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Terrible products that owe their immense popularity to highly successful ad campaigns

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Duster

Member
I use this example all the time but I'll still say breakfast cereal because it still blows my mind that something that was largely invented to stop masturbation became so successful almost purely through advertising.
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/nov/23/food-book-extract-felicity-lawrence

While they're not terrible products and have their purpose anti-bacterial soap for home use isn't usually any better than regular soap, some would argue it's worse.
 
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CaptainSlow

Member
Woah woah woah... People hate the George Foreman Grill? I fucking love mine. Use it all the time and it's never hard to clean. Maybe if you burn you're food till it turns into charcoal it'll be difficult.
 
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amnesiac

Member
Bose and Beats. They aren't bad products, but they're terrible for the prices they're sold at.

My George Foreman grill is awesome.
 
Complistic

Complistic

Member
coke-bottle.jpg
 
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I'm an expert

Formerly worldrevolution. The only reason I am nice to anyone else is to avoid being banned.
Op, please pm a mod and ask for a ban because the GF grill is fucking great and you don't deserve it.
 
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asthmagasm

Member
I feel like I'll be in the minority on this one but Swiffer Wet Jet. My wife and I got one as a wedding present with all extra replacements to last awhile. First one worked the first time we used it and then stopped spraying the cleaner outright after that. The second one we got worked with one jet only from the start, so we replaced that one too. The third followed the path of the first, but went to one working after the first mopping and died completely before we were done. After that we gave up entirely and just took everything back.

I have a similar story about TVs, but I don't want to start a brand war.
 
D

Dicer

Banned
Mineshaft_Gap said:
Disclaimer: Don't be a fanboy douche. "huuurr duuuur Apple huuur duuuuur Samsung" type responses are not acceptable. Let's leave such highly divisive products out of the conversation shall we?

Now that that's out of the way, I'm talking about products that could not sell on their own merits (quality/aesthetics/utility) but are still hugely popular based on one or more highly successful ad campaigns. Try to be specific about the product and the ad campaign that launched its success. For example...

The George Foreman Grill
41rP8cccmAL.jpg


This piece of shit lives in the basement, garage, or attic of almost everyone I know. It promises convenience, better health (the fat drips right off!), the power to grill indoors. It delivers an impossible to clean waffle maker/griddle hybrid. It was a pop culture staple of the 90's and it's useless and I fucking hate it.

See also: Ronco Rotisserie Oven
Click to expand...

ib0HmARqgi5vBi.jpg


GF grill is awesome...as are things like the Wii, power be damned, it has a Metric ton of great games on it. This thread will have all kinds of poor choices, but that's to be exepcted.
 
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Cheebo

Banned
Aβydoς;121883845 said:
You learn to fucking read.
I'm not an hater of Apple, fucking Christ.
iPhones SUCK. They are not worth a third of their price.
Click to expand...

How the hell is that possible to say such nonsense? Not worth a third of their price? So basically iPhone 5S is worse than 3 year old android phones? You make no sense.
 
HUELEN10

HUELEN10

Member
Mineshaft_Gap said:
Maybe I got a beta. Grease in every corner, under every plastic/metal lip. I don't know what other people consider clean but I could never get the thing actually clean.

I love my griddle tho.
Click to expand...
Mine looks brand new and it's 4 years old, I'll even take a pic.

It's really not that hard to clean it.
 
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CaptainSlow

Member
Aβydoς;121883845 said:
You learn to fucking read.
I'm not an hater of Apple, fucking Christ.
iPhones SUCK. They are not worth a third of their price.
Click to expand...

Going to have to agree with you and I have an iPhone. Their phones go up to almost $900! That's insane and it's all because of having an Apple logo on it. There are better looking and better built phones with better functionality for almost half as much.
 
H

Hoo-doo

Banned
Aβydoς;121883845 said:
You learn to fucking read.
I'm not an hater of Apple, fucking Christ.
iPhones SUCK. They are not worth a third of their price.
Click to expand...

We got the message, champ. Calm down.
 
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Skunkers

Member
Aβydoς;121883845 said:
You learn to fucking read.
I'm not an hater of Apple, fucking Christ.
iPhones SUCK. They are not worth a third of their price.
Click to expand...

