1Theater Popcorn
Movie theater "butter" mixed with popcorn is actually just coconut oil or canola oil that has butter flavoring and additives mixed in. Butter doesn't really work well with popcorn. When it cools down it clumps together and makes the popcorn shrink and soggy. Despite the low input cost, movie theater popcorn costs more per ounce than Filet Mignon. The price of Popcorn is more than 1200% higher than its production costs. Also, according to a report about movie theater popcorn by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, “A medium-size buttered popcorn tub contains more fat than a breakfast of bacon and eggs, a Big Mac and fries, and a steak dinner combined." You don’t know this because though FDA requires chain restaurants and retailers to identify nutrition information on all food, movie theaters are exempt from this rule because they claim “[their] primary purpose is not to sell food.”
2Candy
Not only are Sour Patch Kids from the same manufacturer as Swedish Fish, but they're the exact same candy except for the sour sugar that dusts Sour Patch Kids.
3Mobile Games
Mobile video games are purposefully designed to be frustrating instead of fun. Most mobile games are put together with the intention of nurturing habitual behavior, frustrating a user, and then offering a slightly more enjoyable experience after money has been spent. This tactic has proven to be a more profitable model than actually offering entertainment, to the point where some companies take very careful steps to ensure that their games don't accidentally end up being fun.
4Rental Cars
When you rent a vehicle to go one-way, you will most likely be getting a car that's either high mileage, has a weird smell/stain, or possible mechanical issue. The branch has to pay to fix the car so it's usually easier to pass the buck. Make sure you do a thorough inspection before leaving the lot.
5Buying a New Car
There is very little profit in new car sales. Dealership’s sales department makes most of its money from used cars, add-on products (alarm systems, extended warranties, GAP insurance, etc.) and manufacturer bonuses from hitting sales targets. Therefore they concentrate on volume, not profits. The more new cars they sell and the faster they sell them, the more it helps their business. To get a good deal on a new car you don't need to spend hours haggling. You just need to be honest about what you want to accomplish and get straight to the point, so the dealership can sell you a car quickly and move on to the next customer. Once you figure out what kind of car you want, just go online do your research and set a budget. If nobody agrees to your terms, consider going out a further distance or increasing your budget.
6Overbooked Hotels
Similar to airline seats, large hotel chains purposely overbook rooms by up to 15%. According to a study published in 2013 in the Journal of Applied Sciences, the no-show rate at hotels is between 5% and 15%. According to the study, in rare cases, when guests don’t get rooms at the booked hotel, they end up in a room at a nearby branch, with a room of similar value. The phenomenon is common enough for it to have its own phrase - apparently being bumped from a hotel is called “walking a guest”.
7Lego Bricks are Ripoffs
Lego bricks were based in part on the Kiddicraft Self-Locking Bricks, which were patented in the United Kingdom in 1939 and then released in 1947. Lego modified the design of the Kiddicraft brick after examining a sample given to it by the British supplier of an injection-molding machine that the company had purchased and started making Lego Bricks. Kiddicraft founder Harry Page died in 1957 without ever knowing about it. In 1981, Lego acquired Kiddicraft so that they can successfully sue Tyco, another brick maker in the late 1980s citing copyright infringement. They had bought Kiddicraft earlier to make their claim stronger. The court however decided against Lego, saying bricks are not patentable.
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8Frozen Desserts
Majority of so the called brand ice cream you buy at the grocery store are not labeled ice cream but rather frozen dessert. The term is often used on products which are similar in taste and texture to ice cream, but which do not meet the legal definition of that term because they are made primarily with vegetable oils, i.e. mellorine, as opposed to milk or cream.
9Baby Carrots
Most baby carrots that you buy in the grocery store are not actually baby carrots and should be labeled as baby-cut carrots. These carrots start out as regular sized carrots that may have some cosmetic issues. They are then cut into pieces and put through a peeler. Though it may be misleading marketing, it is actually a pretty green thing to do, because otherwise the unsightly carrots probably just get thrown away.
10HeadOn
HeadOn is a homeopathic remedy. As of September 2000, there were two versions of HeadOn available in stores: “ExtraStrength and Migraine.” Chemical analysis of the Migraine formulation has shown that it is made up of wax and three other “active ingredients” which iris versicolor 12× (a toxic flower), white bryony 12× (a toxic vine), and potassium dichromate 6× (a known carcinogen). The “×” notation indicates that the three chemicals have been diluted to 1 part per trillion, 1 part per trillion, and 1 part per million respectively. This amount of dilution is so great that the product has been described as a placebo; with skeptic James Randi calling it a “major medical swindle.” The company can’t prove that it has any effect on headaches, so they can’t mention it doing anything about headaches on the commercial. That left them in a bit of a jam, so they put out commercials that just said “Head On: Apply directly to the forehead.”
