Have you ever opened a bag of chips to find that it was 70% air? Companies like to trick customers into thinking that they're getting what they're paying for. People would be less willing to spend money on a product if they realized that they weren't getting their money's worth.
Keep reading to see some companies who are master manipulators. Some of these photos may even make you a smarter shopper in the future.
A Very Uncomfy Bench
This bench is specifically designed to make it difficult for homeless people to sleep on it.
It also makes it super uncomfortable for people to sit on. Basically, this bench isn't serving anybody.
A Creative Way To Give Customers Less Chocolate
Cadbury changed the shape of their Dairy Milk bars.
It looks like a new design, but actually, these rounded bars contain 8% less chocolate. It's not okay to give people less chocolate.
Visit Their Website...If You Can
Normally, it's best business practice for a company to just plainly tell you how to visit their website rather than require you to solve a puzzle first. With that in mind, we can only hope this Florida company is better at maintenance of traffic than they are at marketing.
It's unclear how they expected anyone to tell from this insignia, but this is supposed to say "motplans.com." That's unlikely to be anyone's first guess as to where to start on this crazy circle.
Was Making This Plush An Actual Puppy Too Obvious?
At first glance, this stuffed animal is a perfectly adorable choice to make someone's Valentine's Day a little more special. The little highland cow is very cute and friendly-looking, and it's got a heart that expresses a warm sentiment.
However, it's hard not to wonder why they picked a cow for the design if it says "puppy love." Sure, that's not something someone needs to be a puppy to feel, but why did they go out of their way to express that phrase with something other than a dog?
Looks Can Be Deceiving
Although this initially seems like a fun way to encourage young children to learn to potty train, its design flaws are subtle and devious enough to convince us the Joker was behind it.
After all, that little spinner that kids are supposed to aim for has the clear potential to cause more messes than it prevents by flinging them out of the device. As the uploader put it, "Because potty training needs more splatter-producing elements."
Technically, They Can't Deceive Us With This One
While it's clear that it's not always hard to find product packaging that outright lies about its contents, that's not something we can confidently say the blurb on this scale is doing.
Of course, that's because we can't be confident about anything this illegible inscription is allegedly saying. After all, it's not even clear what language it's written in.
I Thought Everyone Agreed They Hated This
Sometimes, it isn't a product's packaging that lies to us, but the product's design itself. For instance, a quick look at these pants would suggest that they have pockets.
As we can see, that's technically true but the issue is that they're only as deep as the bottom of the opening. Good luck putting anything in here that doesn't fall out.
They Didn't Say They Did The Math Correctly, I Suppose
Not only is the math on this cereal box wrong, but it apparently works out to the complete opposite reality of what they're claiming here.
Specifically, spheres have the lowest surface area to volume ratio of any third-dimensional shape. That means literally any other shape would have been preferable to deliver more glaze. They did the marketing, not the math.
Good Thing It Has That Other Writing On The Side
Considering that we tend to see decreasing numbers as indicating coldness, it's already a little counter-intuitive for refrigerators to associate higher numbers with colder internal temperatures.
However, this particular model certainly doesn't help with its confusing indications that a person can either make the fridge cold or colder. It's a good thing that other text on the left makes its own recommendations and clarifies that seven is the coldest setting.
Whoever Built This Is Setting Us Up
While crossing this bridge, it gives every indication that it's just based on one big, curved part. It's as easy as walking to the end, right?
Well, if nothing else, this bridge is a reminder to always watch our step because looks can be deceiving. It turns out there was a nice, subtle staircase to trip over all along!
That Symbolism Means Something, But Not This Time
Generally, when you see a switch like this, it's clear that the circle means the device is turned off and the line means it's turned on. This is true everywhere in the world, so it's not like that creates much international confusion either.
However, that apparently didn't stop the makers of this glue gun from being confused, as turning it "on" indicates it's set to 100 watts, as turning it "off" means that it's set to 60 watts. Apparently, the only way to turn it off is unplugging it.
It's Like They're Ashamed Of Their Own Product
Real quick, what is this product? If you guessed that it's laundry detergent, that's apparently the trick that the company behind it wanted to play on you.
This is actually fabric softener, but nowhere on the jug (with the exception of that tiny reference to softness) is this actually indicated. The back makes it easier to find out what the company's Spotify playlist is than what their product actually does.
Slanted Benches
The benches in this food court are slanted so that people don't spend too much time sitting here.
The mall wants people to spend more time shopping and less time lounging.
Environmentally Friendly?
