332Kviews
40 Ideas People Believe To Be Normal But Are Actually Propaganda Created By Corporations, According To Folks In This Online Group
It's not a secret to anyone that companies vastly care about money. Some are still interested in their consumers being satisfied with the products – others solely care about profits. Unfortunately, it is a massive problem in our society, and organizations have yet to overcome this issue.
Corporations will go out of their way to find a method of making even more pennies, and it's fascinating how nowadays we don't really question anything. For instance, one of the best examples would be commercials. Those endless ads you see on a website that don't allow you to binge-watch your favorite video in peace, practically forcing you to get that premium subscription – it's truly a brilliant technique.
Well, this online user took it to one of Reddit's popular communities to ask folks about certain things that might feel normal today, but are just successful propaganda made by companies. The thread received over 61K upvotes in just a few days and almost 40K comments debating over hugely influential business tactics.
More info: Reddit
This post may include affiliate links.
Immigrants are ‘taking’ our jobs, instead of employers seeking to pay criminally low wages to people with fewer choices.
The lie, in the US at least, that billionaires and CEOs are self made men and women. Most wealth in this country is inherited and most who claim to be "self made" were already born into wealthy families.
Working 5 days a week for 8 hours a day and still not being able to afford necessities.
What makes this worse is the fact it's the result of the very, very few at the top living in obscene luxury.
That global warming is the responsibility of the individual and not about 100 corporations.
Referring to insurance as "healthcare"
Insurance companies do not provide healthcare. They have inserted themselves as middlemen. Physicians, nurses, etc. provide healthcare. Insurance provide payment for costs that are inflated because insurance companies provide payment.
Logo T-Shirts. The consumer literally pays to advertise a brand.
"Ask your doctor if JDGYRHKX is right for you!" WTF isn't that his job? I don't ask my mechanic or plumber if I need a certain product. Pharmaceutical marketing is a total ruse.
Dandelions are weeds. They’re actually very nutritious and great for pollinators. Big Grass are a bunch of d**kheads
Technically, weeds don't exist at all. Where I live, they've now been rebranded to "wild flowers and plants" and are actively being handed out to plant everywhere because, as it turns out, bees are better off with more of these types of plants than they are with the garden varieties. Or so I've been told.
Attaching health insurance to your job and if you have a family and leave your job, you're f**ked.
I never understood why/how this started in the US. I don't think anywhere else in the world has it tied to their job.
Sugar industry blaming fatty foods for obesity, sparking the low-fat trends and ignoring how bad sugar is for your health.
Politicians being a middleman for corporations to influence government policies, instead of middlemen for the people to influence government policies.
The Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court practically guaranteed that this would happen. Equating corporate money with free speech was one of the most destructive legal decisions in the last 100 years.
Plastics Recycling.
It was pushed by the plastics industry back in the early 70s when laws were about to be passed to deal with the environmental impact of plastics. In reality a lot of the plastics that have a little recycling symbol on them are not feasible to recycle at all.
They are still pushing the lie to this very day.
And they ship them off to poorer countries to handle because 'we don't have those capabilities'.
Everything about wedding and engagement rings
Everything about weddings, imho. Such a con. I played in a wedding band a couple weeks ago. We were paid obscene money. I overheard a woman explaining to a friend that she and her fiance had saved $30k toward their wedding and therefore were about halfway there. I just find spending that on a one-day party to be absurd, I wouldn't expect someone to drop 30k just to show they love me. Good gods, just tell each other you love each other and put the money towards a house
Buying bottled tap water.
Yes! I can only see the point if it's an area where the tap water is undrinkable.
The whole work grind and everything associated with it. 40+ hour work week, health insurance tied to it, the need for daycare $$$, time spent commuting…how did all that ever become normal?
Because unions fought to get the work week down to 40 hours. Corporations wanted you to work 12 hour days seven days a week.
Diamonds.
Real men eat meat.
That cost of printer ink.
