God is in the details, they say. But so is the devil. Especially when you’re hungry and drained after yet another bender day in this wild, wild world. And though jerk packaging designs do not apply solely to food, but come in many shapes and product categories, they are the solid reason why so many of us have some level of trust issues.
Like, putting three salami tranches on the side of a pizza so that it gets a “window view,” shining like a diamond out of the package, is borderline bearable. We bear this injustice only because we know it can get worse. Like a wrap packaged in such a way that it looks ⅓ bigger than it truly is.
So Bored Panda has compiled this list as a safe place to talk about shamelessly evil packaging designs that have been spotted all over the world. And even if the phenomenon is more or less universal, it doesn’t mean it’s okay. On the contrary, it serves as a reminder that it can always get worse than your chocolate box with 50% of the candy discreetly concealed from the packaging because it doesn’t exist.
Psst! More infuriating packages that boil even the most Zen blood of all can be found in our previous articles here and here.
This post may include affiliate links.
1001 Stickers And 768 Of Them Are Useless Squares. Thanks, Disney
Tricked By The Packaging Of My Moisturizing Cream
Is Anyone Else Bothered By Deceptive Packaging Like This?
Bored Panda reached out to Portugal-based graphic designer Laura Vanagaite who specializes in branding and illustration design. Laura said that deceptive packaging like the ones you see in this post is really a way to trick the human mind.
“Once we see unique photos of food and drinks, our mind creates the impression that the volume of the contents is greater than it actually is.” This anticipation is destroyed as soon as you open the package. “And once we find out that the reality is different, we feel the disappointment,” Laura explained.
When asked why there is still so much deceptive packaging sold in the shopping aisles, Laura said that this is a clever marketing technique. “Brands know that beautiful imagery sells and that catchy photos with great products create the illusion which will help to sell it fast.”
Bought These Sticky Notes Cause I Thought The Gold Border Was Nice
My Sister Got This For Her Birthday
The Sticker Was A Lie
However, the alluring impression of the deceptive packaging is temporary. Laura says that in order to establish a bond with your loyal customers, brands should employ functional and trustworthy designs. It’s what allows them “to create a feeling of security between them and their customer.”
When it comes to the right kind of packaging design, Laura explained “that all areas of design have a purpose to solve a problem and provide trust to the user.” This means that user-friendly packaging should have features like safety and enhanced usability, be appealing and optimal, and fit the specific customer requirements.
“Every good design needs to be functional, practical, and represent the brand itself in a good way.” But that doesn’t mean it should be boring, on the contrary. In addition to all the features mentioned before, efficient packaging has to grab the consumer’s attention.
This is where the product and packaging designers come into play. “The designer has the ability to make the design stand out by using shapes, colors, orientations. These are key in making it clear to the consumer what the brand is about and what its purpose is."
Ahh Yes, Reality Is Often Disappointing
"Printed All Over" And Deliberately Leaves The Pattern On The Outside Of The Package
Natural My Foot
It turns out this is due to a quirk in Indian food safety standards that allow only non-processed foods to be called natural without using the disclaimer. The company assures its customers that the sugar is indeed natural, but it is processed from sugar cane juice to sugar. https://www.cnbctv18.com/business/companies/not-its-true-nature-parrys-explains-disclaimer-on-its-natural-brown-sugar-7004201.htm
Rolling Stone Presents (39 Of The) 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time
They say "Always read the fine print", but I never thought that would apply to the front cover of a book...
Both Weigh 500g But The Green One Is In A 30% "Bigger Bag More To Share"
So Thankful For My Singular Candy Topping
Thought I’d Buy Some Colored Pens. Turns Out Every Single One Of Them Has Blue Ink
Bought A Ball Pit For My Baby
Blatant false advertising... there is no baby in the actual package
This "Box" Of Beef Jerky
How Can They Even Call This "Non-Dairy?"
That's just the law trying to protect people with dietary issues. It contains traces of milk products (Sodium Caseinate) and even if that doesn't cause any problems, it is still necessary to mention it as milk as a potential allergen. But the creamer is not a dried milk product as many creamers are. The main ingredients are corn syrup and palm oil. If you want to throw a fit, start with those two.
