This article was originally published on TastyArea
There is nothing more frustrating than spending your hard-earned money on something only to find out that you have been totally deceived by the package. The devil really is in the details when it comes to these brands' shamelessly evil packaging designs. Whether they only put pepperoni on the portion of the pizza that's visible through the box or put the product in a package that's three times its size, we have all felt these injustices. Fear not though, we're here to point out how these companies try and trick you so you never have to worry about wasting your money on a company that doesn't deserve it.
Includes 1,001 Stickers But 768 Of Them Are Useless Squares
When you buy a sticker book from Disney, be prepared for most of the stickers to be useless. Maybe an adult can create something out of these squares, but a child would probably throw a tantrum when they run out of princesses to stick all over your house.
No one really needs 1,001 stickers, so why inflate it with tiny bits of meaningless adhesive? When they say "wall stickers," we immediately imagine a child putting one of them on a freshly painted wall. We have a feeling Disney didn't think all the way through how a child might interpret the name of the stickers.
Word To The Wise: Check The Ounces Before Buying Something
We don't know why companies do this, but they find it necessary to use a box that is three times the product's size. If you aren't checking the ounces, you might think that the product is the size of that box. Don't worry; we have all been fooled before.Â
Do they realize they are paying more for all of that wasted packaging? Maybe the extra packaging is so the product doesn't get damaged, but it should have a label that the product is a third of the size. We shall forever be checking the ounces on all our beauty product packages before purchasing.Â
Innisfree Would Rather Spend Extra Money On The Bottle Than The Product
If you bought a lot of skincare in the past few years, you will know how popular it has become for companies to use frosted glass on the outside, with a plastic interior to hold the product. It makes it look nicer and makes the bottle heavier without adding more product.Â
This company went overboard with that idea because the actual product container is much smaller than the entire tub. Some companies make the packaging larger to discourage shoplifters, but they are making people pay for air, which is free last time we checked.Â
Only Purchased The Stickie Notes Because Of The Gold Border...
We can all admit to buying something just because we thought it was shiny and pretty, but deep down, we knew it was an unnecessary purchase. These stickie notes with the gold borders caught this person's eyes, but after opening the package, she realized only the first note had the gold frame.Â
It looks like the company was too stingy to use gold on all the sheets of paper, but why deceive people into thinking that? There was probably some super fine print that said the rest have white borders, but it was too small for anyone to see that. Where does the evil end?!
One Bracelet's Worth Of Beads Included
This kit is teaching young kids what disappointment feels like early on in their lives. That is such a waste of plastic to use when they only give you about 20 beads. How many bracelets can they really make? Are they only using one or two beads per design?Â
This is what happens when you buy a beading kit at the dollar store; you are probably getting a dollar's worth of supplies. It should be illegal to use that much plastic without giving enough product. On the bright side, they got two extra compartments of beads that weren't shown on the front.Â
The Sticker Is Microwave Safe, But The Cup Sure Isn't
While the sticker may say microwave safe, the mug itself has a different idea. Maybe just the sticker is microwave safe, and you are supposed to know to remove it to get the real instructions. Hopefully, they found this before putting it in the dishwasher or heating it in the microwave.Â
The store must have generic stickers they use no matter what the actual instructions are, so be sure to peel them off before using cups and bowls. Why wouldn't they just add a barcode instead of covering up important instructions?Â
They Say Don't Judge A Book By It's Cover For A Reason, You Never Know What Is (Or Isn't) Inside
You never know who someone is on the inside until you really get to know them, and the same goes for food packaging. The picture might show the perfect cake, but inside there was barely any substance. It's like a lot of the people we knew in high school.Â
They might as well just call this cake because there are about three poppy seeds in the middle when the whole thing is supposed to be full. We would want our money back. This is not what the package said, and it's like they didn't even try.Â
"Printed All Over" Apparently Means Something Else To This Company
According to this company, when they say something is printed all over, they mean only printed on the sides. Did it cost that much extra to finish printing it in the middle? It really makes you wonder how these companies get away with selling products so deceptively.Â
Imagine planning a nice picnic with your friends and opening the package to find it is plain white in the middle. That would really ruin the aesthetic of the table. What do consumers have to do to get the product that is described on the package?Â
Natural Is Just Part Of The Brand Aesthetic, But It Means Nothing
This brown sugar is about as natural as Khloe Kardashian; there is nothing natural about it. We don't know where this product is from, but we are pretty sure it is illegal to write natural when it is clearly false. The natural part is just part of the name, but it has nothing to do with the product.Â
At least there is some kind of warning on this packaging that states it is not actually natural. Other products wouldn't have included that and let people think that it is all-natural sugar. They should change their name from Amrit to Amwrong.Â
Rolling Stone Presents (39 Of The) 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time
When you see "500 Greatest Songs of all Time," you might be forgiven for thinking that there are 500 songs in this book, but look at the fine print. It actually only has 39 out of the 500 songs, but they wouldn't print that in bold letters because no one would buy that book.Â
They probably couldn't put all 500 songs in one book because that would be an extensive book of sheet music. Lawyers always say, "read the fine print." and now we know why. It would be a shame to think that someone bought this hoping to get all of the songs.Â
"Bigger Bag - More To Share" Means More Air To Share
Chip bags are usually filled with more air than chips because it is supposed to stop them from breaking. However, the chips still break, and people are still paying for a bag of air with a label on it. When are we all going to learn that we need to read the weight of a product?  Â
Doritos are the biggest liars of them all because they claimed there was more to share, yet there aren't any extra chips in it! Companies will do anything to make a few extra dollars per bag, except for putting just 100 extra grams of chips in there.
