A few times a year we spotlight offers from companies that are real head-scratchers, are actually less generous than they appear, are just plain outrageous, or may simply elicit a chuckle. Here’s the latest crop.
I find it very annoying when respected publishers resort to clickbait headlines that create an air of mystery surrounding the subject matter of their stories. For example, a few weeks ago, any number of publications used headlines like this to attract eyeballs.
*MOUSE PRINT:
They make it sound like there was some type of problem at the store that caused it to close — perhaps some toxic substance had to be cleaned up or they had to fumigate the stores for some pest problem. In reality, it was a simply a story saying that Costco or other retailers were going to be closed in observance of Memorial Day. To all those publications that did this… thanks for nothing.
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5th Birthday Candle Holder
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Leave it to Walmart to sell an ornament that you put on top of a cake to celebrate a child’s fifth birthday… but the product has a problem, according to Debra D. who submitted this.
*MOUSE PRINT:
The package contains only four candles! Thanks for nothing, Walmart.
Meredith B. sent us this picture of two boxes of Cheez-It crackers. They are both the same size — 12.4 ounces — but the one on the left claims it is 75% more.
*MOUSE PRINT:
It is 75% more than their small seven-ounce size. But it is not some type of bonus package where you are getting a whole bunch of extra crackers free. Thanks for the math lesson, Sunshine.
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Arm & Hammer Power Sheets
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Who knew that laundry detergent now comes in sheets? Apparently Arm & Hammer makes this product that claims you get 100 loads out of each box… but the box only contains 50 sheets. Is this the new math?
*MOUSE PRINT:
Apparently, the way you get 100 loads is if you cut each sheet in half! Thanks for nothing, Arm & Hammer.
Like a number of retailers, Walmart, Amazon, and AliExpress allow third-party sellers to advertise on their websites. In this case, all of them are promoting USB flash drives with a stated capacity of two terabytes for as low as a dollar. For the uninitiated, most thumb drives have capacities measured in gigabytes, not terabytes. (One thousand gigs = 1 TB.)
*MOUSE PRINT:
The two-terabyte flash drives above are as low as 99 cents — which is a complete impossibility. A genuine one-terabyte thumb drive from a national brand goes for around $100. And two-terabyte versions are virtually non-existent. Thanks for nothing, Walmart, Amazon, and AliExpress for not vetting your third party sellers and products better.
If you want to see what one consumer received when he ordered a 20-Tb external drive for $51, check out this story from Ars Technica.
If you spot an ad with a far-fetched or funny claim, send it along to us. Thanks!