Sales Genius
This Cashew Packaging. I Was Wondering Why My Hand Instantly Hit The Bottom When I Opened It
Bought A Coloring Book And Pencils To Keep Myself Busy While I’m Off Work. Thought These Were Full-Size Pencils
It has a built-in sharpener for what? To make them even tinier.
New Packaging (Right), Same Quantity
Disgusting. Anything that uses more plastic to pack something than is absolutely necessary is just awful. Arggh, this is making me so mad! Who are these people?!
800 Pieces. Yeah Right. The Box Is Half Blocked And 550 Pieces Are Tiny Dot Pieces. My Son Was Not Happy
I Was Wondering Why This Watermelon Juice Tasted So Weird
Bought Some Eye Makeup, Just Realized One Of The Eyeshadows Isn’t Safe For Eyes. Found Out Via White Print On A White Background
“Not intended for use in the immediate eye area”
New Means What's Inside Is Not New
My Mother Ordered 1000 Plastic Blocks For Her Nephews. Ended Up Receiving 523
Brand New Protein Powder, Not Even Filled Half Whey
Ha! Love the pun. At least you *gained* something from this experience.
I Guess The Meatballs All Just Wanted A Window Seat
8% Alcohol Or
Tesco Is Selling "Flushable" Wet Wipes Which Are "Harmful To Aquatic Life"
ALL “flushable” wipes are harmful and should NOT be flushed because they still don’t break down well and clog up pipes and it is awful for the environment. These should be illegal to be called flushable.
New Cereal Box Is 11% Taller With 1.6% Less Cereal
More wasteful packaging. How do the people who come up with these ideas sleep at night. A lot of cereal boxes are half empty. Not only would it save on cardboard, the plastic for the bag inside and the ink, if it were more realistic for the contents, it would also be cheaper to freight because they'd fit more boxes in a truck.
No, It's Not Bigger. It's Of Same Size
This Box Of Mostly Sticks With Some Matches In It
Disappointment
9 Sticker Rolls. One Mildly Infuriated 7-Year-Old
These are the worst. Unfortunately there is always a new generation of parents who are clueless enough to fall for them so they keep making them.
"Made In U.S.A"
The case is made in the USA... we can't actually trust them to make the important stuff.
Some Acrylic Paints I Bought
Not only is this deceptive, but it's producing extra packaging for nothing. You know that package and all the paint tubes are going to still be on this planet long after all of us are dead and gone.
Went To Poundland And Had The Choice Between These And After Eights, Got These Cause They We're Bigger, I Paid For Air
Pain
So...what the heck ARE these? I dont recognize that (fruit? veggie?) purple thing....
Actual Size Is Not The Actual Size
Coloring Kit That Is 90% Empty And Counts Each Piece Of Paper As One Piece In 100 Pieces
Always pays to read the contents list. This kind of item usually has one.
Coloring Book For My Son
Sneaky Packaging Cheating Us
Package Of The Cheese vs. The Cheese Itself
This Sour Batch Candy Bag Felt Oddly Light
One Of The Blocks Isn't One Of The Blocks
But can we appreciate the amount of effort put into making that piece of cardboard into looking like a block?
Xtreme Jerks I'd Say
These Were Locked In A Glass Case Facing Forward So You Couldn’t Just Read The Back Before Purchase
This Pizza Tastes Like False Advertising
I'm picturing a sweat shop full of kids frantically rolling 1000s of pizza crusts
Even Worse - It's Stale
Why would anyone buy popcorn in a bag, in a box, in a box with a window anyway?
Thanks Jetstar For My Large Box Of Pencils
Bought This For My 3-Year-Old. "The Claw" Is A Printout
A Yard Of Snickers. Sorry, But I Tore Out The Cardboard Flaps That Kept Them Centered
You Can Probably Imagine My Daughter's Disappointment When We Opened Up This Crayola "Super Art Tub"
The worst part of these things is they are likely given as gifts, often by a grandparent. Then everyone feels sad and let down when it's opened.
This Tub Of Fridge Magnets
My Disappointment Is Immeasurable
Sugar Free = 16g Sugar
Maybe they don't include the sugar in the item price & that's why it's "free"... Is that how they get away with blatant lies like this?
Pam's Serving Size That Suggests There Are No Calories In Their Oil Spray
Some Super Glue I Bought. Classic
Almost Did It, Too
Could be a case of bad packaging design, rather than deliberate misleading packaging.
