Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Break Down Which Products Prey On Stupid People

People Break Down Which Products Prey On Stupid People
Image by Goumbik from Pixabay
Make us preferred on Google

It's so important to keep your head on a swivel. Everywhere you look, consumer culture abounds.

With so many people trying to make a buck on the side or become the next dream startup, it seems like all it takes is a sigh and someone's whipping around the corner trying to sell you a solution.


Those who never take the bait are left wondering how so many sketchy products continue to exist and survive. After all, shouldn't enough No's make the peddlers give up?

The sad truth is that there are just enough people saying Yes to keep all those cockamamie schemes churning along.

Some Redditors gathered to discuss the most egregious--or entertaining--examples of the peddled goods.

monophag asked, "What products prey on stupid people?"

Not Functional, Thankfully

"Penis enlargement pills" -- yxnni12

"I forgot who said it but the bit goes 'if those pills worked men would figure out how many are the lethal dose and take one pill less than that'" -- Uv2015

"If those pills worked, they wouldn't be advertising it on cable television at 2AM, they'd own the damn moon." -- VealIsNotAVegetable

Discipline is Free

"A lot of those fitness products on instagram, there's no easy way to a good body I'm afraid." -- mister1bollock

"Sure there is."

"Keep an eye on the obituaries and a quick trip with a shovel can get you any kind of body you want!" -- Conchobar8

The Science of Steam

"Anything Gwyneth Paltrow tries to sell you." -- booksoverppl

"You mean women don't need a vagina steamer?" -- StevesMcQueenIsHere

"I put one of those jade eggs up my a** and two weeks later gave birth to a dragon so we'll see who is stupid in about ten years buddy boy" -- vivnsam

Donkey Doug and Pillboi

"So this one time I bought this two in one body spray and energy drink called double trouble from these two guy called Donkey Doug and Pillboi in Jacksonville Florida..."

"...and now my liver is shot. But if I had to choose from one of the three flavors I would pick I would choose Cedarwood Melon blast"

-- FreakInTheTrash

**Not a False Claim

"Mobile games that say '100% of people haven't gotten passed level 5'" -- fazgator

"It's true though, because they all realized by level 3 that the game is a piece of garbage." -- lordpsymon

"Those ads are infuriating, but what's really sad is that the company behind most of those ads (voodoo) could make really addictive games, if only they stopped pumping games every two seconds and actually took the time to polish them" -- crimsoniac

Special Secret Powers

"Anything with the word 'detox' in it, that claims to do so. Spoiler alert: your kidneys do that for free." -- I4getstuff

"Similar, most things that have _____properties. Advertising laws won't allow specific claims, but somehow the loosely phrased healing properties, fat-burning properties etc afterward get in the door." -- equanimity19

First to Market

"Healing crystals"

"I get they're against big pharma and yeah sure, a lot of conspiracy theories might be true, but if healing stones did work, do those people honestly not think they would have monetised the crap out of them themselves?"

-- paintbyinteger

A Manufactured Industry 

"Massively-expensive engagement rings."

"I get it, you want something unique and memorable, but for the love of God, don't drop more than you can afford on it! Unless you sh!t money, don't buy 10, 50, 100k rings! They're overpriced, and you can prove that yourself by trying to re-sell them."

"Now if you inherited it from your grandparents, that's another story."

"In a similar vein, weddings. It is completely possible to have a great wedding for a low price. Don't go into debt over it!"

-- Eternity_Incarnate

Fleeting Wealth

"Multi Level Marketing products. Both for the end user and the 'seller'" -- lordpanda

"MLMs" -- Lethal_bizzle94

"Moms Losing Money" -- Snrub1

"Had a friend lose her mind over this, quit her job and got her kid telling mine that they were 'rich' now and I should quit my job. It was hard to watch and she stuck with it for a crazy amount of time."

"Our kids are still friends, us not so much. She had to go home to another state to live with her parents..'becuz the market was better there.' I'm sure it wasn't becuz she was out of money. Sad.." -- Laylah19

Paid to Peddle 

"I tried to sell window, door, and bathroom luxury remodels to people lower income areas because my boss said they were more desperate and will pay a little extra to get any sort of help."

"I left that job real fast after she told me that I was being too nice and I should use my ability to be empathetic to lure people in then aggressively pressure them into buying."

"Life force got drained a little bit."

-- Your-Friend-Bob

Monetized God

"Televangelism." -- CoreyGotClass

"Evil on another level. That guy that sells magic water, has been conning people for decades." -- JustJennifer709

"praise be to our lady of perpetual exemption!" -- Coobk165

Fine Print

"'Make $10,000 per month with my easy stock market system*, which I'm giving to you for only $19.95 with a 30 day money back guarantee**. But only if you call in the next five minutes.'"

"*May not be easy, may not be an actual system. You will loose money if you purchase this product. We make no claim that this system will produce any actual profit. May not be an actual 'system.' We make no claim to know what 'system' actually means."