Grateful For The Single Candy Topping
If your parents gave you cosmic brownies in your lunch as a child, you were probably asked to trade snacks often. However, we wouldn't want to trade for one with a single sprinkle on it. To be fair, it does say candy topped, not "candies topped."
It is probably just as delicious as it would be with or without the candy, but it ruins the visual effect. There must have been a glitch when they made this batch because they probably have a set amount that goes on each brownie.
Buying Colored Pens Was A Good Idea Until They Realized Every Single One Of Them Has Blue Ink
What is the point of making colorful pens that all have blue ink? Sure, the yellow pen would never get stolen because no one would want to write in yellow, but what about the other colors? That would be disappointing for someone who was trying to color-code their notes.Â
The package probably said blue ink in the fine print, but who would think to read that on a pack of colored pens? Even the black one has blue ink, which would be confusing for anyone picking out a pen from the pile.
They Should Recommend Buying Balls Separately, Or Don't Buy This Product
This is blatant false advertising; they didn't even include the baby! We hope whoever bought this doesn't let their child get lost in what is supposed to be a ball pit. They would probably need at least 500 more balls to fill this thing, and it barely came with 20. Â
Not only was it bring your own balls, but the purchaser also got a completely different product than what was shown on the box. We hope their baby wasn't too disappointed by the lack of balls in this pit. They should have just labeled it as a nylon pit with some balls.Â
Why Not Put It In A Smaller Container
This is why we have trust issues. This box of beef jerky was stacked so that the container would look full, but as soon as the person opened it, they realized they got robbed. It is important to check the net weight of things, but the company should have just used a smaller container.Â
It is such a waste of plastic to have almost an empty container. The company could argue that it is necessary to protect the product, but each one of them is vacuum sealed inside the plastic container, and we don't think beef jerky can get damaged in transit.Â
Non-Dairy As In It Contains Milk
We don't know how this can be considered dairy-free if it clearly states that it contained milk. What if someone who was allergic to dairy used this without looking at every single ingredient? That would be a really bad day for them.Â
Many "non-dairy" creamers are actually made with some kind of dairy product. Unless it is an alternative type of milk, you can never be too sure because these companies are sneakier than you would think. If you really look at the ingredients, we wouldn't suggest drinking this whether you are allergic to milk or not.Â
Would It Have Killed Them To Add An Extra Inch?
Whoever packaged this wrap is a sales genius. They knew no one would be able to see behind the label, so they made the sandwich smaller and sold it for the price of a full one. Whoever bought this probably felt tricked, backstabbed, and possibly bamboozled.Â
Would it have cost them to add an extra inch on each side? It just looks like a new person was making the wraps, and they messed it up, but the manager didn't want to waste it, so they figured out how to package it well. They can add "evil sales genius" to their resume now.Â
They Wondered Why Their Hand Instantly Hit The Bottom Of The Container
After opening a brand new package of cashews, this person wondered why their hand was already touching the bottom of the container. They must have taken some ideas from wine bottles with this design, which makes this very misleading.Â
Technically, the net weight would reflect the amount of product in the container, but it is disappointing to finish the package after a few nuts. It's not like cashews are cheap, so why do they have to make you pay extra for barely anything in this misleading container?Â
The Built-In Sharpener Can Make Them Even Smaller
While these might be the perfect sized pencils for a child's hand, Crayola clearly forgot they have a large adult audience. These tiny pencils are half the size of a regular colored pencil, and the built-in sharpener is to make them even smaller... as if they weren't small enough.Â
They probably leave barely any color on the page, and they cost extra because of the sharpener. You might as well invest in better colored pencils and a sharpener separately to get a better effect for your money. It's like they made them shorter just to include the sharpener which people could live without.Â
New Packaging, Same Price, Double The Plastic
The company decided to change up its packaging in the most bizarre way. Instead of having a small container that was full of product, the company switched it to a taller container that was only half-full. Instead of going green, they went in the opposite direction and created more plastic waste.Â
Their long list of chemical ingredients probably didn't fit on the small jar anymore, and they had to charge extra to cover the cost of larger packaging. What was wrong with the other packaging? The only thing they changed was the amount of waste.Â
The Package Said 800 Pieces, But 550 Of Them Are Tiny Dots
The box might say 800 pieces, but don't be fooled because half of them are useless dots that will either be lost, eaten by the dog, or sucked up in the vacuum. They thought they could save money by purchasing off-brand blocks, but that didn't work in their favor.Â
If you want to trust the quality, you might as well buy Legos because you know exactly what you are getting. These knock-off brands will take your money and laugh while they package a bunch of useless blocks. The size of the box also would make someone think they are getting more than that.Â