This Is Toothpaste. Why Pretend It’s Bigger Than It Is
How can we design a package that includes a tiny item without people noticing that they are basically buying packaging and air?
Found A Cheap Kitchen Scale. I Feel Like Something Is Missing
This One Caught Me A Little Off Guard. We Always Buy These Same Ones And This Time I Pulled The Tube Out And It's The Size Of Those Mini Ones
This Angry Bird Gummies Are Actually Gummy Bears
I Redeemed $100 Worth Of Reward Points For This Deceptively-Sized Makeup Sample
This Emoji Napkin
Expected Half, But Ended Up With The Whole Pepperoni
Packaging Is Interesting But What Is Inside Is Not
Why Do You Have To Play Me Like That?
Packaging Of These Chocolates
Powerade Is Using Shrinkflation By Replacing Their 32oz Drinks With 28oz And Stores Are Charging The Same Amount
My Chemistry Teacher Bought These Markers Thinking They’d Be The Full Rainbow. They Were All Black
It only says so in small print at the bottom right of the backside. Very misleading design even if it does save money for the company.
All That Plastic For 10 Eggs
$20 For 11 Chocolates. Happy Valentines
My Disappointment Is Immeasurable And My Day Is Ruined. I Didn’t Even Get A Cotton Candy One
Off! Citronella Candle Not Intended To Repel Mosquitos
Bought A Four-Pack Of Frozen Pretzels. Only Got Two And About 17 Salt Packets
I Absolutely Hate Paper Towel Packaging! Just Tell Me The Actual Number Of Rolls Dammit
Bounty has several different size packages with the same number of rolls. Mega is at least twice their smallest roll - which was on sale at Wal-Mart. It is tiny compared to the bag of 8 rolls I already had. I did feel cheated. Manufacturers make many identical products; packaged differently with different model numbers depending on where it is sold. Price comparison is impossible.
Packaging Says 8 Slices, It's Actually 4 Slices Cut In Half
Deceptive Packaging
What A Nice Bucket Full Of. Nevermind
This “HD Webcam” Runs At 640x480p Resolution
Couldn't Have Added 1 More Piece. Really
Normal Shower Gel Versus XXL Shower Gel
Fun Fact They're All Like That And I'm Mad
Chocolate Bars That Make It Look Like They Are For Dogs. But Are Not
2/5 Away
Pink Is My Favorite Flavor
They Got Two
These Valentine’s Day Chocolates
I Understand This Is A Fairly Common Trick, But Yikes
Twice as much plastic into the environment as they could have got away with. Pigs.
Bought Cheap Headphones. The Cable Advertised vs. The Cable Given
Wondered Why My New Sheets Felt Like Garbage
Wtf Am I Getting?
This Jumbo Tube Is Only Filled To The Letter E
Lovingly Handmade. Only 2/3 Of My Wrap
When You Tilt It To The Left
Ah Yes, White Chocolate
The Struggle Is Real
On my local supermarket shelves the price labels have a price per X under the actual price. Like 63cents per 100g, or 24c per 100ml so you can compare easily between, say, two brands of sauce next to each other. With toilet paper they have a price per sheet so it's really easy to get a realistic comparison.
An Entire Tin Containing 8 Mini Snickers
Its a nice box though I would totally keep it but the snickers just make me mad :(
Grampa Bought Some Paper Clips. To Their Credit, It Does Say "Contains 50 Paperclips" On The Back Of The Box, But
These Bluetooth Headphones Have To Be Permanently Plugged In To Provide Power
“12 Days Of Hot Sauce” Advent Calendar Has Only Six Flavors
actually going through the trouble of making two sets of packaging, now that's deceitful
“2 Pack” Of The Office Face Masks
Not One Single Chip
Don't be sad, it's not even proper chocolate. "Chocolaty chips" my sizable ass
Deception By Dosa ™️
Making The Actual Number Of Items You’re Getting Almost The Same Color As The Packaging
Misleading Lox Window. Sneaky Little Hobbitses
My Daughter Was So Confused. She Thought I Gave Her The Wrong Popsicle
Outside Of Box vs. Inside Of Box. I Just Wanted What Was In The Picture. A Clear Bag
Waste of space using the bag as advertising your not going to show many people the bag.
