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.
Absolutely. They just picked the worst evil things in produced foods and made it into powder. Never buy this stuff anyway because it's disgusting, but now it's also evil
Load More Replies... If you look at the packaging it says "Sodium Caseinate (A Milk Derivative), meaning it doesn't have actual milk in there, but rather uses a byproduct. Legally dairy free, but for allergy purposes must write it contains milk
If it was legally dairy free then it would be labelled dairy free (a regulated label) and not non dairy (not a regulated label). Sodum Caseinate is derived from Casein - milk protein - and could be an issue to people with milk allergies.
Load More Replies... Non Dairy doesn't mean Dairy Free. These terms are not equivalent. Dairy Free must be free of dairy, Non Dairy is unregulated and may contain Casein. This is pretty well known among milk allergy groups and "Non Dairy" shold always be avoided by the allergic.. Sodum Caseinate can usually be safely consumed by those with lactose intolerance however.
Hmm my kid has a dairy allergy, I did not know this about non-dairy products. Thanks for the heads up!
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I love how the milk is like the only ingredient that this person is actually worried about.
And if you ready it carefully it says no sugar BUT it contains corn syrup solids!
Good grief. Look at the list of ingredients. It's chemicals made to taste like creamer.
The Dipotassium Phosphate and Sodium Silico Aluminate will get you before the Sodium Caseinate will.
This is legit. It's mostly corn syrup and palm oil, so it can't be sold as a dairy product. But it does contain a small amount of stuff made from milk, so it's not safe for someone allergic to milk.
You can actually tell this by the "circled K with D" mark in the lower right. It's a "hechsher". It's Kosher, Dairy.
You can actually tell from the "circled K D" mark. It's a "hechsher" indicating that it's Kosher, but "dairy".
They have to say that because of the Sodium Caseinate. All of the I gradients aren't good for you anyway. 😯
Sodium casein are is derived from milk, so yes. It’s contains. Milk products.
I happen to be allergic to casein - a milk protein. It may not trigger someone who is lactose intolerant, but it will trigger a reaction for some of us. So, the package is correct and the labeling is helpful.
They can't call it dairy unless it contains a percentage of milk, that's all.
Ah, the joys of being allergic to dairy. At least they highlight milk nowadays.
Either someone will have a bad day or i dont want to know what kind of milk is that...
This is the result of wording technicalities. They can get away with calling it dairy free it for two reasons. First, it uses milk derivatives which can be considered non dairy as they are also present in dairy free products. Lactose, which is the cause of issue for people with milk allergies and intolerance, is not present. And notice it says dairy free, not milk free. This is the second reason they can get away with this: clever wording. They did legally cover their bases by noting milk is present but technically it is dairy free due to the lack of certain parts of the milk. This can be tricky for people with medical concerns causes by dairy. However, it can also cause problems with people who wish to avoid animal products such as dairy due to diets such as veganism. Bottom line: it is legal but it is misleading. Best to always just double check the ingredients. That is always a wise practice.
It's not a matter of "getting away" with it. If you did call it a dairy creamer, most customers would complain when they find out it's mostly corn syrup and palm oil.
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Yes, this is such crap. My son has a severe dairy allergy and well meaning friends and family are often duped by this sort of thing when buying food for him when they know we are visiting. I always feel bad telling them thank you so much for thinking about him and spending your money on this but he can’t eat it.
my dad's lactose-free milk has a label on the bottom that says: contains:milk but that's because they put in an enzyme to get rid of the dairy, so there's still milk in it, it just doesn't have dairy
The only thing the enzyme gets rid of is the lactose, one of the milks proteins. The milk is still a dairy product, just a lactose free dairy product. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/lactose-free-milk#:~:text=Still%20a%20Dairy%20Product&text=For%20those%20with%20a%20dairy,those%20following%20a%20vegan%20diet.
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A lot of these - like this one - would be illegal in scandinavia. This is dangerous
They have to put that there when they use a factory that handles dairy, same with nuts.
I don't care the milk, look on the rest of the ingredients list.
Milk itself is just a bunch of chemicals. Like everything around you.
Load More Replies...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
Note: this post originally had 144 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
This is the reason there is so much unrecycled rubbish, and country-sized garbage patches in the oceans .... grrr
By the end of this I almost felt like crying. The amount of extra packaging produced all in the name of deception is just depressing. The marketing people behind these sorts of ideas must have no conscience or care for the planet at all.
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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.
Hey Hans, I'm a shopper person and I have never actually seen any of these products in print, or in the 'Real'. Now,...I live in the South, but not other parts much at all, so I cannot vouch for the rest of the country. Either way, this is about as fraudulent as I have ever seen.
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Seriously, I‘ve never encountered such obvious scams here
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... 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.
So true!!!! Common sense policy is labeled socialist. Government subsidy programs, that do work, are labeled entitlements. Only the worst examples are made public, never the best. The programs grouped together under "entitlements" is misleading. Yes, we have the ability to choose, but how much must we know to make an informed decision? Where are the facts? Less taxes and more services isn't mathematically possible. There isn't as much money wasted by the government as we are lead to believe. $50K screwdriver? A company was asked to determine what screwdriver will work best in space. Pens don't work in space, only pencils. The Russians figured it out first. Many safety changes in military equipment were ignored in the name of cutting government waste. Is that what we are voting for? Does a Capitalist society encourage mild dishonesty? Some major lies? To make the most money, is cheating okay? Are some people better than others?
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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
By the end of this I almost felt like crying. The amount of extra packaging produced all in the name of deception is just depressing. The marketing people behind these sorts of ideas must have no conscience or care for the planet at all.
Load More Replies... 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.
Hey Hans, I'm a shopper person and I have never actually seen any of these products in print, or in the 'Real'. Now,...I live in the South, but not other parts much at all, so I cannot vouch for the rest of the country. Either way, this is about as fraudulent as I have ever seen.
Load More Replies... Seriously, I‘ve never encountered such obvious scams here
Load More Replies... ... 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.
So true!!!! Common sense policy is labeled socialist. Government subsidy programs, that do work, are labeled entitlements. Only the worst examples are made public, never the best. The programs grouped together under "entitlements" is misleading. Yes, we have the ability to choose, but how much must we know to make an informed decision? Where are the facts? Less taxes and more services isn't mathematically possible. There isn't as much money wasted by the government as we are lead to believe. $50K screwdriver? A company was asked to determine what screwdriver will work best in space. Pens don't work in space, only pencils. The Russians figured it out first. Many safety changes in military equipment were ignored in the name of cutting government waste. Is that what we are voting for? Does a Capitalist society encourage mild dishonesty? Some major lies? To make the most money, is cheating okay? Are some people better than others?
Load More Replies... 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
