
"Nestle - Too many reasons to list."
- LyannaCeltiger88
"I'm thinking now maybe I should avoid Nestlé products but they apparently operate SO MANY different companies it would be nearly impossible to avoid Nestlé. I'd have to make drastic life/diet changes, adjust meal planning, my morning routine, shopping routes, budget for more expensive alternative products, etc. Plus I'd have to take time to research and memorize what companies are Nestlé-owned and make sure the alternative companies aren't equally unethical."
"Like boycotting would take over my life and would likely be viewed as an unhealthy obsession..."
- akzj
"I checked out r/f*cknestle as one of the folks who replied on here suggested, right in their main page is a picture of all the companies. Just take a screenshot and save the photo to your phone. Instant access and reminder for the companies. That's what I did."
- bluefl0werz
"They also have this linked in the pinned post where you can type a brand and see if it's a Nestle brand. It's not perfect, I searched for Crunch since it's a Nestle Crunch bar and it didn't show, but it's better than nothing."
- FromUnderTheWineCork
"Try the app Buycott. It's free and let's you avoid companies you don't like and tells you how others are ethically and whether their product is ethically sourced."
- ClearlyDoesntGetIt
Leaders in the climate crisis.
"Most fast fashion brands. Child labor, wasting horrible amount of water while polluting it, burning or throwing the unsold clothes into the ocean etc."
- Lord-AG
"I can't help but thinking that all mainstream products in the world are built on top of suffering, and that anything remotely ethical is just extremely expensive and scarce."
- drum_playing_twig
"It's completely down to money, end of story."
"Did you know that over 90% of everything you recycle, doesn't actually get recycled? That only 20-30%, depending on where you read, of all cardboard actually gets recycled, as in properly used again?"
"That the cost of buying new cardboard for companies now is CHEAPER than recycling it, or buying recycled cardboard."
"That recycling companies like Biffa sell their recycling by the ton, and were caught mislabeling nappies, sanitary towels and clothes marked as "waste paper" which is cheaper of course."
"Recycling is a BUSINESS, and like all businesses, profits are all that matter."
"We need to wake up to the fact that buying an electric car, replacing your lightbulbs, buying bags for life, eating less meat, it's all a puny drop in the ocean even if you combined everyone doing it. Because 100 companies produce 71% of the world's total pollution."
- Dynasty2201
A sketchy church.
"I mean Church of Scientology is pretty sketchy."
- Christmas_Panda
"There was a period of about 8 months on Reddit back somewhere in 2014-2016 in which former Scientologists were all sharing their experiences on here and then it was like it all of a sudden stopped. It made me wonder if Reddit corporate got pressure from the church."
- Christmas_Panda
"I like this reply because Scientology is not a religion or anything similar and should be considered money making COMPANY."
- ilove-bananas
Asbestos in their baby powder.
"Johnson & Johnson knew for decades that asbestos lurked in its baby powder."
- planecompanyshort911
"Scrolled this far just to find J&J mentioned. It was unbelievable how long they kept this under wraps despite reports from way earlier regarding how carcinogenic their powder was turning out to be. Especially increasing incidence of ovarian cancer in women."
- akdsouza
"J&J doesn't have anything on Bayer…"
- DrEnter
No wonder many are crying to "Tax the Rich," or in other cases "Eat the Rich."
These corporate entities are literally destroying everything they touch and getting away with it.
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Why is money more important than human life? So many of these big companies and corporations seem to relish in taking advantage of us, the little people.
It isn't new you know? They destroy resources, deplete opportunities and suck up all the financial gain.
So what if kids drink poisoned water? Who cares if people are getting cancer from what you put in the air? And never mind what the staff is being paid.
As long as you stay a Fortune 500 powerhouse.
It's vile and we need to take them down.
Redditornikenotnikeywanted to discuss the corporations that need to be taken down a peg or two, by asking:
What are some stereotypically "evil" companies?
All of the companies I worked for in hospitality were blood suckers. They used and abused every employee they could while fleecing patrons. But hey... money, money, money.
