If you want to get rich quick, try to come up with an idea for a product that nobody’s ever thought of before.
But that’s pretty hard to do. So, if you’re OK with being significantly less rich, you can simply wait for somebody else to come up with a great idea and then shamelessly rip them off. All you gotta do is make an inferior version of their product, tweak it juuuuuust enough to avoid a copyright lawsuit, and then start cashing your checks. It’s the American way.
Today we’re celebrating some of the most brazen knockoffs of our favorite products, characters, and brands. The folks who make them might not have much originality, but you gotta admire their gumption.
There are some things in life you’d better be 100% positive you want to see, because once you do, you’ll never be able to not see it again (the arrow in the FedEx logo, anyone?).
Someone on Reddit asked others what falls into that category for them, and the netizens have got some good ones – but beware: you definitely won’t be able to go back once you’ve scrolled through this list!
15. Pics or it didn’t happen.
I meet this guy that was a huge Conan the Barbarian fan so he got a big Conan tattoo on his arm, he was not happy with it, I couldn’t see it but when he pointed it out, I could not unsee it, the tattoo artist did a bad job when shading so it looked like Conan had one leg and a huge dick, laughed my ass off when I saw it and I feel sorry for the guy.
Edit: Wow this got lots of attention, I wish I could share a photo but I meet him while he was talking to my tattoo artist before my appointment at the tattoo shop and I didn’t want to be rude to him or the people working there so unfortunately I have no picture of it :/
14. Or a television.
A dead pixel on a computer screen.
13. Oh my god.
In Super Mario Bros for the NES the clouds are the same graphic as the bushes just a different color.
edit: I also realize this is a sound, not something you see. However, I can’t watch someone fall off something in a movie and not expect that scream so that’s why I thought of it.
11. *nervous tic*
Dr Pepper is spelled without a period after Dr.
10. Why, though?
The fake bird noises in golf coverage. They are all fake and constant.
9. Way to ruin music.
in this case, more like unhear. breathing in songs. once you start paying attention to it, you cant hear anything else
8. Mole.
In Batman Begins… when he head-butts Falcons, something white bounces away from between them… I have analyzed it to death. Is it a cotton ball? A ping pong ball? Cocaine? WHAT IS IT????
Also the mole by Christian Bales right eye.
7. Whaaaa.
Just how many films made the past 15 years or so all use orange and teal as their default colour scheme for scenes.
6. Mind blown.
Once you learn how to read, you can’t stop.
5. As if they weren’t long enough already.
Every single medication commercial is slightly slowed down
4. omg stop.
Bodybuilders look like a normal guy coming out of a muscular guy’s neck.
3. I am not looking this up.
The Stormtrooper who bops his head in A New Hope.
2. Forgetting this, too.
f you go to the movie theater, there’s a little green laser dot on the screen that I think is used to line up the projector with the screen. It’s really tiny, but once you notice it you won’t stop looking at it
I’ve been at concerts and wondered whether artists die a little inside as they’re forced to perform their biggest hit night after night, even after they’ve grown and matured and moved on as a creator in the intervening years.
I mean…it’s probably hard for Billy Joel to hate Piano Man, since it’s still literally paying dividends, but he’s got to be tired of singing it, right?
Well, it turns out I’m not wrong – these 8 musicians would be thrilled to never hear or sing their greatest hit ever again.
8. Radiohead (Creep)
Thom Yorke called the song “crap” and still refuses to sing it regularly in live performances, while guitarist Jonny Greenwood says he tries to sabotage it when they do trot it out by “hitting the guitar hard – really hard.”
When one fan yelled out requesting it at a Montreal show, Yorke replied, “F*ck off, we’re tired of it.”
So there you go.
7. Flock of Seagulls (I Ran So Far Away)
Frontman Mike Score said on VH1’s 100 Greatest Songs of the 80s that he loathes the song, and performing it.
“Every time I perform live, everyone just wants to hear ‘I Ran.’ I’m sick of it.”
6. Led Zeppelin (Stairway to Heaven)
Robert Plant pledged to donate to an Oregon radio station that refused to play the song, one he refers to as “that bloody wedding song.” The group even avoided a reunion simply because he’d had it with playing that particular song.
“I’d break out in hives if I had to sing that song in every show,” he said in 1988. And when the band played a concert in 2008, he demanded it not be the finale, and also for guitarist Jimmy Page to “restrain himself from turning the song into an even more epic solo-filled noodle.”
I can’t help but giggle a bit at that one.
5. John Cougar Mellencamp (Jack & Diane)
In a 2008 interview, Mellencamp admitted he was “a little weary of those two,” but he does recognize that the song made his career.
“I’ve been able to live on my whims, that’s what Jack and Diane gave me. So I can’t hate them too much.”
