In another lousy attempt at getting people to subscribe to their services, this ad suggests you have to pay some sort of subscription to continue. Most users probably won’t see the white ‘X’ hidden in the top right corner of the ad to exit the screen, leaving you no choice but to click ‘continue.’
So remember this. Behind every free-of-charge sign, there is something that costs money. That something is usually much better than the initial product you were planning to buy, and the most important iron-clad rule we have to offer you is this. Every pay-to-subscribe ad has a hidden X somewhere.
Hiding the Download Button
This isn't clever at all, it's just incredibly annoying. To get the right button, you need to click on a host of fakes. Clicking the wrong one means opening a pop-up ad. We sure are getting tired of this kind of trickery and it does a good job of making us lose interest rather quickly.
And what we don't get is, how come haven't these brands realized that they are losing wanting to download customers, and instead they prefer to make loads of money from advertisers? Go figure. It's all down to priorities.
Supersized Carts
It would seem that supermarket shoppers don't like pushing around empty carts — it could be that it just feels like something is missing. Top marketing specialists say a cart that's double the size can lead customers to buy 40% more on average than they planned to in the first place. So while none of us like to run out of room, next time we head to the store, we should consider opting for a basket or a smaller cart to avoid supermarket overspending.
And here's a better idea. Use a shopping list, buy only what you need, and save and save a few bucks so you can buy more of the other things you don't need.
Good Ol' Nostalgia
Retro movie posters and old-fashioned video games have been a hot holiday gift for a few years now, and to retail experts, that's no surprise. It turns out that fond memories make shoppers happy — and that burst of emotion is far more likely to make you buy something. Next time a company churns out some throwback product, enjoy the reminiscing but consider keeping your wallet closed.
We won't be surprised if the next ad campaign will feature Pack-man, Tetris, and Donkey Kong. Just look at the noise Mario and his old-time favorite brother Luigi have been making in the past year.
Not Exactly
A prospective student's interest might be piqued when they come across this sign, thinking that they can finally get that university degree or diploma they wanted. But if we look closely, we can see that they've sneakily added the word "equivalent" in-between "University" and "Degrees."
Don't let these signs fool you and remember, the rules of this game are pretty easy to follow. There are no shortcuts. If you want a university degree, you will have to go to university, and if you want something that is equivalent to it, then you can settle for Richfield.