20+ Misleading packaging and items that overpromised and failed to deliver

Brad Dickson • Managing Editor

Jul 27, 2023 6:00 PM EDT

Managing people's expectations is one of the most important parts of any communication around service delivery. The last thing you want to do is overpromise and then not deliver on the expectations that you have set for yourself. Underdelivering on expectations will always end up with people being disappointed—regardless of if it's a business or personal relationship. It's far easier to set realistic expectations in the first place and then win them over when you exceed that just-average level of delivery they were expecting.

It's kind of like misrepresenting yourself on a dating app; if your profile is too good, you may get more matches, but then, when you meet in person, they're always going to feel at least a mild twinge of disappointment. Whereas if you were to set a profile that accurately represents you in the first place, your matches are going to be happy, relieved even, that you're the person they were expecting.

And that is a great example of how these items misrepresented what was in store for consumers; they're the catfishes of the packaging world.

Scroll on to see this collection of classic images. Next, check out an earlier collection of the same theme.