25 Examples Of Sneaky Marketing Techniques Used By Companies

People expose 25 deceptive marketing techniques that infuriate them.

DEC 11, 2024

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In a world where advertising is everywhere, customers are growing increasingly savvy—and fed up—with sneaky marketing tactics designed to manipulate and mislead. From hidden fees and misleading product claims to “limited-time offers” that never seem to end, these tricks leave consumers feeling duped and frustrated.

Social media has become a platform for people to call out the most infuriating stunts, exposing how companies bend the truth to boost sales. This list dives into the most deceptive marketing tactics that have sparked public outrage, shining a light on the practices that erode trust and leave customers demanding better.

#1 Saved This To My Cart Yesterday But Decided To Wait Until Today To Buy It To Get A Sale Price On Amazon Prime Day

Image source: QuickWrenn

#2 The Fees On Ticketmaster Cost More Than My Tickets

Image source: papyru22

#3 Bowlero - Default 22% Tip. Canceling Order Then Tries To Get Your Business By Giving The Option For No Tip. Then Asks Again To Confirm If You Are Cancelling Order. How is this manipulation not illegal? Time to go back to Cash Only.

Image source: SideScroller

#4 Amazon Prime Video Doesn't Tell You If A Show Is Unavailable In Your Country Until After You Subscribe To Amazon Prime

Image source: Iescaunare

#5 This Is A New Low, Even For Epson

Image source: Alaeriia So apparently the ink cartridges that come with this Epson printer are only for the "initial printing" (i.e. the test pages), so you have to buy new cartridges the moment you get the printer. WTF, Epson?

#6 Starbucks At Laguardia Won't Let You Order A Coffee Without Installing Their App

Image source: PaulSkallas

#7 Despite The Official Weight Limit Being 50lbs, These Spirit Self Service Kiosks Will Flag Anything Over 40lbs As Overweight And Require A $78 Additional Charge To Proceed. The only way to avoid this is to have your bag checked by a live employee who will follow the real 50lb limit.

Image source: attattx

#8 The Way This Goal Has Extra Rings To Make The Goal Smaller. You Cant See It From The Front When Shooting The Basketball To Try And Win A Prize

Image source: Own-Marzipan5040

#9 Paying For A Subscription And Still Have To Sit Through 8 Min+ Of Ads

Image source: 386andresvega

#10 Ham And Eggs Are $8.99, But They've Outlined It To Look Like $0.99 From Afar

Image source: comment-stalker

#11 This Is What Happens When You Price Everything At £4.99 Instead Of £5

Image source: minisaladfresh

#12 My New Truck Requires A $15/Mo Data Plan To Use Features My Previous Model Did For Free (Maps, Basic Voice Commands, Text To Voice Messages)

Image source: reddit.com

#13 Panera Bread Increases Food Price By 25% When You Switch To Delivery - After Redeeming "No Fees" Delivery

Image source: teraflux

#14 Amazon Prime Video Is Basically Back To Cable TV Now That We’re Getting Random Commercials In The Middle Of Movies

Image source: AmericanTrollBot

#15 The Price Of My Burger King Meal Got More Expensive As I Was Checking Out

Image source: Simply827

#16 Uber Eats “Taxes & Other Fees” Strikes Again

Image source: boopyape

#17 Dave & Busters Spin Game Landed On The 500 And It Only Gave Me 4 Tickets. Showed To Manager And Said It Needed To Be In The Middle

Image source: Dohello

#18 Semi Deceptive Marketing. It's clear what they are offering once you read it fully. I love and hate this in ways that I'll just not say.

Image source: SubliminalSavage

#19 Forcing Scanning Qr Codes To See Prices At The Gas Station?

Image source: Palerate2

Image source: nekomichi

#21 $1 Slices... squints Oh

Image source: jooooooooooooose

#22 "Sale" Pricing

Image source: xxgsr02

#23 Grocery Store Price For Bay Leaves Is 16300% Higher Than The Farmers Market. The cheapest bay leaves the local Kroger had were $61.06/ounce. The farmer's market sells a higher quality for $5.99/pound ($0.37/ounce).

Image source: Historical_Suspect97

#24 $1 Kids Meal? Wow That's A Good D-...oh Wait