Let’s get real for a second, Pandas. I genuinely believe that we’re becoming more and more like a cyberpunk dystopia every single day. We’re developing ever more impressive technologies, but our quality of life suffers, as the wealth gap between the haves and the have-nots continues to widen. However, even in this dreary corporate landscape, you can find something to giggle about. Comedy, as always, is the silver lining that helps perk up our mood.
That’s where the r/CorporateFacepalm subreddit comes in. A cozy online community of just over 147k members, it has been documenting hilarious corporate fails on social media and in real-life since the early summer of 2015. In those 6+ years, they’ve amassed a vast archive of proof that even the biggest, most powerful global companies slip up from time to time. Sometimes, in such funny ways that we realize that the people managing the social media accounts are human, too. With human errors left, right, and center, too.
Scroll down for some of the most facepalm-worthy corporate posts on the internet, upvote the biggest fails, and let us know in the comments which of these you think are worth a gold star for the effort.
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#1 “This Is Terrible Advice For Trains”
#2 How Did They Not See That Coming
#3 Pot, Meet Kettle
The ‘Corporate Facepalm’ subreddit runs with the tagline, “For all the ridiculous things your company does!” And it really helps humanize the large, often faceless, corporations.
They seem much more approachable when you realize that even the biggest conglomerates, rivaling even countries with their raw financial power and political clout, aren’t perfect. They can mess up in ways that look obvious to us. Then again, hindsight is always 20/20.
#4 Celebrate Women’s Day By… Thinking Like A Man?
#5 I Have No Words
#6 A Very Heartfelt Personalized Thanks
Rules-wise, r/CorporateFacepalm is very light on regulating its members. All they ask from their community members is that they “don’t be a jerk,” label any NSFW post and comments as such, and avoid posting any personal information. Information about public entities is fine, however, if you’re posting a “normal” person’s name, photo, or profile, you should really block that out to protect their identity.
The subreddit’s mods also urge their members to submit original content and avoid reposting things. “If someone posted it this week, you probably shouldn’t post it again. If someone posted it last year, it’s probably okay. We will review this on a case-by-case basis,” they share.
#7 Waltonchain Forgets To Switch Twitter Accounts, Self-Owns By Posting As Winner Of Their Own Contest
#8 Maccas In A Town Called “Yass”. It Took Them Years Until They Took It Down
#9 A Nightclubs Response To A Drink (Possibly) Being Spiked
On a more serious note, however, we do have to keep in mind that the landscape of the job industry has changed a lot in recent years. Over a decade ago, we had one of the biggest financial crashes in human history. Meanwhile, we’ve been battling the Covid-19 pandemic for the past two years.
“We had the global financial crisis which led to many millennials who were employed being displaced. When the economy recovered, it changed structurally, and many quality jobs were lost,” Eddy Ng, the Smith Professor of Equity & Inclusion in Business at Queen’s University, told me during an interview with We just last week.
According to the professor, the 2008 financial crisis led to the emergence of precarious jobs, the gig/sharing economy, and the rise of digital labor. As a result, some people were unable to join the new economy. Income and social inequality were on the rise.
#10 New Fashion Trend
#11 Do Local News Stations Count?
#12 Glad To Hear That
According to Eddy, some racialized groups, like Black and Brown workers, fall into a poverty trap, unable to climb out of it. Financial literacy isn’t enough to help people pull themselves out of poverty, though it might be a helpful tool otherwise. “You need to have the resources to, for example, access training and education,” the professor said.
In the present day, we see that the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the very same income and social inequalities that the 2008 crash brought to light.
“Workers work more hours with lower pay in order to survive. That leaves little time to accumulate the necessary resources for skill upgrades or retooling for the new economy. This is the poverty trap I alluded to,” the professor said.
#13 Time To Rethink Your Brand Name
#14 Blizzard Supporting People To Stand Up For Their Cause, Meanwhile
#15 Thanks, Amazon
Financial expert Sam Dogen explained to me earlier that the reality is that some CEOs can get millions of dollars while average employees might be scared for their job security. There’s an extreme dichotomy between the fortunate and the average.
“CEOs have no magical powers. Yes, they have the operational experience to run big companies. However, they are often just spokespeople and ambassadors of the firm. One person cannot make that big a difference in a large organization. If Tim Cook from Apple steps down, the company will be fine. Another overpaid CEO will take his place,” he told We.
#16 Um. Retinal?
#17 Ok Cristiano
#18 Company Prints Message To Staff On Public Advertisement
“The reason why CEOs can get paid so much is due to the direct correlation of the size of the company. When a company is worth hundreds of billions of dollars, it’s easier to pay a CEO tens of millions of dollars a year, which comprised mostly of stock options,” the expert said.
“At the end of the day, the CEO and the Board of Directors’ goal is to provide as much value and returns as possible for its shareholders. And if that means firing thousands of employees, then that is what they will do. It is a sad reality of extreme capitalism.”
#19 Who Needs To Flu Shot When You Can Have Flavored Water?
#20 “We’re Number One!”
#21 Bbc News Jumps The Gun With Its Reporting
According to financial expert Sam, the employment situation is going to get more competitive in the future, as technologies change and globalization continues to be a powerful force.
“Now, a company can more easily hire a hungry person from a developing country who is willing to earn much less. The work-from-home trend is here to stay. The other trend we should see is more people becoming freelancers instead of full-time employees. The ability to work from home has created more solopreneurs who see more business opportunity taking on multiple clients at once.”
#22 Bet This Went Over Real Well Reebok
#23 Orangetheory Literally Photoshopped A White Dudes Face Onto A Black Persons Body In Their Telephone Training Program
#24 Yahoo Not Even Using Their Own Search Engine
#25 Mcdonalds And Visa Partnered To Make This Budget For Fast Food Workers, It Requires Two Jobs And No Heat
#26 Marriott Gets It
#27 Washington Post Creates Page On A Women’s March. Uses The Male Symbol
#28 Congratulations! Also, Remember You Have A Brain Tumour!
#29 Wow, People Must Hate Their Queso
#30 Surely Nobody Will Mix These Two Up
#31 Nivea’s Now Deleted Facebook Post Was Quite Popular With The Alt Right
#32 Wells Fargo Wants You To Get A Real Job
#33 Feminist And Body-Positive Cosmo Promotes The Story Of A Woman’s Cancer Recovery As A Beach-Bod Strategy
#34 Ibm May Need To Update Its Job Applicant Page
#35 Old Ad From The Netherlands
#36 Searching Apartment Complex Reviews When I Noticed Something A Little Fishy About The “Property Managers” Response
#37 Black Friday
#38 My Sister Received This Email From Zillow
#39 Purell Making Fun Of Sick Kids
#40 Wait, What?
#41 Conservative Party Leaflets Circulated In Basingstoke, UK