Sending your DNA in for sequencing is a fun and easy way to find out things about yourself, at least according to companies who contractually retain the rights to any and all findings, don't give a s**t about your medical privacy, and are constantly looking for ways to monetize that information.
I found my dads mum and family this way, no regrets and I’m a nobody, they can keep my dna 😂
That it is ok to produce a ton of single-use packaging as long as you don’t “litter” it.
I really wish the government would bring in regulations to limit the use of single use packaging. They banned plastic shopping bags of a certain thickness, but have not gone any further. (In Australia)
Most products made for the care of babies. Babies need very little in the way of furniture, gear, special foods etc. But people are so willing to buy so much stuff.
Car seat are THE most important thing, DONT buy second hand. Pushchairs and cots are all the same but a car seat for your child's age/height/weight and that fits your car is the only thing you NEED to buy brand new.
Yes, the plastic and other materials decay over time, making them unsafe.
Load More Replies...
Bath seats are a life saver - my back couldn't cope with bathing my babies, I don't care how much they make these wee plastic seats I will buy one for every person I know having a baby - it may seem one of those unnecessary extras but it saved me so much pain over the course of my 4 children - and I'd been through enough of that already
In my country basically every town has their own Facebook group for baby gear rotation where people give away the barely used baby stuff their child doesn't need anymore, like diapers that are the wrong size for the baby, formula, clothes etc. Paying it forward makes life better for everyone, especially since babies grow so fast and barely get to use their size appropriate equipment.
Plus they grow out of most stuff really quickly in the first few stuff, when it comes to clothes, especially, this winter's clothes will be too small for the baby comes next winter.
I recently learned that cradles and cribs are a modern invention. There aren't really any historic examples of 'furniture' that can be qualified as a special bed you put your baby in that go back past about 150 years ago, right around the time of the industrial revolution. Before that, people just kept their babies with them all night and all day. It turns out it's actually really weird that we just set our babies down and walk away
Although this is true, sleeping under a duvet or next to a non-breastfeeding parent is a big risk for SIDS for a baby and cribs are a necessity. Babies sleep best in a crib, on their backs, and as close to the mum as possible (within reach is ideal). Or at least make adaptations to the bed the baby sleeps in to make them as safe as possible.
Load More Replies...
First month..baby grows,boobs or bottle,crib,pram,car seat,nappies. End of.
Oh, and clothes. Babies definitely need clothes. Especially in very cold climates.
Saw a three year old today driving a battery powered vehicle, No plates, no license.
Don't give away. Trade with other families. That's how the bòomer's folks did it. Make your own baby food. Puree peas, sweet potato, peaches, pears, make applesauce. All good and better.
Load More Replies... I saw a box in Babies R us containing 'everything you need to feed your new baby' but it did not contain a pair of breasts! It was over £100 too
In a perfect world that is all you would need. Unfortunately some mothers actually have to leave their babies in the care of others while they go to work to provide other essentials it needs. Like a roof over its head.
Load More Replies... There are plenty of things that babies need...strollers, cribs, hard board books, etc. But some parents go overboard.
It's painfully obvious when it's the parents first child by the amount of and type of stuff loaded into the car(s) and house. Case in point? The changing table. Got one with babowitz number 1. By the time number 2 made his debut that bad boy was filled with XYZ and that little baby tush was changed wherever it was easier/in whatever place it was I funky caught him.
Also the prices of baby stuff. Also the fact you only use said stuff for a handful of months at best before needing to upsize. And you get next to nothing back attempting to resell to baby goods stores.
Should say MOST babies. There are some babies that actually need extra gear, furniture, etc
There are *some* things that make taking care of a baby much easier though. I loved our velcro swaddles, we still use the baby bathtub with the infant insert, and the baby loves being in his gymini (the mat with toys and things that dangle down from two arches for him to play with). But yeah, there's a lot of stuff you don't need, and also a lot of stuff you don't need to buy new. The Buy Nothing groups and Moms groups have been great---there's always baby and toddler stuff making the rounds and I've gotten so many clothes through them--and given them back to someone else when my baby's outgrown them!
