presta
Guru
At work we used to have elephant roll (short for elephant's bog roll), which was about two feet wide.....
Trivial things that make you annoyed beyond expectations?
- Thread starter PaulB
- Start date
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At work we used to have elephant roll (short for elephant's bog roll), which was about two feet wide.....
Conrad_K
unindicted co-conspirator
- Location
- Little Rock, Arkansas
American toilet paper all used to be the same width. Presumably someone experimented to find the optimum tradeoff between "not enough" and "wasting paper."
A couple of decades ago all toilet paper suddenly got much narrower, which is why instead of fitting the holder attached to the wall, there's considerable space on each side, as the holders were designed to match the paper. Now you need to use at least 50% more paper to get the job done.
Some enviro-Nazi got an idea and managed to ram it through. Same way we got dishwashers, clothes washers, and dryers that utterly fail at their jobs. And "water saving" toilets that require three flushes instead of one. Our 1985 vacuum cleaner still works fine; it will snort up pets and small children if you're not careful. I've read that a replacement might be hard to get since most manufacturers are designing to "world market", and the EU has mandated vacuum cleaners can't have enough power to do much.
A couple of decades ago all toilet paper suddenly got much narrower, which is why instead of fitting the holder attached to the wall, there's considerable space on each side, as the holders were designed to match the paper. Now you need to use at least 50% more paper to get the job done.
Some enviro-Nazi got an idea and managed to ram it through. Same way we got dishwashers, clothes washers, and dryers that utterly fail at their jobs. And "water saving" toilets that require three flushes instead of one. Our 1985 vacuum cleaner still works fine; it will snort up pets and small children if you're not careful. I've read that a replacement might be hard to get since most manufacturers are designing to "world market", and the EU has mandated vacuum cleaners can't have enough power to do much.
Conrad_K
unindicted co-conspirator
- Location
- Little Rock, Arkansas
There were "talking Coke machines" back in the 1980s. They had proximity sensors, and if you walked by one, it would start yammering about the various products it stocked. If you stopped more than a moment, it would switch to a swishy gay voice prompting you to "please insert... your money." Riiight. The swishy voice got changed for a perky female voice later, and then the machines went away, much to the relief of anyone who had to work near one.
"Urinal displays" came and went in the 1990s. They were obnoxious flatscreens that were positioned above urinals, apparently trying to market to a captive audience. That was back when flat screen monitors were expensive. No sound, just jerk-zoom-pan video. They didn't last long. Besides the obvious exhibitions of liquid displeasure, some people took to spray-painting the screens.
Today I stopped at a gas station I don't normally use, and discovered they're another station that has gone to gas pumps with advertising displays. SHOUTING GAS PUMPS. SO LOUD THAT THEY'RE PAINFUL EVEN WITH THE FREEWAY NEARBY. The monitor was flashing and jerking something about "instagram". After setting the latch on the nozzle, I was standing on the other side of the pump, fingers in my ears. Thankfully the shouting stopped when the nozzle clicked off, but someone was using a pump in the next lane by then, and it was obnoxiously loud.
I'd encountered shouting gas pumps before, and quit using those stations. Not worth cringing from the noise and getting the tinnitus all riled up. I guess I'm going to have to toss a spare pair of shooting muffs in the car for when I have to use a strange pump.
"Urinal displays" came and went in the 1990s. They were obnoxious flatscreens that were positioned above urinals, apparently trying to market to a captive audience. That was back when flat screen monitors were expensive. No sound, just jerk-zoom-pan video. They didn't last long. Besides the obvious exhibitions of liquid displeasure, some people took to spray-painting the screens.
Today I stopped at a gas station I don't normally use, and discovered they're another station that has gone to gas pumps with advertising displays. SHOUTING GAS PUMPS. SO LOUD THAT THEY'RE PAINFUL EVEN WITH THE FREEWAY NEARBY. The monitor was flashing and jerking something about "instagram". After setting the latch on the nozzle, I was standing on the other side of the pump, fingers in my ears. Thankfully the shouting stopped when the nozzle clicked off, but someone was using a pump in the next lane by then, and it was obnoxiously loud.
I'd encountered shouting gas pumps before, and quit using those stations. Not worth cringing from the noise and getting the tinnitus all riled up. I guess I'm going to have to toss a spare pair of shooting muffs in the car for when I have to use a strange pump.
cougie uk
Guru
I love these new extra perforated kitchen towels. They last a lot longer than before because often I only need a half towel.
matticus
Guru
Reminds me of the apocryphal tale (with a grain of truth):
Back in the 1950s, this guy approached one of the large toothpaste manufacturers and said that he had an innovation which would cost them almost nothing to implement, but would yield an immediate 40% increase in business. He offered to sell them the exclusive rights to the idea for $100,000. This was a huge sum at the time, but, given the high volume of toothpaste sales, it would be recouped rapidly.
However, the executives of the company were greedy and would not spend such money if it could be avoided. They thanked the guy and said they would get back to him. A big meeting of the company’s marketing and technical staff was called and they were tasked with proposing ideas for increasing business by 40% for little cost.
Two weeks later and no useful ideas had emerged. So, they called back the guy and said he had got a deal. After the legal niceties were completed and the money handed over, he gave them a brown envelope containing a small slip of paper. On this slip were the words: “Make the hole bigger.”
