Evil Marketing Techniques That Businesses Don’t Want You To Know (44 New Pics)

Article created by: Simona Kinderytė

It is estimated that in 2021 an average person might be exposed to as many as 10,000 ads per day. It seems like a lot, but when you think about it, ads bombard us on social media, TV, billboards, and even inside our fortune cookies. We get so used to them that we don’t even notice.

One would like to think that marketing and advertising should bridge the gap between the seller and the buyer; make people trust the product and encourage them to use it. But their words often sound too good to be true. And they often are. If you see a big sign yelling “Everything’s 30% off”, it might be designed to make you miss the small line at the bottom where it says that the offer applies to a handful of selected items only. Congratulations, you’ve just encountered false marketing.

This time, we will check out a few ‘sometimes ridiculous, other times alarming and infuriating’ marketing techniques that evil businesses use to take advantage of us and manipulate customers into buying more stuff. Continue scrolling and see these examples for yourself!

After you’re done reading, don’t forget to check out this previous Bored Panda post with 30 pictures that companies do not want you to see.

Read More: Evil Marketing Techniques That Businesses Don’t Want You To Know (50 New Pics)

#1 Man, That’s Really Cheap… Oh

Image credits: LuMo096

#2 Packaging For These Markers

Image credits: Chev_350

#3 I Have An Ad In My Fortune Cookie

Image credits: Full_Metal_Machinist

#4 Bought A Chicken Pot Pie Thinking It Was The Size Of The Outer Tin Before Cutting Into It And Seeing This Monstrosity

Image credits: ItRhymesWithFreak

#5 New Cereal Box Is 11% Taller With 1.6% Less Cereal

Image credits: ______———

#6 So Basically Every Price

Image credits: BrendanTFirefly

#7 Imagine Cleaning A Fan So Well That You Uncover 2 New Blades

Image credits: erkang06

#8 That Would Explain Why My Ankle Hurts

Image credits: ASAPxSyndicate

#9 By Opening The Envelope For The License Agreement, You Agree To It

Image credits: PandaKing185

#10 Walmart Employee Here. We Were Given These Shirts Today. Walmart Profits Billions Off Of This Pandemic, Then Compares Their Sacrifice To WW2 Veterans

Image credits: TehAwkwardOne

#11 This “Dual” Camera Smartphone Doesn’t Have Two Functioning Cameras

Image credits: Funnyonol

#12 False Advertising Should Be A Felony

Image credits: anniemaymoo

#13 Went In For The $1.99 Lunch Special. Sorry Sir, That Says $7.99 Lunch Special

Image credits: JeffTrav

#14 The Mixed Signals Of This Shoe Sale Advertisement

Image credits: MNgirlinaNDworld

#15 Unremovable Ads On My $2,500 Samsung Smart TV

Image credits: BrownLandlord

#16 My Mother Recently Passed Away. This Morning I Thought I Got An Email From Her. Nope, Just A Spam Tabloid Naming Their Contact “Mom”

Image credits: Raise_Master

#17 This Packaging. Was Wondering Why It Ran Out So Quickly

Image credits: GreenCupcake23

#18 Walgreens Replaced Their Freezer Window Panels With Screens That Constantly Flash/Move And Don’t Even Accurately Represent What’s Inside The Fridge

Image credits: catmomextraordinaire

#19 This Post Card Is Made To Look Like It’s From The Dealership. It’s Printed To Look Like The Information Is Smudged So That You Will Call Them

It’s a third-party warrantee company.

Image credits: Darknight1993

#20 This “Avocado” Oil

Image credits: BoringGrass0

#21 Dish Network Sent Out Advertisements In Envelopes That Make It Look Like A Special Occasion Card

Also, trying to manipulate people by making the cards look handmade by a child.

Image credits: Pie-Makers-Mistress

#22 Sign The Contract Without Reading It Please

Image credits: cy6nu5

#23 I Just Found 20 Tunisian Dinars (7.5 Dollars) On The Ground, Then After Opening It, It Was Just An Advertisement For Some Stupid Discount

Image credits: khalil-ammari

#24 This Website Hilariously Just Stretches The Pixels To Turn Regular Clothing Into “Maternity” Clothing

Image credits: LurkeyMcLurkersen

#25 They Took Away The In-Store Signage To Force You To Download Their App

Image credits: JustDewItPLZ

#26 I Just Got Ad In The Mail Disguised As A Hand-Written Letter. Address Is Covered So I Don’t Doxx Myself

Image credits: pillager_of_poopers

#27 This Pamphlet I Got On My Door Making Me Not Want To Touch My Doorknob Until I Realized

Image credits: yusefudattebayo

#28 This “Gold” Chalk That My Daughter Received As A Gift. White Chalk Spray-Painted Gold

Image credits: Benci007

#29 I Love Ads On My £250 Console That I Continue To Pay £6 A Month To Play On

Image credits: TS_Optics

#30 Is That Really Free Delivery?

Image credits: theskyopened

#31 This Vending Machine Is 100% Sold Out. It Only Tells You That Items Are Sold Out After You’ve Put Money In/Used Your Card

Image credits: Digiboy62

#32 This Kettle Saves 70% Energy. As Long As You Need To Boil 70% Less Water

Image credits: UnlikeSome

#33 Nearly Didn’t Notice The Cheapest Car Wash Program

Image credits: tarek122

#34 Chipotle Goes All-Out Advertising That For The Next Week Delivery Is Free, And Then Casually Makes The Delivery Menu Priced Higher Than The Regular One

Image credits: Arucious

#35 Advertise Free WiFi But Make Sure The Customers Know The Procedure For How To Pay For It

Image credits: mauricewilliams455

#36 Retail Sign At H&M Today. The Small Line Is Hard To Read In Person

Image credits: DarkRoastt

#37 I Got A Ticket. No, Just An Ad For A Tattoo Place

Image credits: Hummocky

#38 My School Has Vending Machines With Candy That Costs 1.50. They Conveniently Leave Off The 1 So It Looks Like It Costs 0.50

Image credits: Lopad_NotThePokemon

#39 Who Thought It Was A Good Idea To Put An Image Of 7 Churros For The Sign Of 3 Churros

Image credits: Imhereforgiofilmsbro

#40 Please, Just Stop Using Fake Money As Advertising

Image credits: notbeatrizportinari

#41 Got A Letter In An Envelope Which Said My Lease Was Terminated. Just Another Ad

Image credits: enderr920

#42 How To Dissapoint Every Student On Campus

Image credits: sharkyboi

#43 Film Producers: “We Need To Advertise We Have Multiple CGI Dragons.” Marketers: “Say No More”

Image credits: is_it_a_lie

#44 This Advertisement Designed To Look Like An Amazon Package

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Image credits: Nic0lodeon