Let’s get real for a second, Pandas. I genuinely believe that we’re becoming more and more like a cyberpunk dystopia every single day. We’re developing ever more impressive technologies, but our quality of life suffers, as the wealth gap between the haves and the have-nots continues to widen. However, even in this dreary corporate landscape, you can find something to giggle about. Comedy, as always, is the silver lining that helps perk up our mood.
That’s where the r/CorporateFacepalm subreddit comes in. A cozy online community of just over 147k members, it has been documenting hilarious corporate fails on social media and in real-life since the early summer of 2015. In those 6+ years, they’ve amassed a vast archive of proof that even the biggest, most powerful global companies slip up from time to time. Sometimes, in such funny ways that we realize that the people managing the social media accounts are human, too. With human errors left, right, and center, too.
Scroll down for some of the most facepalm-worthy corporate posts on the internet, upvote the biggest fails, and let us know in the comments which of these you think are worth a gold star for the effort.
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"This Is Terrible Advice For Trains"
How Did They Not See That Coming
Pot, Meet Kettle
The ‘Corporate Facepalm’ subreddit runs with the tagline, “For all the ridiculous things your company does!” And it really helps humanize the large, often faceless, corporations.
They seem much more approachable when you realize that even the biggest conglomerates, rivaling even countries with their raw financial power and political clout, aren’t perfect. They can mess up in ways that look obvious to us. Then again, hindsight is always 20/20.
Celebrate Women's Day By... Thinking Like A Man?
I Have No Words
A Very Heartfelt Personalized Thanks
Rules-wise, r/CorporateFacepalm is very light on regulating its members. All they ask from their community members is that they “don’t be a jerk,” label any NSFW post and comments as such, and avoid posting any personal information. Information about public entities is fine, however, if you’re posting a “normal” person’s name, photo, or profile, you should really block that out to protect their identity.
The subreddit’s mods also urge their members to submit original content and avoid reposting things. “If someone posted it this week, you probably shouldn't post it again. If someone posted it last year, it's probably okay. We will review this on a case-by-case basis,” they share.
Waltonchain Forgets To Switch Twitter Accounts, Self-Owns By Posting As Winner Of Their Own Contest
Maccas In A Town Called “Yass”. It Took Them Years Until They Took It Down
This is near Canberra, the capital of Australia. We spell it 'a**e' here so it's just talking about a donkey for us.
A Nightclubs Response To A Drink (Possibly) Being Spiked
On a more serious note, however, we do have to keep in mind that the landscape of the job industry has changed a lot in recent years. Over a decade ago, we had one of the biggest financial crashes in human history. Meanwhile, we’ve been battling the Covid-19 pandemic for the past two years.
“We had the global financial crisis which led to many millennials who were employed being displaced. When the economy recovered, it changed structurally, and many quality jobs were lost," Eddy Ng, the Smith Professor of Equity & Inclusion in Business at Queen’s University, told me during an interview with Bored Panda just last week.
According to the professor, the 2008 financial crisis led to the emergence of precarious jobs, the gig/sharing economy, and the rise of digital labor. As a result, some people were unable to join the new economy. Income and social inequality were on the rise.
New Fashion Trend
Do Local News Stations Count?
Glad To Hear That
According to Eddy, some racialized groups, like Black and Brown workers, fall into a poverty trap, unable to climb out of it. Financial literacy isn’t enough to help people pull themselves out of poverty, though it might be a helpful tool otherwise. “You need to have the resources to, for example, access training and education," the professor said.
In the present day, we see that the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the very same income and social inequalities that the 2008 crash brought to light.
“Workers work more hours with lower pay in order to survive. That leaves little time to accumulate the necessary resources for skill upgrades or retooling for the new economy. This is the poverty trap I alluded to," the professor said.
Time To Rethink Your Brand Name
Blizzard Supporting People To Stand Up For Their Cause, Meanwhile
Criticizing the chinese communist government is forbidden, because it is bad for business. Supporting BLM is compulsory, because it is good for business. Companies don't have opinions, they have economic interests.
Thanks, Amazon
Financial expert Sam Dogen explained to me earlier that the reality is that some CEOs can get millions of dollars while average employees might be scared for their job security. There’s an extreme dichotomy between the fortunate and the average.
