50 Marketing Tactics Made By Businesses To Fool You

Marketing can be clever, persuasive, and sometimes a little too good at getting people to click, buy, or believe. This roundup pulls together examples of tactics that feel less like honest promotion and more like a trap with good branding.

From misleading labels and tiny print to ads that hide the catch until the last second, the examples here show how businesses can push the line when they want attention or sales. The people reacting to them are not impressed, and in many cases, they are calling out the trick almost immediately.

Some of these tactics are so blatant they are hard to defend. Read on.

1. A kickball that's not made for kicking

ASAPxSyndicate

2. "I love ads on my £250 console that I continue to pay £6 a month to play on"

TS_Optics

3. It's basically a trap

PandaKing185

Some of these marketing tricks are so obvious, they almost feel like a dare.

4. Literally any piece of clothing can cost more or less than 99 cents

BrendanTFirefly

5. All natural

BoringGrass0

6. Choose them

Pie-Makers-Mistress

7. Save more energy by boiling less

UnlikeSome

8. Handwritten ad

pillager_of_poopers

9. Paid $2,500 just to have unremovable ads on a Samsung Smart TV

BrownLandlord

10. Is that a 1 or a 7?

JeffTrav

11. "This vending machine is 100% sold out. It only tells you that items are sold out after you've put money in/used your card"

Digiboy62

That kind of setup is exactly why people stop trusting the fine print.

12. Got ya

khalil-ammari

13. "When you thumbs down trash like this on Netflix, but it keeps coming back to the top of your homepage"

wozmatic

14. Fortune cookies don't bring any fortune anymore

Full_Metal_Machinist

15. Could it be any smaller?

DarkRoastt

16. Taller but lesser

______---------

17. What are they even trying to do?

MNgirlinaNDworld

18. That's not three!

Imhereforgiofilmsbro

19. Witty or not?

is_it_a_lie

20. "Got a letter in an envelope that said my lease was terminated. Just another ad"

enderr920

At this point, even the packaging is part of the pitch.

This “marketing tactic” logic is right up there with 81 visual anomalies that mess with your brain’s basic rules.

21. Be careful with the small fonts; they seem to be everywhere

LuMo096

22. Wonder why they run out so quickly?

GreenCupcake23

23. This car wash program

tarek122

24. "Gold" chalk

Benci007

25. You'll just have to download their app first *wink*

JustDewItPLZ

26. Stop luring people with fake money

notbeatrizportinari

27. False advertising at its finest

anniemaymoo

28. "Never seen their chair in my life," yet he is sitting on it in their ads

mkbhd

29. Well, if that is your definition of free... no thanks

theskyopened

30. Wait, this is actually genius!

yusefudattebayo

Some brands really do count on people not reading closely.

31. Intentionally printed with a smudged effect so you would be forced to call them

Darknight1993

32. Did you say you bought the large one? Oh, that's just the outer container size.

ItRhymesWithFreak

33. Some person keeps leaving this as a tip

catherine_zetascarn

34. All that packaging waste for... oh

Chev_350

35. A billion-dollar company (that rhymes with Walmart) comparing themselves to the sacrifices of WWII veterans

TehAwkwardOne

36. Cleaning it will make it sprout new blades... got it!

erkang06

37. So disappointing

sharkyboi

38. Ad designed to look like an Amazon package

Nic0lodeon

39. Free Wi-Fi, but purchase something first

mauricewilliams455

40. Screens that aren't even accurately showing the real content inside

catmomextraordinaire

41. So basically, you are thriving on blind acceptance

cy6nu5

42. Phew

Hummocky

43. At least they are honest

kmartshoppr

44. "My mother recently passed away. This morning I thought I got an email from her. Nope, just a spam tabloid naming their contact 'Mom'"

Raise_Master

45. "Dual" camera, they said

Funnyonol

46. When it says printer low on ink and...

Anonymous_None

47. Don't be fooled; they cost $1.50

Lopad_NotThePokemon

48. Online testing software

Colon Brew

49. Something's wrong here

LurkeyMcLurkersen

50. Free delivery at a higher price

Arucious

Some of these tactics are so shameless that people can spot the trick from a mile away.

Do you have any evil marketing techniques to share? Comment below, or share this article with all your family and friends to see!

May these marketing tricks never catch you off guard.

For more “what am I looking at?” moments, see marketplace finds that are useful, then completely unexplainable.