It's cause they just can't help themselves lol. The babies just look to cute when you dress then up in little $40 dresses/suits!
Yeah. You need much less "stuff" than you think (or that companies want you to believe you "need"). I've breastfed and used cloth diapers on all my kids (3) and that saves a ton of stuff/garbage too. So many things labeled for babies/children are much more expensive. Clothes, blankets, towels etc. The kids version always costs more or come in a tiny package at the same price as the full size adult version. Also, there is nothing wrong with buying things second hand (but not car seats, don't go cheap on car seats.)
"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day" was a marketing campaign used by Kellogs to help sell their cereal.
Companies like Intuit have lobbied to make sure filing taxes can't be free and easy.
US is weird. The government already has all your information. In most countries people don't need to file taxes every year, unless they own a business.
Women shaving. In the US, Women shaving any part their bodies wasn’t even a thing before WWII, but all the men got drafted to war and razor companies took a big hit, so they successfully convinced all of us that natural hair growing anywhere out of a woman’s body besides her hair and eyebrows is disgusting.
I’m talking specifically about western culture/the United States. Evidence of ancient Greeks and Egyptians/etc shaving has no relevance in this instance.
There was also the fact that there were silk and nylon shortages during the war, so women's legs were on show so unshaven legs were noticeable. Then of course you had the swimwear fashion changing in the 60s+ and more skin was seen. The swimwear companies wouldn't show models with bikini lines in their ads, so razor companies profited from this too.
Terms of service agreements example when you buy a phone do you read all 30 pages of your service agreement letting you know that they have basically proprietary control over everything you say and do.
Years ago one company hid a prize in the terms and conditions that you only got if you read them.) It had instructions to claim the prize.) It might have been Apple, anybody remember that? I don't think that would happen today because the trick would be blasted on social media and defeat the incentive to read them.
The way we celebrate holidays is much more of a production than it used to be - Christmas, Halloween, Valentine’s Day. Just more excuses to consume c**p en masse.
what does "c**p" means? English isn't my first language and slang isn't my strong suit.
That you need to drink milk in order to get calcium. Calcium is a mineral and can be found in leafy greens and broccoli to name a couple. The whole, “got milk?” campaigns and all that were funded by the dairy industry. Pretty successful propaganda!
Buying a diamond ring when you propose
100% agree. Pointless. Use the money for something important and worthwhile. Down payment on something..or an emergency fund. A year after I was proposed to we sold the ring. He didn't pay for it so we just profited off it. Never regretted it.
Mothers Day. The original intent was to have a holiday to appreciate mothers, corporations ended up making it a big money grab, and then the person who petitioned for mothers day spent the rest of their life trying to get the holiday removed.
I don't want anything shop bought for Mother's Day, I couldn't care less - I live getting handmade cards from my kids, breakfast in bed and having them take over for a day - zero money involved, ideal day for me to sit and relax
An entire nurdle of toothpaste on your brush.
You don't need that much. A pea-sized amount is enough.
COMMERCIALS. they’re everywhere, YouTube, TV, Hulu, Spotify, etc. the only way to get rid of commercials is to, surprise surprise, pay more which is ANOTHER commercial. Just now realizing that commerce is the basis of commercial lol
This could have been the perfect place for this 'I make 123000$/month'-b******t..
Not discussing your income with coworkers. At least in the US, employees are protected, so they are allowed to discuss income amongst each other without fear of getting fired for it. However, a lot of companies have kept the idea that it is taboo or that your job may be at risk for doing so and a lot of people still buy it to this day.
Yes, most people that live in the US know that all states (except Montana) are "at-will" states, meaning that they can fire you for no reason at all, meaning that while technically they won't fire you for discussing pay, some companies will not like it and find any excuse to let you go, so keep that in mind.