“CEOs have no magical powers. Yes, they have the operational experience to run big companies. However, they are often just spokespeople and ambassadors of the firm. One person cannot make that big a difference in a large organization. If Tim Cook from Apple steps down, the company will be fine. Another overpaid CEO will take his place,” he told Bored Panda.
Um. Retinal?
Ok Cristiano
Company Prints Message To Staff On Public Advertisement
Translated: If you would like to keep your job, start harassing our customers so they spend more money on useless stuff they do not need. (We are Sainsbury's).
“The reason why CEOs can get paid so much is due to the direct correlation of the size of the company. When a company is worth hundreds of billions of dollars, it’s easier to pay a CEO tens of millions of dollars a year, which comprised mostly of stock options,” the expert said.
“At the end of the day, the CEO and the Board of Directors’ goal is to provide as much value and returns as possible for its shareholders. And if that means firing thousands of employees, then that is what they will do. It is a sad reality of extreme capitalism.”
Who Needs To Flu Shot When You Can Have Flavored Water?
“We’re Number One!”
Bbc News Jumps The Gun With Its Reporting
Unfortunately the original post was probably re-tweeted about a hundred thousand times. The apology post 826. That's how social media works.
According to financial expert Sam, the employment situation is going to get more competitive in the future, as technologies change and globalization continues to be a powerful force.
“Now, a company can more easily hire a hungry person from a developing country who is willing to earn much less. The work-from-home trend is here to stay. The other trend we should see is more people becoming freelancers instead of full-time employees. The ability to work from home has created more solopreneurs who see more business opportunity taking on multiple clients at once.”
Bet This Went Over Real Well Reebok
Orangetheory Literally Photoshopped A White Dudes Face Onto A Black Persons Body In Their Telephone Training Program
Maybe he put a bag over his head while tanning. Or maybe the photoshopper had a bag over their head while doing an abysmal job at, uh, their job.
Yahoo Not Even Using Their Own Search Engine
Mcdonalds And Visa Partnered To Make This Budget For Fast Food Workers, It Requires Two Jobs And No Heat
I'm also intrigued by the $20 health insurance....is their health insurance just a box of band aids and a bottle of disinfectant?
Load More Replies...None of these numbers seem realistic. Where in the world are people going to find rent for $600 USD a month and health insurance for $20.00 per/month? This doesn't even include budgeting for food, childcare, clothing, gas, personal care products like shampoo ( I guess that would all have to fall under "other"). This just serves to show just how horrible the United States pays many of their employees in the service industry.
It depends though, I don't pay for health insurance (my employer does), my phone bill is less than $30 a month (Thanks Google Fi!), my car is paid for, I don't pay for heat, and in the winter, my electric bill is in $30. So it really does depend on where you live.
Load More Replies...I hope that's because this budget is for fast food workers and their benefits include free meals. Otherwise, the daily spending money will just go to food.
Load More Replies...Let's hope you never need an oil change or new tires. And certainly don't EVER get sick or hurt.
The $600 rent is assuming that you share a 1 bdrm apartment with 3 other people. If you all are working 2 jobs each, chances are only 1 person is sleeping at any random time. It allllll makes sense now. Thank you McDonalds
I pay $625 for a one bedroom and I don't pay for heat either.
Load More Replies...Why is there no food on this list? Or is that what they mean by "other"?
Twenty dollars... Hey, just want to let you know that a box of bandages and a bottle of aspirin does not count as "health insurance"
Friends live in small rural village in Midwest. More akin to thorp than city. Even there, rent is over $600. Heating is propane which requires several hundred dollars deposit and costs over $100 monthly. Satellite and phone-internet service are monopolies, so they're each over $100. Closest hospital, drug store, McDonald's? 30 miles. Unsure what area this absurd budget was targeting, but it definitely isn't low-income rural America.
I live in the Upper Midwest and I don't pay for heat (or have propane). My only three bills over $100 are my rent, my car/renters insurance (they're bundled), and my internet/tv (again bundled). So it depends on where you live.
Load More Replies...$955 for AN ENTIRE MONTH OF WORK?? Jesus Christ, why even bother.
This is as patronizing as it gets. $20 for health insurance, $600 for rent, and *zero* for heating?
Where in the actual hell is rent 600 and car payment 150 and insurance 20? lmao
Is this US dollars or is it 1975!? I'd like to see the C-level executives live with this budget for a year!