Watermelon, But Without Watermelon
If you were wondering how to make watermelon juice, all you have to do is mix apple, beetroot, carrot, and ginger juice. Slap on a watermelon label, and no one will ever know the difference. What's even better is that it says it also has strawberry and lemon, but even they aren't in the ingredients.Â
It really makes you wonder what else they are hiding in this juice. The only logical explanation was that they used the wrong label on one side, which would explain why they don't match. Hopefully, this person isn't allergic to any of the ingredients that might be in this.Â
A Shadow In The Make-up Palette Is Not Eye Safe, Which Was Hidden Through White Letters On A White Background
When you buy eyeshadow, you expect it to be eye-safe, right? Well, that is apparently not the case for all eyeshadows. What makes this even worse is that they wrote it in white letters over the white background. Aren't eyeshadows supposed to go on your eyes?Â
It says, "not intended for use in the immediate eye area," but where else would you put eyeshadow? What is the shadow intended or? Do they expect you to use this on your body or somewhere else? Maybe they shouldn't include that shade in the palette if it's not safe.
New On The Outside But Not The Inside
When someone gets plastic surgery, but they are still the same mean person on the inside. That is the equivalent to this shampoo; it may look different, but it has the same old formula in the bottle. The slogan may be, "because you are worth it," but we don't know if they truly feel that way.Â
If you look through the fine print on their bottles, they claim the shampoo only fully works with the matching conditioner. L'Oreal, we know this is the same bad formula with a facelift, and we are not going to be fooled once again by shiny packaging.Â
The Box May Say 1,000 Pieces, But It Actually Only Has 523
These people deserve a refund because the box clearly says 1,000 pieces, and after counting, they only got 523 blocks. If they are going to say 1,000 pieces, they might as well include the right amount of blocks even if there are useless pieces like the previous sets.Â
You have to give them props for taking the time to count each piece. On the bright side, there are 477 fewer chances for them to step on one of these. There must be something in the fine print that says 1,000 pieces is just an estimated number and does not reflect the amount in the box.Â
New Whey Protein Only Filled Half-Whey
When they opened their fresh tub of protein powder, they noticed it was only half full. Besides the gains they will make in the gym, they also gained the experience not to trust this brand. They say contents will settle during transport, but we don't think they settle this much.Â
Protein powder isn't a cheap product, and now we know why it is so expensive; they are charging for the amount of plastic they use. Why couldn't it have gone in a smaller container? Do they not care about the planet at all? We can assume it isn't on their priority list.Â
The Meatballs Wanted A Window Seat To See Your Reaction
The meatballs got lonely, so they moved to one section of the pizza, where they could see out the window. This must be punishment for someone putting meatballs on pizza. Some things just aren't meant to be pizza toppings, like pineapple.Â
They even gave an extra packet of sauce because they were too lazy to do that themselves. At least all the meatballs could see this person's different reactions as they unboxed the pizza. Their face went from excitement to confusion in a matter of seconds.Â
Eight Percent Alcohol... Or So You Thought
This company officially wins the award for sneakiest packaging. In font the same color as the can, they made sure to include "less than" above the eight percent where you can barely see it. Even with the underline, it is impossible to see what it says.Â
We don't know what brand this is, but they seem super sketchy, and we can't believe this is India's number one premier beer. It's like when a store offers "up to 80% off" which really means nothing is that discounted, but we fall for the biggest number we see.Â
Harmful To Aquatic Life, But Flush It Down The Toilet
This store is selling flushable wipes with a big warning that they are harmful to aquatic life with long-lasting effects. Is it just us, or do those things strongly contradict each other? They might make your toilet sparkle, but they shouldn't be going down the drain with those warnings.Â
Plumbers probably love these things because it brings them so much business when they clog the drain. Not only do they kill 99.9 percent of bacteria, but they also kill 99.9 percent of fish and coral reefs. Just throw them in the garbage instead.Â
New Cereal Box Is 11% Taller With 1.6% Less Cereal
General Mills is out here trying to fool us with their new large boxes, but they are putting in less cereal. When you look at the net weight, the larger package has more air than cereal, and they still probably charge more for the tall one. What was wrong with the original box?Â
If someone was quickly grabbing essentials at the store, they might choose the taller one because it seems like it would last longer, yet they will be bamboozled. Why can't they make the weight even numbers? Why does it have to be 11.1 ounces instead of an even 11?Â
Not Bigger In Size, Bigger In Audacity
The new chocolate bar claimes to be bigger, but it doesn't specify what they compared it to. It's bigger than one square of chocolate, but it is the same size as the old candy bar. The only thing bigger on this candy bar is the "now bigger" label.