Also, some companies will try to stop if right off the bat by having it in your employee handbook that you are not to discuss pay, so make sure you check that out in your case. My company actually has the opposite, stating that they will never go after someone for discussing pay, and they even have it posted in public areas. However, I'm not naive and understand that while it may seem that way, they can just be doing that to protect themselves, so who knows. I've been there for a few years now and we have not heard of anyone getting fired for anything that could be even remotely related to pay discussions.
The point of my comment was to let people know that the idea of discussing your pay with other employees being a "no-no" or taboo is an antiquated idea started by greedy companies decades ago to help keep the average worker from demanding better wages that they rightfully should be getting in the first place, and that legally they can't outright fire you simply for doing that (with exceptions, of course). I myself have no issues letting anyone know how much I make if they ask, and if they use that to get themselves properly compensated, then I'm happy for them at the end of the day.
Apple
Whoever is behind the apple marketing campaign is a genius and flooding the consumers with propaganda. There's no real correlation between how many apples you eat each a day and how often you visit the doctor or get sick
People eating KFC during Christmas time in Japan because of KFC's marketing campaign that promoted their products as a traditional Western Christmas treat.
Merch drops, secret popup locations, limited runs, etc.
These are just marketing tactics to create Artificial Scarcity and hype/demand that wouldn't be there otherwise.
That is just using the business rule of supply and demand...In this instance they have to create a demand and pretend that the supply is low in order to justify the higher costs...
Carrots helping you see in the dark was WW2 propaganda to confuse the Germans.
Carrots contain beta carotene which is metabolized into vitamin A, which is important in proper functioning of the eyes. One of the first signs of Vitamin A deficiency is night blindedness. So I guess it's not that far-fetched, although carrots won't give you night vision :)
“You should pay off debt by getting more debt!”
Note: this post originally had 44 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.
Think thees been some confusion/conflation of propaganda and scam.
I am commenting on this post. Thank you in advance for your reading of my comment.
Thanks for the pleasure of reading your comment!
Load More Replies... Shampoo! Consumer care companies pushed the idea that you need to do two washes, and later that you should wash it every day. Actually a disaster for long, curly or dyed hair, but it sells a lot of product.
The money I save on shampoo I end up spending on razors.
Load More Replies...
Shampoo and all the other things you need (conditioner, styling products etc) because you f**k your hair up with shampoo.
What do you suggest we wash our hair with? If not shampoo, seriously
Load More Replies...
What a crappy boring article, come on show a bit more effort. Usual woke s**t
I disagree with almost all of these. No one is forcing anyone to do most of these things. Stupid article written by broke people.
A lot of these are things society has accepted at a level that individuals can't really choose to avoid them without signing consequences despite them inherently doing more harm than good. I think the list is awfully trite, but I don't think most of these are just things it would be reasonable to expect people to ignore.
Load More Replies... Think thees been some confusion/conflation of propaganda and scam.
I am commenting on this post. Thank you in advance for your reading of my comment.
Thanks for the pleasure of reading your comment!
Load More Replies... Shampoo! Consumer care companies pushed the idea that you need to do two washes, and later that you should wash it every day. Actually a disaster for long, curly or dyed hair, but it sells a lot of product.
The money I save on shampoo I end up spending on razors.
Load More Replies... Shampoo and all the other things you need (conditioner, styling products etc) because you f**k your hair up with shampoo.
What do you suggest we wash our hair with? If not shampoo, seriously
Load More Replies... What a crappy boring article, come on show a bit more effort. Usual woke s**t
I disagree with almost all of these. No one is forcing anyone to do most of these things. Stupid article written by broke people.
A lot of these are things society has accepted at a level that individuals can't really choose to avoid them without signing consequences despite them inherently doing more harm than good. I think the list is awfully trite, but I don't think most of these are just things it would be reasonable to expect people to ignore.
Load More Replies... 