Sometimes, a product is not intended for the purpose that it appears to be intended for.
But even when many consumers use a product incorrectly, the producers will remain silent, seeing their market move in a direction they didn't expect.
Redditor KKarelzabijak321 asked:
"What is an item that everyone misuses but the makers pretend they don't know?"
Hybrid Cars
"At least here in the UK, I'd say hybrid cars - purchased for the lower tax but then only ever driven on gas."
"I drive a PHEV, but it's a company car so the cost of the lease, insurance, fuel, etc, is all paid for by the company. However, what I do have to pay is benefit tax: tax on the car and tax on the fuel."
"These taxes are significantly more for non-electric cars. I currently pay about £90 a month for my PHEV, but it would be more like £200+ if I drove a purely petrol or diesel car."
"Almost everyone who has the option of a company car will go for a PHEV model as a minimum nowadays, even if they never actually charge the car, simply because the tax is significantly less."
"It's definitely not ideal, as the whole idea of having lower tax is to incentivise people to switch to electric and as a result lower emissions. Unfortunately, the wider infrastructure for charging these vehicles just isn't there yet, but people (myself included) will obviously still get a PHEV for the lower tax, but only end up driving on electric maybe 20% of the time."
- Normal-Lane
More Condiments
"The condiment cups in fast food places that you can pull open and have significantly more of your desired condiment, but everyone just uses them like a normal tiny dipping cup."
- ghilliest
"I’ve blown so many peoples’ minds by turning the ketchup paper cup into a Super Duper Extendo Ketchup Vat. It seriously at least doubles the volume."
- RoughestNeckAround
Rehydration Tool
"Pedialyte. The very name tells you it's intended for kids when they're sick. They must have felt so fortunate when they realized their market was a lot larger with hungover adults."
- freudian_slip_drink
Intended Rule-Breaking
"Roads and their associated infrastructure. People speed, make dangerous lane changes, roll stop signs, etc. If municipalities really wanted to stop all the law-breaking, they would significantly redesign how we build that infrastructure."
- EverydayVelociraptor
"They don't want to stop those laws being broken. They want to collect revenue from those walls being broken."
- LifeIsABowlOfJerrys
Conversational Confusion
"The downvote thingy on Reddit. I think that I read somewhere that it’s not for when we don’t like/disagree with a comment."
"I have no idea what else it would be used for."
- John082603
"You're supposed to downvote something if it doesn't add to the conversation or if it's inappropriate, not when you don't agree with it."
- BeautifulArtichoke37
Unlimited Stickers!
"228 Labels from the Post Office. It's common in the street art community to draw on these and stick them places. They're available free on the USPS website. They were meant for small businesses."
- Significant_Potato29
Product Might Be Hot
"Cup noodles. Says don’t microwave but almost everyone I know microwaves them."
- Hyuxnie
"That probably happens less in places where everyone has an electric kettle to make tea, so they can easily get boiling water."
- SnipesCC
Magically Clean
"Magic Erasers. They were originally created as a soundproofing and insulation material, but were later discovered to be effective as a cleaning product."
- Viperlite
"They even made 'military' grade ones to use on aircraft. Removes everything, including the paint. We didn't care, the paint was the airframer's jobs anyways, we just had to get that bird clean."
- Wide_Concert9958
If Not Safe To Eat, Why Safe-To-Eat-Shaped?
"Pre-made cookie dough. It says right on the package not to eat it raw. And yet we do."
- Charming_Marsupial17
"I read a story once about a lady who put that dough on a cookie sheet and baked it in her oven. F**king weird, man."
- DieHardAmerican95
Works For Everything
"Duct tape is a classic example. It was designed for sealing ducts, but people use it for everything from quick fixes on cars to temporary home repairs."
"The makers likely know it’s become the go-to fix-it tool for almost any problem, but they play along and market it for 'heavy-duty' purposes, haha."
- Over_Plane515
"It wasn't designed for sealing ducts. It was designed as a multi-use tape that could be torn by hand, although it was mainly designed for ammunition boxes during World War II. It was made from duck fabric, hence the name duck tape."
"It wasn't until later on that a specific kind of heat-resistant tape was made under the name Ducttape."
- djcube1701
Marketable Side Effects
"Ozempic. It is supposed to be for diabetics, but weight loss is a big side effect."
- BigM57
"Viagra was supposed to be a blood pressure medicine before they realized the side effects and started marketing it differently."
- satanyourdarklord
Great For Crafts!
"Pipe Cleaners. You know, those long fuzzy sticks we all used at some point of our life in art class to make a lame craft. I have yet to see a person use those to clean pipes."
- Busted_Pixel
"Do you know people who smoke pipes? Both of my grandfathers used pipe cleaners to clean their pipes. Granted, their pipe cleaners were not brightly colored, but otherwise were the same as the craft supply version."
- iambusyrightnow987
Accidental Repellant
"Avon's 'Skin So Soft' is actually widely used as mosquito repellent however Avon themselves are yet to mention nor acknowledge this. This is news to me, and my question is how did someone figure out that it can be used as mosquito repellent?"
- AbruptPersona
"The original formula contained citronella oil."
- omnichad
UNO Reverse
"Uno, the card game. Official rules state you cannot stack plus-two or plus-four cards."
- DesiRuseNDesiRabble
"But how else am I supposed to give my buddy who's almost out another fourteen cards?!"
- Shady_Salad
Mixed Signals
"NERF guns say on the packaging not to shoot people even though their own commercials are a bunch of kids shooting each other."
- Worried_Lobster6783
"The commercials are cut together to imply shooting at people without explicitly confirming it."
"So show a kid hiding behind cover and shooting to the right. Then cut to a kid hiding behind cover and shooting to the left."
"Your brain says they are shooting at each other. But it was never shown."
- LunchPlanner
It's always interesting to see how people interpret the use of a product versus how it's actually used. Knowing the history behind some of these products, it's fascinating how multi-purposeful many of them are!
