“Smoke Alarms Don’t Wake Young Children”: 50 Industry Secrets That May Leave You Surprised

According to marketing psychology speaker Johnson, secrecy is currency. "It provides businesses with a substantial competitive advantage against their rivals, largely due to the phenomenon of information asymmetry. When a company strategically keeps its proprietary information, such as product development plans, marketing strategies, and financial data, away from competitors, it creates a significant information gap," he explained to Bored Panda via email.

"This asymmetry allows the company to execute its strategies while preventing competitors from replicating or countering them effectively. For instance, in industries where innovation is key, like technology or pharmaceuticals, maintaining secrecy about research and development efforts can be critical. By keeping their advancements under wraps, companies can launch groundbreaking products that disrupt the market before competitors even know what’s coming."

Moreover, companies can maintain better profit margins and outmaneuver their competitors if they keep cost-saving techniques and operational efficiencies secret. "Ultimately, the strategic use of secrecy, facilitated by information asymmetry, can significantly bolster a company’s market position and long-term success."

Bored Panda asked Johnson what consumers can do to incentivize companies to change their business models if they feel like they've been tricked after purchasing a product or service. The expert told us that it's a challenging thing to do because the biggest offenders are often the most powerful companies. However, this doesn't mean that consumers are completely without power. They have two powerful tools at their disposal.

The first is consumer power: voting with their wallets. The second is voting with, well, their actual votes. "Voting with their wallets involves making informed purchasing decisions and redirecting their spending toward companies that align with their values and deliver transparent, high-quality products or services."

He continued: "By choosing not to purchase from businesses that engage in deceptive practices, consumers can significantly impact the company’s bottom line, thereby pressuring them to adopt more honest and sustainable practices. Flexing this power on social media to help spread the word about these practices can also be effective.”

Meanwhile, voting means using your power as a citizen. "This involves engaging in civic action to advocate for stronger regulations and corporate accountability. Consumers can participate in petitions, support legislative changes, and work with consumer advocacy groups to promote greater transparency and ethical business practices."

Johnson told Bored Panda that consumers in democratic countries can drive systemic changes that hold companies accountable by raising public awareness and leveraging their collective influence. "Together, these strategies can create a robust incentive structure for companies to rethink their business models and prioritize ethical conduct."

Whistleblowing—informing on a person or organization when they do immoral or illegal things—is a noble act. However, it’s not an easy path to take. Letting the public and media know about shady deals could be considered everyone’s duty… but fighting for transparency can have a huge effect on you and your loved ones. There’s safety in numbers. In many cases, however, whistleblowers are, quite often, alone.

Depending on the power and clout of who you’re outing, your life as you know it could drastically change. You might have to endure countless years of trials, subpoenas, and witness testimonies. Or you might have to flee the country entirely. Your career prospects might get wrecked. And you and your family are going to get a lot of unwanted attention.

Thomson Reuters reports that whistleblower regulations in the United States are evolving, and for the better. The Department of Justice is incentivizing people to alert the authorities when they learn that inappropriate action has taken place in corporations.

The DOJ’s criminal division announced a new pilot program this April that offers to forego prosecutions for individuals who cooperate with investigations into the wrongdoings conducted by their employers. In short, you won’t get prosecuted if you’re upfront, honest, and proactive when offering information about a company’s unethical or unlawful behavior.

This new DOJ program applies to all areas, but it’s specifically targeted at banks, investment funds, and the healthcare industry. In short, this should help with transparency.

“Receiving such information will help us investigate and prosecute criminal conduct that might otherwise go undetected or be impossible to prove, and will, in turn, further encourage companies to create compliance programs that help prevent, detect, and remediate misconduct and to report misconduct when it occurs,” the DOJ announced.

Aerospace company Boeing has been in the news a lot recently. And for all the wrong reasons. The Guardian notes that yet another whistleblower has come forward. Roy Irvin, a former quality investigator, claims that Boeing’s management ignored and dismissed safety and quality issues and concerns.

“Missing safety devices on hardware or un-tightened hardware means that you’re not going to be able to control the airplane if those fail. The safety device is on there. If the fastener is not secured correctly, it’s going to fall off and you’re not gonna be able to control the airplane,” Irvin, who worked for Boeing in its South Carolina plant from 2011 to 2017, told the New York Post.

Meanwhile, Attorney Brian Knowles, who represents Irvin and other whistleblowers, opened up that his law firm has been hearing from dozens of current Boeing employees who want the company to take safety concerns seriously.

Irvin worked with John Barnett, a Boeing whistleblower who was found dead this March after taking his own life. Another whistleblower, quality auditor Joshua Dean, died in April after falling ill.

Which of the secrets featured in this list genuinely shocked you, Pandas? What industry secrets of your own would you like to share with everyone? What do you think organizations can do to improve transparency?

We’d really like to hear your thoughts on this. If you have a moment, scroll down and leave a comment.