Bought This "Large" Box Of Skittles At A Hockey Game. Had Fewer Skittles Than A Standard Bag
This is why I never buy candy at the theater (cinema) or at sports arenas/stadiums. They're all packed in these same size boxes to stack uniformly on the stand, but actually have less product than what you'd buy at the grocery store AND you're gonna pay at least twice the grocery store price!
I’ve Said It Before And I’ll Say It Again: Quotation Marks Are Not For Emphasis
If you're dumb enough to buy a brand of popcorn just because it says "gluten free" on the label, you're begging to be ripped off. Popcorn is....wait for it.....CORN. Corn never had gluten.
I Should Have Just Hung A Real Play-Doh Container. Penny For Scale
What A Great Chocolate Bar. Oh Wait
Bought This "Emoji" Cake. This Is Actually Worse Than Those Emoji Lollipops
The Assembly Rating On Our New TV Stand
This Candy Burgers Bottom Bun Is Plastic Packaging Instead Of Candy, And It's Hollow From The Inside
They Really Sold It With The Packaging
Why Have Empty Blister Packages At All
Sometimes, medicine is packed with blisters with left-out spots, so a stripe of 10 is enlarged to a size that could take 14. Weird enough - in the EU, cucumbers have to meet certain standards in the regular grocery business (Bio, organic et al may and do vary). Among these is that they're required to be straight within some tolerance, which makes sense because it allows efficient transport by dense packaging. I do get that natural produce has to endure being discriminated for not being straight, but I don't get why this isn't ruled out.
I’d Say The Contents Were About As Much As Those Little Bags Of Pretzels From The Airline
Just Wanted Oyster Sauce. Instead Accidentally Got Oyster Brand Fish Sauce With A Picture Of An Oyster On It
I Just Bought This. If You Are Going To Cheat On Product Quantity, Shouldn't Have Used Clear Packaging
It's not cheating when the customer can see it right from the beginning.
I Guess It’s Not Dishonest, But My Daughter’s Face Was Hilarious When She Pulled It Out Of The Packaging
Almost Bought These Until I Realized That The Packaging Pushes The Cookies Toward The Top To Make It Look More Full
Well Ok Then
This Math Constantly Being Used By Paper Towel Companies
This Little Flap Covering What Could’ve Been Another 140 Balloons
This was a nightmare of non-recyclable plastic trash to begin with. Best avoided anyway.
The Most Stuff Is Barely Double Stuff
I Got Lucky! Now In XL
Free From No Added Sugar. Specifically Designed To Make A Lot Of Money And Keep You Addicted
Maltodextrin is not sugar... In the same way, diet sodas use aspartame but are technically 'sugar free'.
Thought It Would Be More Cheese
Pack Of Three Could Have Easily Been Six, Or Half As Big
Expected Cookie Dough. Got No Dough
Brand New Pack Of Razors
Totally Thought It Was A Three-Pack
I Was Wondering Why It Was Feeling Smaller On The Inside Than On The Outside
The Package Hides The Fact That The Middle Cookie Is Missing
Could've Picked Up A Sample And Got More Product
I Paid Way Too Much To Be Bamboozled Like This
Saffron is one of the most expensive condiments. If I'm not mistaken, at one point it was even more expensive than gold (per pound).
Got No Clue Wtf I Just Bought But It's Not What's Pictured
This is the reason there is so much unrecycled rubbish, and country-sized garbage patches in the oceans .... grrr
We have had this series before, but I think this time it got the most entries that are not merely misleading. By EU law most of these packaging would be considered fraud and entitle to a full refund, with the company and/or vendor receiving a formal cease and desist, probably enforced by a penalty. Even without these laws, I am wondering which kind of jerks produce these things. It is unethical on a social and on a ecological level alike.
... this is what you get when you opt for "getting the government off our backs" and "getting rid of regulations that succomb business". Deserved and served - most of this is banned in the communist EU, while the free USA are the most betray-tray-ridden country. Not for no reason. It still is bad to even try this, but, in a way, ruling it out isn't that hard. You/they allow them to do this, because they and their bootlickers scream "communism" whenever something that only contains common sense is tried, and too much fall for that crap.
