Did you know that frisbees were originally just pie containers? Or that Play-Doh was intended to be a wallpaper cleaner? Sometimes, customers find a better use for products than what they were originally marketed as, so companies decide to pivot. But there are also plenty of cases of companies being in denial about what their products are used for, regardless of how many people purchase them for different reasons.
Redditors have recently been discussing some of the most commonly misused items people buy, so we’ve gathered their thoughts down below. Enjoy scrolling through, and be sure to upvote the products you’re guilty of using for different purposes too!
#1
Back in the days before digital cameras, 35mm film came in plastic bottles that everyone used to store their weed in.
Image source: Dependent-Sign-2407, Junior Libby / publicdomainpictures
#2
Treadmills. Intended for exercise, but globally recognized as the best clothes racks you never knew you needed.
Image source: Aggressive-Pin-170, WalkingPad
#3
Former GF gave me a model Death Star. Looks like pewter but I’m not sure. A bit smaller than a tennis ball. It looks pretty cool, but she was so excited when she explained “Look! It opens up! It’s a grinder for dried spices when you cook!”
Didn’t want to hurt her feelings by explaining that she had given me a weed grinder. I was dying inside holding in the laughter.
Image source: recoveringatty42
#4
Ozempic for weight loss which leads to shortages for people with diabetes.
Image source: Everyday_ASMR, Chemist4U / Flickr
#5
Flat head screwdriver – scraper, pry bar. chisel, weapon, stake, etc…
Image source: Keveros, Tjcase2
#6
The ‘Terms and Conditions’ booklet. It’s the world’s most popular unread bestseller.
Image source: Acrobatic-Law-2114, RDNE Stock project / Pexels
#7
The drawer beneath your oven. It’s for keeping baked goods warm, not for storing pans.
Image source: SirKensingtonsSlop, Curtis Adams / Pexels
#8
Kitchen scales. I bought one on Amazon that had poor reviews because you couldn’t measure out portions of a gram. My stupid a*s asked my husband why the hell someone would care if the measurement of their flour was 1/10 of a gram off.
He just stared at me until I got it lol.
Image source: Elegant-Pressure-290, Marco Verch / Flickr
#9
I’ll start : QTips/cotton swabs. Everyone puts them in the canal, but the boxes always pretend like they’re made for the outside of the ear.
Image source: EVERYTHlNG_WAS_TAKEN, gratuit / freeimageslive
#10
Back in the days of the Prohibition, a lot of grape juice was sold with extremely explicit instructions of all the things you’d need to do to ferment it but with the disclaimer of “here’s what’s illegal to do”.
Image source: PixelArtDragon, PerspectiveHuman3800
#11
Think Johnny Appleseed was planting apple trees for the health benefits of apples? Nope it was to make cider.
Going way back, farming advances and the cultivation of grains was primarily to make beer, going way back to Mesopotamia.
Image source: Skid-Vicious, ELEVATE / Pexels
#12
I caught a friend of mine rubbing one of the antibacterial hand wipes from KFC all over his friends chicken. The little packet said ‘a hint of lemon’ on it, and he thought that he was meant to flavour the chicken with it…
Image source: Fantastic-Sunshine, Abi Porter / Flickr
#13
Cookie dough. We’ll keep eating it raw.
Image source: kerdita, pickpik
#14
Back massagers.
ArcTan_Pete:
Especially the famous Hitachi Magic Wand for ‘relieving sore muscles and back tension’
Image source: Telrom_1, ajay_suresh / flickr
#15
Up until recently, Pedialyte. Marketed as a drink for babies, but was used as a hangover cure. Recently they started marketing to adults however.
Image source: bmg_7474, Sean Freese / flickr
#16
Hydroponics kit. To help you grow some really big tomatoes, innit.
Image source: BigBird2378, Dennis Lamczak / wikimedia
#17
The various items that Hospital ERs have to remove from people’s rectums…
Image source: TPS_Data_Scientist
#18
Recently, I found out the existence of fake urine for “experiments” and “pranks.”
The real use is to bypass drug tests.
Image source: anima99, Cambodia, P.I. Network / flickr
#19
No one uses Miracle Whip as a salad dressing.
Image source: RexBulby, Louisa Billeter / flickr
#20
In the UK, sales of nitrous oxide cannisters used for whipping cream have skyrocketed in the past 10 years.
Spoiler: This isn’t due to the correlation in popularity of ‘The Great British Bake Off’, it’s due to its disassociative psychoactive effects.
Image source: RedditUser3525, Rob Brewer / flickr
#21
Whoever makes the little tiny ziplock baggies to hold ‘buttons’ or ‘jewellery’ in.
Image source: corkas_, SonnyandSandy / flickr
#22
I have a dry herb vape that from the instructions seems to think that people really want to inhale the essence of rosemary or thyme.
Image source: CommunicationHot7822, Vaping360 / flickr
#23
Cup ramen in the foam containers… they are not supposed to be microwaved and supposedly only recently are they designing a cup that can be.
Image source: TheKiwiQueen, Alpha / flickr
#24
Cough medicine containing dextromethorphan (robocough, robotabs). If taken as prescribed, it’s a cough suppressant. If taken in much higher dosages, it’s a dissociative anesthetic, like pcp or ketamine. Kids and adults have been abusing the stuff for decades. There’s a whole subculture around it.
Image source: GooniesNeverSayDie11
#25
Handheld massaging shower heads.
Image source: Beholder_V
#26
Kmart “Spice grinders” that for some reason are one of the only products in the kitchen aisle to have anti theft devices on them.
Edit: kmart is still really big in Aus
Image source: HelloFoxie, kRuPtKiNg
#27
Had a co-worker order an electric water distiller.
I works just as well for making nearly pure alcohol, although it is marketed specifically for distilling water.
Image source: Throwaway_Old_Guy
#28
Bobby pins. Groove side faces down towards the scalp to effectively hold the pin in place.
Image source: Moon_Jewel90
#29
Poppers, “leather cleaner, do not inhale or ingest”
Image source: beretta_vexee, Chris / flickr
#30
Uncle Ben’s rice. It’s very popular for cultivating mushrooms of the magic variety.
Image source: FireInTheSky888
#31
Not exactly misuse, but I’ve heard that those thin packets of sugar are supposed to be bent in the middle, not torn from the side.
Sounded bizzare, but it actually works. And leaves you with only a single piece of waste too.
Image source: _Weyland_, Trekphiler / wikimedia
#32
Travel neck pillows. I’ve only seen about 5 people wearing them correctly (opening in the back, not the front) and I fly at least three times per week so I see them constantly.
Image source: Myzyri, Adam Dachis / flickr
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