"You Sit On A Throne Of Lies": 50 Of The Most Evil Packaging Designs That Were Created To Deceive People (New Pics)

Yet another way companies are out to trick us is through “greenwashing”. Greenwashing is when companies exaggerate how environmentally friendly a product or their entire company is to generate more sales. It is trendy to care about the environment now, which is great, but it is just one more way companies can increase their products. Buzz words like “sustainable”, “eco”, “clean”, “green”, “responsible” and many more are now plastered all over products to appeal to customers’ consciences, but these claims are often unsubstantiated. As the Changing Markets Foundation wrote in a piece where they called out big brands for greenwashing, “Coca-Cola has spent millions of pounds in advertising telling consumers that some of its bottles are made out of 25% marine plastic while failing to mention that it is the world’s biggest plastic polluter.”  

Coca-Cola is only one example of a laundry list of corporations getting away with greenwashing including IKEA, TESCO, Unilever, and Kim Kardashian’s clothing brand SKIMS. George Harding-Rolls, campaign manager at Changing Markets Foundations, says on the topic, “Our latest investigation exposes a litany of misleading and mendacious claims from household names consumers should be able to trust. This is just the tip of the iceberg and it is of crucial importance that regulators take this issue seriously. The industry is happy to gloat its green credentials with little substance on the one hand, while continuing to perpetuate the plastic crisis on the other. We are calling out greenwashing so the world can see that voluntary action has led to a market saturated with false claims. We must embrace systemic solutions, such as absolute reductions in plastic packaging and mandatory deposit return systems."

Whether you were already aware of many of these manipulative marketing tactics or if this list has opened your eyes to the deception of some of your favorite brands, we hope you are enjoying the calling out of these companies. Remember to keep these photos in mind when doing your weekly shop, so you can do your best not to get ripped off. Companies should not be able to get away with charging the same or more for less product, and consumers should not have to do mental gymnastics to figure out what they are purchasing. Keep upvoting the pics that annoy you the most, and then let us know in the comments if you have any experience with falsely advertised products.