If you increase the diameter of the hole from 5mm to 6mm, the volume of paste squeezed out for a given length of squirt along the brush is increased by 40%. So, most users will consume the tube that much faster and need to buy more …
Back in the 1950s, this guy approached one of the large toothpaste manufacturers and said that he had an innovation which would cost them almost nothing to implement, but would yield an immediate 40% increase in business. He offered to sell them the exclusive rights to the idea for $100,000. This was a huge sum at the time, but, given the high volume of toothpaste sales, it would be recouped rapidly.
However, the executives of the company were greedy and would not spend such money if it could be avoided. They thanked the guy and said they would get back to him. A big meeting of the company’s marketing and technical staff was called and they were tasked with proposing ideas for increasing business by 40% for little cost.
Two weeks later and no useful ideas had emerged. So, they called back the guy and said he had got a deal. After the legal niceties were completed and the money handed over, he gave them a brown envelope containing a small slip of paper. On this slip were the words: “Make the hole bigger.”
If you increase the diameter of the hole from 5mm to 6mm, the volume of paste squeezed out for a given length of squirt along the brush is increased by 40%. So, most users will consume the tube that much faster and need to buy more …
Windle
Über Member
- Location
- Burnthouses
Quite distracting I imagine too, which you don't really need when handling flammable liquids.
What pees me off about all of this kind of advertising is the amount of energy wasted on it, is that ever considered?
Up in Newcastle there're umpteen of those big electronic billboards dotted about the city centre, like big vertical TVs spewing out advertising, they always seem to have some kind of cooling fan going like the clappers when you pass them, so obviously use a lot of energy. I wonder how that fits in with the city council's green agenda and environmental policy?
Beebo
Firm and Fruity
- Location
- Hexleybeef
Water companies used the opposite technique when they were targeted to reduce leaks.
They just reduced the pressure in the network. Hey presto the volume of water lost to leaks reduced.
Electric_Andy
Heavy Metal Fan
- Location
- Plymouth
Sounds a bit like something I read on a tube of Clearasil once (which is a medicated soap for acne in case you didn't know). The instructions told you to wash your hands with the product first, and then to wash your face with it. I novel way to get the consumer to use more of your product before they've even used it!
Alex321
Guru
- Location
- South Wales
Fortunately, I don't recall ever seeing any of these in the UK.
It wouldn't surprise me if our advertising laws prevent most of them.
ebikeerwidnes
Guru
- Location
- Z’ha’dum
I don't know how normal I am (probably not all that much ) but i hate the sort of adverts that trigger as I walk past - I just fond them annoying and generally don;t even hear what they say
figbat
Slippery scientist
- Location
- South Oxfordshire, UK
Many years ago I was doing a marketing training course and the topic of pricing came up, in particular the difference between real and perceived value. An example given was Concorde, or specifically the price of flying on it.
BA realised that the people flying on it were often not the people booking it, those being secretaries and assistants. So they did some research and asked the people who were flying how much they thought the tickets had cost. The answers they got were significantly higher than reality, so they simply hiked the price to what was expected.
Accy cyclist
Legendary Member
- Location
- The hills of Accrington
The amount of adverts and the increasing frequency of adverts on You Tube videos is really getting to me! 🧐 I watched a video the other day which seemed to have a mind numbing advert every 90 seconds and it wasn't just the one, but sometimes two that you couldn't 'skip', meaning one minute of pure GRRR!!!
. I like to watch videos on my laptop while washing up in my kitchen, but it's getting beyond a joke now as I have to keep drying my hands to skip, or try to skip the annoyance. 🧐
. I like to watch videos on my laptop while washing up in my kitchen, but it's getting beyond a joke now as I have to keep drying my hands to skip, or try to skip the annoyance. 🧐
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grldtnr
Über Member
The amount of adverts and the increasing frequency of adverts on You Tube videos is really getting to me! 🧐 I watched a video the other day which seemed to have a mind numbing advert every 90 seconds and it wasn't just the one, but sometimes two that you couldn't 'skip', meaning one minute of pure GRRR!!!
You can subscribe to premium then delete ads automatically.
What's more concerning me ,is the fact certain news media, are now asking you to pay to delete 'cookies', or ask you to subscribe to a pay wall,
AndyRM
XOXO
- Location
- North Shields
This was always going to happen to the internet when people figured out how to properly make money out of it. The mad thing is that for all the public billions out there, the behind the scenes companies who really run the show barely get a mention in the mainstream.
Windle
Über Member
- Location
- Burnthouses
The amount of adverts and the increasing frequency of adverts on You Tube videos is really getting to me! 🧐 I watched a video the other day which seemed to have a mind numbing advert every 90 seconds and it wasn't just the one, but sometimes two that you couldn't 'skip', meaning one minute of pure GRRR!!!
I think the idea is that you'll eventually have to sign up for premium, they're deliberately trying to make the content unwatchable due to the adverts (whilst actually making money from the ads), thus forcing you to pay them to go ad-free. Thing is, if everyone signed up for premium they wouldn't make any money from the ads anymore, and their natural greed would lead to increased subscription costs to keep the money flowing in. Or maybe they'll start bringing adverts back for those who only have the 'basic' premium. You'll the need super-duper extra special premium to avoid the ads! Cynical, moi?