No Cocoa
jean claude van damme chocolate GIFGiphy"Nestle, forget those guys." ~ ZWally6
"They've done some pretty bad things: https://www.zmescience.com/science/nestle-company-pollution-children/." ~ quantumronin2
An Empire
"Dupont." ~ UpperIce5314
"This company has been restoring the façade of the building I live in in downtown Los Angeles, and the solvent they were using was so potent, I had to relocate myself from my apartment. I complained to the building manager. Of course I look up online who makes the solvent and it's Dupont. FML." ~ futurespacecadet
Sucking Life
"Purdue pharma, literally drug dealers who caused the opioid crisis. Also the banana companies, who overthrew central American governments, installed dictatorships and kept the people poor while sucking all the profit from the land in their countries. (Chiquita, dole and del Monte)." ~ philip_andrew
Billions!
"Shell." ~ thatfreemanguy
"Aren't they the ones that figured out carbon emissions would cause catastrophic climate change in, like, the 70s and buried it? They will probably be responsible for billions of deaths in the end. Hitler, Stalin, Mao, they all put up rookie numbers compared to hiding and playing down climate change for decades." ~ OkChildhood2261
Take over
Google It John Oliver GIF by Last Week Tonight with John OliverGiphy"Google is getting there, so far as becoming a monopoly goes." ~ TheSanityInspector
"They removed the "don't be evil" clause from their mandate: https://gizmodo.com/google-removes-nearly-all-mentions-of-dont-be-evil-from-1826153393". ~ the_honest_liar
Shady Shady
"Sandoz - my brother worked there - he reported some shady crap and got blackballed from the industry.Three/four years later - this happens... https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/02/novartis-subsidiary-sandoz-to-pay-195-million-over-antitrust-allegations.html" ~ EveningIll8042
Monopoly
"As someone in the process right now: CollegeBoard. There is no good that comes out of a monopoly over education and people seeking a good university." ~pop1fizz
"Your problem is that you've bought the marketing that nonprofit is synonymous with good. It is not. It's only a form of corporate structuring that imposes certain limits and gives other benefits, just like any form of corporate structuring." ~ ManlyMisfit
"debt-capitalism"
"Blackrock." ~ No_Lynx_8737
"Blackrock is currently buying up as many homes as they can as part of their great reset where everything is rented to you. Part of a "debt-capitalism" plan. They really ARE evil." ~ PolskiHeart
"So in the UK, some of the big cities will have purpose built student accommodation blocks. Rooms will generally have their own bathrooms but then will have a shared kitchen."
"The nicer rooms will pretty much be a one bed apartment so the whole thing looks more like a hotel than it does student accommodation. There are several companies that run these but the biggest one which owned their own buildings was bought up by BlackRock. Most of the London buildings were like 20+ floor tower blocks in sought after locations near universities and transport links so you can imagine each one was worth quite a lot." ~ TofuBoy22
Where to Begin?
Tell Me More To Do List GIF by Disney ChannelGiphy"Coca Cola, PepsiCo, Nestle, Kellogg's, P&G, Mondelez, Unilever, Mars, General Mills… Basically all big companies that have a carppy human rights record and give you the illusion of choice." ~ Rerrereddd
That is quite a list. We are in troubling times, but we always have been. Until money is no longer an obsession, we'll make no progress.
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In a Capitalist society like the one in the U.S., there are jobs that we can point to that show us how that society creates jobs based on those values.
Capitalism takes the stance that "greed is good" and rewards bad behavior. It's clear that the jobs created under a system (founded on colonialism, slavery, and imperialism) are bound to make jobs that are for that sole purpose.
Plus, it can turn people into some real a**holes.
Redditor Vaderson69 wanted to know:
"What is a job/profession that shouldn't exist?"
Let's see what people came up with.
Lobbying shouldn't be a thing.
"Lobbyist."
- icmigz
"As a paid position no. As a volunteer I'm fine with it."
"So you shouldn't be able to bring up issues directly to members of a legislature?"
"Corporations shouldn't be able to bribe politicians to pass legislation favorable to them."
"They're not bribing them, they're purchasing them."
Influencer culture is vicious.
"Influencer or life coach."
"Saw a pic of some influencer posing in front of her dead dad's open casket at his funeral (I think in r/awfuleverything). Sad this phenomenon seems to have taken off of people doing absurd sh*t for the views and commission."
Street cleaning.
"I would love to live somewhere that doesn't need a small army of people picking up trash in the streets."
"I saw Dune last night at the IMAX. Before the movie they came on the intercom and said how excited they were to have a full theater for the first time in a long time. Then they asked everyone to please check their area to make sure they take all their trash with them."
"After the movie I had to wade through a river of garbage and popcorn to leave."