The force of social media is strong. How about people stop posting all the conspiracy theories and instead start posting this kind of corporate scamming? But I guess that Facebook would immediately come down like a ton of bricks on groups dedicated to expose this kind of scams.
Price comparison is impossible unless reading the small print. The calories of one serving of pizza is meaningless. Serving sizes aren't equal. Is this simply capitalism? or something worse?
I know these are meant to be humorous but personally I find them horrifying on multiple levels. Firstly they're blatantly and unashamedly ripping off the consumer but more worrying is the complete disregard for the environment, all to squeeze a few extra pennies out of the consumer. And not only that but some of these are downright dangerous (eye makeup unsuitable for eyes, non diary stuff with milk in it etc). If laws don't already exist to stop this then they need to be implemented asap and companies need to be publicly dragged across the coals for it.
This is just ridiculous for people to even think and comprehend on scamming. I think supermarkets and shops should check what they sell before putting them on the shelves. 😖
I guess non of the vendors/manufacturers of these products want repeat customers. If they were honest they’d probably save a fortune on packaging too.
And here I was thinking only the USA had the "f**k those assholes. We got our profits" business model.
am I the only one who looks at the weight before buying a food item for the first time?
Some of these don't seem intentional and are just packaging mistakes.
Annoying but loving the background of 33! Catan is my all time favourite board game
Seeing Disney and Cadbury on this list was a serious blow to my trust in Bona Fide companies...
This is precisely why consumers need to read the entire label/packaging including weights and amounts. We must support less packaging with our dollars.
I don't understand why companies do this. No one would buy the items again..
Just another lesson about the importance of reading the small print.
Some appear to be U.S. companies, but I bet they're made somewhere else by someone who bought a license from these companies. Still, they need to pay attention to what's being done in their names and yank some of said licenses. Also, most of this packaging would probably be found to be fraudulent in the U.S. as well. I noticed only one where the "empty" space was used to package something the consumer may want - the sauce for the wrap. The rest of it serves no legitimate purpose and serves only to mislead consumers. They are counting on people relying on the packaging and not checking the small print. And it obviously works.
this THIS ***THIS*** is why we have REGULATION!!!! To P R O T E C T you.
My takeaway is to always check the weight and feel the pack. Those with windows showing only a section are the most highly suspicious ones.
Such blatant dishonesty - totally taking advantage of normal consumers! Wicked! - makes my blood boil!!
I'm not sure whether to feel relieved or even more annoyed at discovering that it's not just American manufacturers pulling this crap on people.
The worst part of all this is the extreme amount of unnecessary plastics and cardboard used. As an illustration of how much we waste: A Norwegian dairy company introduced small plastic windows in their milk cartons a few years back. A good idea to begin with, as a means to reduce food waste. Not too long ago, however, they realized how much plastic these little windows amounted to, and did away with them. Now, Norway is a small country, and this brand is not even the market leader. Still, this simple move saves 18 tons (!!!) of plastic each year! Now try to imagine how much plastic is thrown away with packaging like those above, sold in major markets like the US and the EU...
These companies need to be held accountable worldwide for their deliberate deceit, environmental crimes (2+ times more plastic than needed. Its disgusting.
Why are they happy with just the first and Only sale and not be honest and get repeat customers?
Part of the problem in the U.S. is that the companies who make these products are required by law to list all ingredients & nutritional values on everything, so they make the packaging bigger, and a lot of the lists are still too small to read. And even the ingredient lists are deceptive - "spices" as a single ingredient is one that makes me mad. But too much of it is so wasteful (like cereal boxes), and too much plastic.
This is why you read the package, especially on high price products, plus always, always look at the unit price (make sure that you know what they use for unit... sometimes they try to get you by making similar products but use different units for the measurements).
Just shows we all need to speak up more about all the waste and scams, call them out on social media and so on. Pretty sure governments should be doing that though lol
This is the reason there is so much unrecycled rubbish, and country-sized garbage patches in the oceans .... grrr
We have had this series before, but I think this time it got the most entries that are not merely misleading. By EU law most of these packaging would be considered fraud and entitle to a full refund, with the company and/or vendor receiving a formal cease and desist, probably enforced by a penalty. Even without these laws, I am wondering which kind of jerks produce these things. It is unethical on a social and on a ecological level alike.