Don't double down when you post stupid bullshit, especially as a junior. Quoted, again, from the first lines of the OP:

OP said:
Disclaimer: Don't be a fanboy douche. "huuurr duuuur Apple huuur duuuuur Samsung" type responses are not acceptable. Let's leave such highly divisive products out of the conversation shall we?
Click to expand...

If you actually can read, then you understand he wasn't asking if you were a hater or not; OP straight up said leave out divisive brands, and further specifically cited Apple and Samsung as an example. Yet despite not being a hater, you just couldn't help yourself, could you?
 
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Aβydoς

Banned
Skunkers said:
Don't double down when you post stupid bullshit, especially as a junior. Quoted, again, from the first lines of the OP:



If you actually can read, then you understand he wasn't asking if you were a hater or not; OP straight up said leave out divisive brands, and further specifically cited Apple and Samsung as an example. Yet despite not being a hater, you just couldn't help yourself, could you?
Click to expand...

Forgot that being a Junior here also means you have to censor yourself every now and then.
I specifically said that I have nothing against Apple, they mostly do good products. Not iPhones. What's the point of this thread if not to bring out these products?
Next time I won't anyway, I know that I risk a ban for this stuff.
 
V

Vyer

Member
stupid phone warz crap in these threads was predictable and lame as always. Nice try anyway OP.



This thread is really Infomercial: the Thread.

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UioeP2s.jpg
 
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Mineshaft_Gap

4077th
Aβydoς;121885747 said:
Forgot that being a Junior here also means you have to censor yourself every now and then.
I specifically said that I have nothing against Apple, they mostly do good products. Not iPhones. What's the point of this thread if not to bring out these products?
Next time I won't anyway, I know that I risk a ban for this stuff.
Click to expand...

Being a member here means you have to not be a cunt. I don't know how you ever got approved since you clearly do not meet this most basic of criteria.

When you created your account you saw the little box that said "Am I a cunt?" [] Yes [] No

You ticked no when you should have ticked yes. Had you been honest all this could have been avoided and we wouldn't be having this conversation.
 
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linkboy

Member
s5-vs-79.jpg
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Samsung makes decent phones and tablets, but they're not the OMG greatest things that people hype them up to be.

They hold back OS updates for certain phones\tablets to force you to upgrade (I'm got a Tab 3 7" that probably isn't going to get a Kit Kat update since the new Tab's came out, good luck seeing L on it. Going to sell it when I get back from my deployment and buy a Nexus 7 like I should have in the first place).

I've literally had people's jaw's hit the floor when they ask me why I don't have a Samsung phone and I tell them why I don't like them.
 
J

JohnDoe

Banned
Mineshaft_Gap said:
Being a member here means you have to not be a cunt. I don't know how you ever got approved since you clearly do not meet this most basic of criteria.

When you created your account you saw the little box that said "Am I a cunt?" [] Yes [] No

You ticked no when you should have ticked yes. Had you been honest all this could have been avoided and we wouldn't be having this conversation.
Click to expand...

What the hell is going on here
 
D

Dishwalla

Banned
Mineshaft_Gap said:
Being a member here means you have to not be a cunt. I don't know how you ever got approved since you clearly do not meet this most basic of criteria.

When you created your account you saw the little box that said "Am I a cunt?" [] Yes [] No

You ticked no when you should have ticked yes. Had you been honest all this could have been avoided and we wouldn't be having this conversation.
Click to expand...

I never ticked that box...
 
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Aβydoς

Banned
Mineshaft_Gap said:
Being a member here means you have to not be a cunt. I don't know how you ever got approved since you clearly do not meet this most basic of criteria.

When you created your account you saw the little box that said "Am I a cunt?" [] Yes [] No

You ticked no when you should have ticked yes. Had you been honest all this could have been avoided and we wouldn't be having this conversation.
Click to expand...

OK you're funny. Not being condescending you legit made me chuckle, can we be friends now? I don't hate iPhones, I just really dislike them. And their price is ridiculous.
See? Without being such a big cunt. Just... an average cunt, apparently.
 
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link4117

Member
reebokpumps1.jpg


Not sure if those are the originals or not as I never owned a pair, but I do remember them being pretty dang popular for something that was at best a gimmick.

Also the LG Chocolate and the original Razr's were pretty popular, but really pretty cheaply made products.
 
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