"Actors were compensated for their appearance in this ad. We are not financial experts and nothing in this ad should be taken as legitimate financial advice. If you spend $19.95 on this rubbish, may God have mercy on your soul."

"**Money back guarantee only good in American Samoa and the Virgin Islands."

-- IC--XC--NI--KA

Stay In Your Lane

"General products marketed 'for women' - like razors for example. Exactly the same as men's razors but with flowery packaging and nearly twice the price!" -- PaisleyBrain

"Fake news! Everybody knows that if a man uses a pink razor, he will grow a vagina. And if a woman uses a blue razor, she will grow a penis. This is science." -- LocallySourcedWeirdo

Knowledge is Savings

"'Sharpest knives in the world' sets... just buy two knives, a chefs knife and a pairing knife. That's all you ever need in the kitchen.... and the knowledge to keep them sharp." -- TannoyVoice92

"I definitely was part of a knife set MLM. I made just enough in sales to pay for my own set then got out. Nice knives but my gods were they grossly overpriced." -- Daedalus1728

Relegated to the Fringes

"Psychic readings."

"If even a single person had real psychic abilities, it would be extremely easy to prove it, and they'd be instantly a zillionaire. But nobody has done this because nobody can do it."

-- permacloud

Arbitrary Demand

"Diamonds. They're not rare, artificial diamonds are exactly the same thing, and they're the least interesting arrangement of carbon." -- Arkansas_confucius

"And indeed you don't have the blood diamond worry with artificial. Debeers spent a lot of money to make us think diamonds are important" -- AshFraxinusEps

An Arm and a Leg for a Week

"Timeshares. I can't believe they still exist after ripping people off for so many years.." -- fishinbarbie

"I used to work for RCI (timeshare exchange company) and the whole entire thing is a ripoff.

"You pay maintenance fees, property taxes, and then RCI has their own membership fees, exchange fees, extending your points fee, and all these fees totaling hundreds of dollars a year just for a week vacation."

"And why. Why??? Some people are loaded so they didn't care. But some truly are just regular middle-class people who got swindled, and I felt really bad for them. I'm so happy I finally got away from that hellhole." -- wildboywifey

Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Jimmy Kimmel; Matthew McConaughey
Scott Kirkland/FXX via Getty Images; Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

Jimmy Kimmel Reveals NSFW Way Matthew McConaughey Consoled Him During Emmys—And It Actually Helped

Every awards show has an "In Memoriam" section, and every time it's a tear-jerker.

And at this year's Emmys, even funny man Jimmy Kimmel couldn't keep from crying, following the death of his childhood friend and frequent fixture on his show, Cleto Escobedo III.

Keep ReadingShow less
Joanna Wietrzyk
Fred Lee/Getty Images

HYROX World Champion Who Soiled Herself During Event Speaks Out To Apologize After Controversy

On September 12, Joanna Wietrzyk of Australia won in the Pro Women's solo division at HYROX Beijing 2026 and set off a literal sh*tstorm of controversy. Wietrzyk suffered acute gastrointestinal distress, soiling herself, partway through the course, but she chose to continue and finished in first place.

HYROX is a standardized global fitness-racing series that combines eight kilometers of running with eight functional workout stations. Participants run one kilometer, then complete one of the functional workout stations, then repeat this sequence eight times alongside the other competitors in their division.

Keep ReadingShow less
David Letterman; Donald Trump
Amy Sussman/WireImage; Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

David Letterman's Resurfaced Warning About The Future Of The Media Under 'Authoritarian' Trump Is Eerily Accurate

A resurfaced clip of former late-night host David Letterman has gone viral for a prescient warning he gave to the media about the perils of being a "suck up" to an "authoritarian regime" like the Trump administration.

Letterman originally made those remarks during an appearance last year at The Atlantic Festival. He criticized the Trump administration and cautioned media outlets while reflecting on the administration's efforts to silence Letterman's fellow late-night hosts Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Dave Lowe
60 Minutes

Lifelong Texas Republican Goes Viral With Criticism Of Proposed AI Data Center On '60 Minutes'—And Everyone's Saying The Same Thing

Dave Lowe, a resident of Red Oak, Texas, and a "lifelong conservative Republican," went viral for his reaction to a proposed AI data center in his community, giving 60 Minutes reporters a response observers say perfectly sums up conservative thinking.

Data centers—vast, industrial buildings packed with servers, networking hardware, and storage systems—form the physical backbone of modern computing.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of JD Vance at rally in North Carolina
C-SPAN

Vance Dragged After 'Accidentally' Coming Up With Juvenile Nickname For The Far Left In Cringey Speech

Vice President JD Vance was widely mocked online after he misspoke while criticizing the "far left" at a campaign rally for MAGA North Carolina Senate candidate Michael Whatley.

Vance was in the city of Greensboro to encourage voters to vote for one of the MAGA candidates that has been endorsed by the White House. Whatley was previously the chair of the Republican National Committee from 2024 to 2025.

Keep ReadingShow less