Electricity, home insurance & phone are so absurdly expensive, are they really that expensive in the US? The rent looks fairly normal for a good 1-2 room apartment, but from the comments here it seems 600 is actually unrealistically low in the US? I'm shocked 😱
Okay what the hell??? Not realistic! Also $0 for heating? I hope to hell they don't live in a state like Idaho!
Love how food and medicine are both just assumed in “spending money”… along with any savings
If you're paying only 150 for car payments, you better have a healthy car repair budget too.
$150 car payment? A car that cheap is going to need $500 in repairs every month
These people are delusional. The only one of these which is achievable (if you go cheap) is the phone bill.
$100 car & home insurance - yeah right....$10000 cable & phone - hahahhaahah
If I work for McDonald's I only have to pay $20 for health insurance. I maybe sleeping in a $600 box but at least I have health insurance.
my phone and internet is $280 a month (and I don't have cable television) . Granted, Canada has the highest rates in the world, but still... $100?
And $20 for health insurance???!!! $150 for a car payment? $100 for home and auto insurance? Oh this was a budget for the 70’s, my mistake
Our mortgage is under 600 dollars, but I live in Scotland and we got a complete bargain of a house, but the rest isn't really realistic- we pay around £200 for gas and electric which is about 270 in usd. No health insurance needed thankfully, but before food etc we are about £1700 or $2300 in various bills every month. Minimum wage is crazy low in America - my 17yr old daughter gets more in her first job per hour by quite a margin and still not sure she could afford to move out anytime soon
What did you expect from McDonalds? They've been promoting bullshit so long they believe it themselves.
Yea, my rent is over 1000. for a crappy basement bach in Toronto Ontario and that is considered way below the average. Most bach apt cost about 2000 a mth. And that is for a crappy cockroach filled low rise in a bad neighbourhood.
Uh... Food's not on there? If it's under other, other needs to be way higher (as does everything else on the list)
Rent is $600, and health insurance is $20 and month. LOL. I have health insurance from a Fortune 100 company, they pay 1/2, and I pay 2 times as much as that per paycheck. And I have it good.
Marriott Gets It
Washington Post Creates Page On A Women's March. Uses The Male Symbol
Congratulations! Also, Remember You Have A Brain Tumour!
Wow, People Must Hate Their Queso
"I like it. -I am sorry you don't like it, I care about your opinion."
Surely Nobody Will Mix These Two Up
Nivea's Now Deleted Facebook Post Was Quite Popular With The Alt Right
Well you know the conservative motto-"If it ain't white, it ain't right."
Wells Fargo Wants You To Get A Real Job
Feminist And Body-Positive Cosmo Promotes The Story Of A Woman's Cancer Recovery As A Beach-Bod Strategy
When people see old picture of me, 6'3 and 224lb (I was a healthy muscular man but wore baggy clothes), they always look at me then ask, 'Wow, how did you loose all that weight'... 'Sepsis! I had sepsis! I nearly died! But hey, at least it was worth it(!)'.
Ibm May Need To Update Its Job Applicant Page
Old Ad From The Netherlands
Searching Apartment Complex Reviews When I Noticed Something A Little Fishy About The "Property Managers" Response
Black Friday
My Sister Received This Email From Zillow
Purell Making Fun Of Sick Kids
Wait, What?
Conservative Party Leaflets Circulated In Basingstoke, UK
Note: this post originally had 59 images. It’s been shortened to the top 41 images based on user votes.
"The ‘Corporate Facepalm’ subreddit runs with the tagline, “For all the ridiculous things your company does!” And it really helps humanize the large, often faceless, corporations. They seem much more approachable when you realize that even the biggest conglomerates, rivaling even countries with their raw financial power and political clout, aren’t perfect." No, it exists to showcase how tone deaf and out of touch with reality these faceless conglomerates are.
"The ‘Corporate Facepalm’ subreddit runs with the tagline, “For all the ridiculous things your company does!” And it really helps humanize the large, often faceless, corporations. They seem much more approachable when you realize that even the biggest conglomerates, rivaling even countries with their raw financial power and political clout, aren’t perfect." No, it exists to showcase how tone deaf and out of touch with reality these faceless conglomerates are.