This can only labelled as marketing fraud - an illegal practice that makes false or misleading claims for financial gain. It includes talking big about the product’s attributes, concealing side effects or potential harm, and selling poor-quality items as up-to-par ones.
This company is just one example of how organizations are taking advantage of consumers. After all, people tend to believe that others are telling the truth more often than they actually are.
So when redditor Conradjenn started a discussion about American consumer scams, more than 6,000 people came forward with their own fraud stories. Scroll below to find the most mind-boggling ones that prove not all businesses are out to make a fair financial profit.
Cetophile , Pixabay / Pexels Report
goblin_goblin , Christina Morillo / Pexels Report
Girl_Princess , Laura James / Pexels Report
However, by the end of the 19th century, scams in marketing flourished, along with consumer suspicions about promoted food. Only in 1914 was the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Act put in place to limit self-regulation and prohibit false claims of advertisers. Afterward, if it turned out that an agency was deceptive, it faced legal problems.
loki8481 , segundo Report
pujarteago1 , Marek Studzinski / Unsplash Report
Low-Celery-7728 , MART PRODUCTION / Pexels Report
Electronic-Pool-7458 , Edgar Soto / Unsplash Report
GodaTheGreat , TaurusEmerald / Wikipedia Report
Worried_Place_917 , Karolina Grabowska / Pexels Report
Currently, marketed goodies tend to create a false sense of health or target our fears to trick people into purchasing them. Like healthy-sounding phrases such as “gluten-free” or “organic” that lure buyers with the impression of being nutritious.
In fact, in 2018, researchers found that most bottled water advertising campaigns trigger people’s subconscious fear of death. They also stated that it symbolizes something safe and pure that can be very compelling to people who want to avoid health risks.
starcadia , Pavel Danilyuk / Pexels Report
PrimeVector19 , Max Fischer / Pexels Report
OkInitiative7327 Report
itspronouncdcalliope , bruce mars / Unsplash Report
djauralsects Report
Dapper_Platform_1222 , Christina Morillo / Pexels Report
Malvania , Binyamin Mellish / Pexels Report
evalunaofficial Report
OJC1975 , Andrea Piacquadio / Pexels Report
LastChristian , Joe Ross Report
deeBfree Report
laynerj Report
darthTharsys , Ron Lach / Pexels Report
Yellow_Jacket_97 Report
thenewmadmax , Oladimeji Ajegbile / Pexels Report
Gitxsan Report
MetalTrek1 , Ben Mack / Pexels Report
Boogiebadaboom Report
PapaDeE04 , Tracy Le Blanc / Pexels Report
MostlyHostly Report
DuceBanner Report
Follow Bored Panda on Google News!
Follow us on Flipboard.com/@boredpanda!