The label has an asterisk, so there must be some fine print on the back stating it is not actually bigger. You could stick that sign on any product - it has absolutely no meaning. They must have gotten this idea from our exes; we have been fooled by that statement before.
This Box Of Mostly Sticks With A Few Matches In It
There might be 250 pieces in this matchbox, but 95 percent of the pieces are useless wooden sticks. Those sticks will burn, but they won't start a fire like a match is supposed to do. The "strike anywhere" matches should include that fire is sold separately in the fine print.
This was probably a manufacturing mistake because they wouldn't be in business if they did this. They could use the extra sticks to make a mini bonfire that will burn out in a couple of seconds, but they have plenty of material to make a new one each time it burns out.
They Went Through A Lot Of Trouble To Create All Of This Wasted Packaging
If only we could have been a fly on the wall at this design meeting. The designer said, "We've made something sophisticated, decorated with gold and party icons. what do you think?" Their bosses were impressed, but they wanted to take it to the next level.
Instead of filling the package with candy, they put a cardboard triangle in the middle, so only a quarter of the box was actually used. They had to go out of their way to create something like this, but the person should have been suspicious of the lightweight box when they purchased it.
Sticker Rolls That Barely Include 10 Stickers
They say there are over 200 stickers in this pack, but we find that hard to believe, considering the "roll" barely makes a circle. If there are actually 200 stickers, they are probably tiny useless ones that fill in all the small spaces between the characters.
What makes this even sadder is that some child probably spent all their Dave & Busters tickets on this pack of useless stickers. If this happened to you as a child, wouldn't you throw a tantrum over this rip-off? We can imagine someone was asking to speak to the manager.
The Case Is Made In The USA, But The Insides Are Made Elsewhere
The outer plastic later of this hose nozzle was made in the USA, but they found the core was made in China upon further inspection. It's that kind of betrayal that makes us question the integrity of these companies. You never know what they are hiding under the shiny surfaces.
It would be hard to find something that doesn't have at least one part made in China these days. Soon those will be the only products you can find on the market. It probably cost extra just for that one part made in the USA even though the rest was outsourced.
It's Not The Size; It's How You Use It
Just like the Crayola colored pencils, these acrylic paints are miniature for absolutely no reason. They aren't even the length of the container, yet they wasted all that space for no reason. They even covered the bottom of the container, so you won't see that they aren't full-sized tubes.
If it were watercolor or oil paint, we would understand because a little goes a long way with those paints, but you go through acrylic paint much faster. Bob Ross wouldn't show his anger, but deep down, he would be painting angry trees because of this deception.
She Chose The Bigger Box But Ended Up Paying For Air
When this person was at the store, they were having a hard time deciding between this box and another brand of chocolates. She chose to go with the bigger box and later found out it was mostly air. Lesson learned, never trust the size of something without looking at the weight.
They wasted so much plastic instead of lining them up without spaces. This person basically paid for extra cardboard, plastic, and air. They will never be able to trust the package size of a product again, but we all have to learn that lesson sooner or later.
Actual Size Is Not The Actual Size
This is probably the only time a product was bigger than the customer expected, but they wished it were smaller. This company claimed the picture was the actual size, but they forgot to include a few inches. Either these are two different products, or they reduced the picture's size at the last minute to save printing costs.
The little icons on the product are not accurately represented in the photo, and this person is now stuck with this giant WiFi adapter that is not compact like they were hoping. If they hold it further away from their face, it might look more like the picture.
Primary Colors Plus A Friend
We don't see how packaging like this could even work because crayons are heavy, and anyone who picks up the carton would realize it's too light to be full. These were probably free with a coloring book, so they didn't want to give away too many crayons.
Why is it always primary colors and a green one? The other colors are feeling left out because they never get chosen for the complimentary pack of crayons. Sometimes what you see is really what you get, and there are no positive surprises hidden inside.
Coloring Kit That Is 90% Empty And Counts Each Piece Of Paper As One Piece In 100 Pieces
This coloring kit is an absolute scam. They left the entire container mostly empty and counted each piece of paper towards the 100 count of the kits total pieces. It never hurts to read the contents list of a package, and the light weight should have tipped them off.
What was the point of putting it in this giant container and filling the middle with cardboard? The person could use the cardboard to color on, but it wouldn't make up for the fact that they got fooled. This is just pure evil because you know it was meant for children.