"People suck."
- bclagge
Insurance Providers.
"Health insurance provider."
Here's a great article explaining the downfalls to private health insurance.
"A health plan that is good for sick people attracts more sick people and that is not in the self-interest of anyone who is in charge."
"Ironically, failing to meet all the needs of people who are sick can be profit maximizing."
There are places you literally cannot pump your own gas.
"Gas pumpers."
"They still exist? I haven't seen one in years."
"Oregon & New Jersey have them. It's illegal to pump your own fuel there."
Bounty hunting is still legal.
"Bounty hunters. The idea that a random person without any legal authority can go after criminals like some sort of vigilante is something that should have died with the saloons from the Old West, where they used to hang out."
- jose628
"There's a reason it is outlawed in all but two countries, the US and the Philippines. It's an awful practice and leads to more problems than it solves. If the police are unable to bring in fugitives, they need to step up their game, not allow some low life to bring them back in."
According to HG Legal Resources, U.S. bounty hunters reportedly catch over 30,000 bail jumpers each year or about 90% of the fugitives who jump bail.
Paparazzi are paid stalkers.
"Paparazzi."
"I find their behaviour in order to get 'exclusive' pictures voyeuristic, aggressive and stalking in all but name. Anyone who buys or circulates paparazzi or unsolicited pictures of people going about their business on their own time is part of the problem."
"I agree that our culture's obsession with celebrities is troubling, but the paparazzi themselves are only responding to demand."
These Actors Seemed Miscast But Absolutely Nailed The Role | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
The Actors Who Seemed Miscast But Absolutely Nailed The RoleFew people bought into the idea of Bryan Cranston in the role of Walter White before Breaking Bad...Somehow this is still a thing.
"Telemarketer."
"Hello it is Flo here to renew your Insurance press one"
Marketing and Human Resources.
"Sorry guys, but most marketing and HR positions are complete bullsh*t."
"The best Marketing department I ever worked for was small, hands-on, and dealt with the tangible. The larger the company, the more utter bullsh*t that is generated. There was one guy at my old company that the sales guys would not allow at any of their meetings because he talked such utter nonsense. LOL."
"I've worked for several companies that had HR people who dealt mostly with employee morale (you know the 'Hawaiian shirt Friday' people) and I am pretty sure most companies could do without them, seeing how everyone makes fun of their goofy, embarrassing little events."
"As former HR, can confirm. We were already a bloated department and then we hired a chief diversity officer despite already being a 62% female and roughly 40% black company."
- RealArby
"It would make more sense to hire HR people who would be there to help employees out when they run into trouble at work, or they're ill, have a family member ill etc. silly parties that no one wants to go to are only annoying."
"HR people do that, it's called FMLA."
We pay people to put our stuff back for us.
"Shopping cart wranglers. If people would put their sh*t back where they found it."
"I can assure you without knowing you that you are one of the people who don't do this every time either. No one does."
"Not gonna lie, I don't always put it back where I got it, but I put it in the cart return in the parking lot if available."
This might offend some people.
"I know some people will be offended but 'professional gamer.'
"I might as well be a professional movie watcher."
"Movie critics would like a word."
"Yeah hate those a**holes."
Landlords.
"Landlord."
- Skycat9
"Slumlord, landlord is necessary."
"Society would function just fine without a privileged class of landowners leeching vast sums of free money off the backs of those who need it most. F*ck em."
"Yes all of them."
- Skycat9
24 hour news.
"The whole 24 hour news cycle industry."
The 24/7 cable news eventually lead to the sensationalizing of every day news because companies like MSNBC, CNN and FOX News started competing for viewership.
Throw the whole thing away.
"Lawyer."
- b1ue777
"Why?"
"The whole system is completely ridiculous. People shouldn't be charged absurd legal fees just to know their rights/ defend themselves, or do some procedures. The whole thing is f*cked."
- b1ue777
"Bathroom attendant."
"I'm pretty sure I can pick up the towel myself."
It's really about keeping the bathrooms clean and safe, but often is a thankless job.
Accountants for the rich.
"The accountants who's job it is to help rich people not pay taxes."
Here's a list of all the ultra rich that didn't pay taxes.
Regardless of the reason for the job or the intent of the person working, it's a product of our society. A system that puts pressure on their workers to fend for themselves and rewards them for being ruthless is bound to create some issues.
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