This is product a that's supposed to be environmentally friendly. You would think that they would want to encourage reuse.
They've designed these bottles so they're impossible to open. There are little teeth around the bottom of the spray mechanism.
A See-Through Port-O-Potty
This port-o-potty is designed with a clear front to prevent people from using it as a place to get high.
It also doesn't make it a very private place to use the washroom.
A Brand New Stick
This stick of deodorant is brand new.
It looks full when you look at it from the front, but when you hold it up to the light you can see that the actual deodorant only takes up half of the container.
Pay To Pee
Using the washroom should be a basic human right. You really shouldn't have to pay to pee.
Unfortunately, turnstiles like this are all over Europe. How much does a washroom break cost nowadays?
Return This Dime
Wouldn't it be easier for this company to donate the dime themselves and not pay the extra postage to mail the dime to the customer?
This makes no sense at all.
A Very Small Sticker Roll
When you pay money for a sticker roll, you expect to get more than one sheet of stickers.
This is more cardboard than it is stickers. What a massive rip-off.
$4 Each 10 Minutes
People driving by this parking garage get excited to see such a low price.
But if you take the time to read the fine print, it actually says that it's $4 for every 10 minutes.
There's No Fruit In This Cup
This yogurt cup is painted with red streaks to make it look like there's strawberry sauce inside of it.
In reality, this is just a cup of plain white yogurt.
No Binder Included
This person paid the big bucks to get a textbook for his university course.
It turns out that this textbook was just a whole bunch of loose pages that aren't even bound together.
A Very Tiny Pen
This pen looks like a normal pen. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it.
When you open it up, though, the actual pen insert is super tiny. How much writing could this possibly do before running out of ink?
So Basically Any Price...
This sign says that everything in this story is 99 cents and up or less, which is basically every price under the sun.
What price isn't accounted for on this sign?
What Is The Truth?
This juice is advertised as 100% juice, although if you read the ingredients, it says it contains 27% juice.
So which is it? Now I don't know what to believe.
Disney Skimps Out On Their Ice Cream
It looks like Disney employees are told not to fill up the ice cream cups all the way.
This serving has a huge hole in the middle of it. We deserve more ice cream!
Not Printed All Over
Not only is the way this tablecloth is printed deceptive, it actually says on the packaging that it's printed all over.
When you open it up, it is very much not printed all over.
A Single Candy
This brownie is supposed to be topped with candies. It's supposed to be topped with multiple candies.
How many candies do you see on this brownie? Because I only count one.
A Very Dairy Creamer
This product is advertised as a non-dairy creamer, but if you read the ingredients, it says it contains milk.
That sounds like a dairy creamer to me. Does this company not know that milk is dairy?
1001 Stickers
Yes, technically, this book contains 1001 stickers; however, a lot of those stickers are just plain colored squares.
I don't think that those should count towards the 1001. That's just not fair.
Inconsistent Post-It Notes
These sticky notes are supposed to have a gold trim around them, but when you start flipping them over, you realize that only the top page has a gold trim.
The rest have this white border that just isn't quite as aesthetically pleasing as the shiny gold.
Not Enough Beads
This kit looks like it contains way more beads than it actually does when you look at it from the outside.
This kind of foolery should be illegal. It's really not fair.
Not Actually Bigger
This Dairy Milk bar says that it's now bigger than the previous bar, but it looks like the new bar is actually shorter than the classic one.
Maybe the new bar happens to be thicker? Or maybe companies are just allowed to lie.
All The Same Color
From the outside, it looks like these pens would have all different color ink. In actuality, they're all blue pens just with different colored casings.
I was hoping for some rainbow ink.
A Permanent Label
This ceramic cup has a sticker on it that says it's microwave safe, but once you take off that sticker, there's text printed on the mug that says it's not.
So what's the truth?
A Short Stack
This pack of colored pencils looks like a normal pack of colored pencils.
However, when you take them out of the box, you can see that they're actually pretty short.
Where's All The Moisturizer?
This skincare product looks like it contains way more moisturizer from the outside.
Once you open up the box, you realize that you're actually getting a tiny pot of the product instead of the box-sized amount.
Around The Outside
This snack product is supposed to be all the way full, but the company arranged the product around the outside of the container so it only looks like it's full.
Could you tell by the weight when you picked it up?
Where Is All The Filling?
This snack bun is supposed to be full of a delicious-looking green filling, but when it was cut open, there was barely a speck of the green stuff in there.
Did they run out of filling, or were they just being cheap?