... this is what you get when you opt for "getting the government off our backs" and "getting rid of regulations that succomb business". Deserved and served - most of this is banned in the communist EU, while the free USA are the most betray-tray-ridden country. Not for no reason. It still is bad to even try this, but, in a way, ruling it out isn't that hard. You/they allow them to do this, because they and their bootlickers scream "communism" whenever something that only contains common sense is tried, and too much fall for that crap.
The force of social media is strong. How about people stop posting all the conspiracy theories and instead start posting this kind of corporate scamming? But I guess that Facebook would immediately come down like a ton of bricks on groups dedicated to expose this kind of scams.
Price comparison is impossible unless reading the small print. The calories of one serving of pizza is meaningless. Serving sizes aren't equal. Is this simply capitalism? or something worse?
I know these are meant to be humorous but personally I find them horrifying on multiple levels. Firstly they're blatantly and unashamedly ripping off the consumer but more worrying is the complete disregard for the environment, all to squeeze a few extra pennies out of the consumer. And not only that but some of these are downright dangerous (eye makeup unsuitable for eyes, non diary stuff with milk in it etc). If laws don't already exist to stop this then they need to be implemented asap and companies need to be publicly dragged across the coals for it.
This is just ridiculous for people to even think and comprehend on scamming. I think supermarkets and shops should check what they sell before putting them on the shelves. 😖
I guess non of the vendors/manufacturers of these products want repeat customers. If they were honest they’d probably save a fortune on packaging too.
And here I was thinking only the USA had the "f**k those assholes. We got our profits" business model.
am I the only one who looks at the weight before buying a food item for the first time?
Some of these don't seem intentional and are just packaging mistakes.
Annoying but loving the background of 33! Catan is my all time favourite board game
Seeing Disney and Cadbury on this list was a serious blow to my trust in Bona Fide companies...
This is precisely why consumers need to read the entire label/packaging including weights and amounts. We must support less packaging with our dollars.
I don't understand why companies do this. No one would buy the items again..
Just another lesson about the importance of reading the small print.
Some appear to be U.S. companies, but I bet they're made somewhere else by someone who bought a license from these companies. Still, they need to pay attention to what's being done in their names and yank some of said licenses. Also, most of this packaging would probably be found to be fraudulent in the U.S. as well. I noticed only one where the "empty" space was used to package something the consumer may want - the sauce for the wrap. The rest of it serves no legitimate purpose and serves only to mislead consumers. They are counting on people relying on the packaging and not checking the small print. And it obviously works.
this THIS ***THIS*** is why we have REGULATION!!!! To P R O T E C T you.
My takeaway is to always check the weight and feel the pack. Those with windows showing only a section are the most highly suspicious ones.
Such blatant dishonesty - totally taking advantage of normal consumers! Wicked! - makes my blood boil!!
I'm not sure whether to feel relieved or even more annoyed at discovering that it's not just American manufacturers pulling this crap on people.
The worst part of all this is the extreme amount of unnecessary plastics and cardboard used. As an illustration of how much we waste: A Norwegian dairy company introduced small plastic windows in their milk cartons a few years back. A good idea to begin with, as a means to reduce food waste. Not too long ago, however, they realized how much plastic these little windows amounted to, and did away with them. Now, Norway is a small country, and this brand is not even the market leader. Still, this simple move saves 18 tons (!!!) of plastic each year! Now try to imagine how much plastic is thrown away with packaging like those above, sold in major markets like the US and the EU...
These companies need to be held accountable worldwide for their deliberate deceit, environmental crimes (2+ times more plastic than needed. Its disgusting.
Why are they happy with just the first and Only sale and not be honest and get repeat customers?
Part of the problem in the U.S. is that the companies who make these products are required by law to list all ingredients & nutritional values on everything, so they make the packaging bigger, and a lot of the lists are still too small to read. And even the ingredient lists are deceptive - "spices" as a single ingredient is one that makes me mad. But too much of it is so wasteful (like cereal boxes), and too much plastic.
This is why you read the package, especially on high price products, plus always, always look at the unit price (make sure that you know what they use for unit... sometimes they try to get you by making similar products but use different units for the measurements).
Just shows we all need to speak up more about all the waste and scams, call them out on social media and so on. Pretty sure governments should be doing that though lol