4. Madonna (Like a Virgin)
In a 2008 interview, Madonna admitted “I’m not sure I can sing ‘Holiday’ or ‘Like a Virgin’ ever again. I just can’t, unless somebody paid me, like, $30 million or something.”
Just a year later, she said that just hearing the song by happenstance rubs her the wrong way. “For some reason people think that when you go to a restaurant or you are going shopping that you want to hear one of your own songs. It’s usually ‘Like a Virgin,’ and that is the one I don’t want to hear.”
3. Oasis (Wonderwall)
Liam Gallagher praised Oasis’ final album for lacking anything akin to the huge hit, telling MTV “I can’t f*cking stand that f*cking song! Every time I have to sing it I want to gag. You go to America, and they’re like: ‘Are you Mr. Wonderwall?’ You want to chin someone.”
2. Beastie Boys (Fight For Your Right)
They’ve said directly that the song “sucks” (in the liner notes for their 1999 greatest hits album) and dislike it largely because of a lost sense of its intended irony.
“The only thing that upsets me,” says Mike D, “is that we may have reinforced certain values of some people in our audience when our own values were actually totally different.”
1. REM (Shiny Happy People)
The 1991 hit isn’t near and dear to lead singer Michael Stipe’s heart – he said in 1995 “I hate that song,” and even though he’s tempered that statement since, still maintains that it has “limited appeal” and that the entire band agreed to leave it off their Greatest Hits album.
You don’t want to bite the hand that feeds you, but as an artist, I can see how it’s hard to be forced to keep looking back when all you want is to move forward. I know that the first novels I wrote feel like practice tests, now!
Do you think it’s selfish and dumb to hate your “best song?” Let us know in the comments!
First off, I think this would be a great movie. Secondly, who do you think you would pick if you were posed with this question:
“If the headline “Celebrity outed as serial killer” appeared, who would you expect it to be about?
AskReddit users offered up their opinions. I can’t wait to dig into these!
Share your thoughts in the comments!
1. Prime suspect
“It almost pains me to say this because he is one of if not the best actors in the world, but Daniel Day-Lewis. The man protects his privacy extremely well. Doesn’t do a lot of movies (retired now) and stays as clean as possible. He is the prime guy.”
2. No way!
“Bill Murray.
“No one will ever believe you.”
turns to walk away
“You’ll never have the chance to tell them.”
3. Not a good legacy
“I hope that Tom Hanks dies peacefully in his sleep at a grand old age, with an untarnished history and nothing but funny stories about colleagues and strangers he helped and made happy.
And then they go to clear out the basement of his mansion and just find hundreds and hundreds of human heads in various states of decay.”
4. Say it ain’t so
“Carrot Top.”
5. A killer trifecta
“The first names that popped in my head were Tom Cruise, John Travolta, and Jim Carrey.”
6. A disturbed dick…
“Andy Dick… the dude is f*cking disturbed. Oh… he’s also a dick.”
7. I hope not. One of my favorite directors…
“David Fincher. Between Se7en, Zodiac, Mindhunter, and the rest of his entire filmography, he really seems fascinated with compelling serial killers, sociopaths, and psychopaths. The performances of these characters are always unique, captivating, and unnerving.
They have an air of authenticity to them. Fincher makes some great films, and I’m not seriously suggesting the dude’s a serial killer, but he’s probably the only famous person I can think of where, upon being revealed as a serial killer, a common first reaction would be, “…Yeah okay, that explains a lot.”
8. Might not be a stretch?
“Quentin Tarantino… just cause.”
9. It’s all in the eyes
“The Olsen twins. They got some menacing eyes.”
10. I think you’re right on the money
“There’s a distinct lack of female celebrities on this list. I definitely think Tilda Swinton could murder us all one day.”
11. Insane if he wants to
“Nic Cage. Have you seen the memes about the Ghost Rider movies having zero CGI and that it was all him? He can be insane if he wants to.”
12. A true villain
“Elon Musk is one face scar away from being a James Bond villain.”
13. Good old Woody
“Woody Allen. Anyone who marries their wife’s adopted young daughter is seriously creepy.”
14. Look at the track record
“Brad Pitt. If a man can leave both Angelina Jolie AND Jennifer Anniston he’s capable of anything.”
15. Can’t put my finger on it…
“Definitely Katy Perry. Something is off about her.”
Those of us who grew up in suburbia probably have a lot of positive associations with the smell of fresh-cut grass. It’s summer, we’re playing outside, our dads are home on the weekends – maybe all of the above. Even now, catching a whiff may cause us to stop, take a deep breath, and smile.
But what if I told you the smell is the result of thousands of blades of grass in distress, working fervently to heal themselves without rot setting in before it’s too late.
Yeah. Makes you think about that whole vegan thing, doesn’t it?
It turns out that when leafy green plants are harmed, they release organic compounds known as green leaf volatiles that help form new cells that heal wounds faster, prevent bacterial infection and fungal growth (sort of like plant antibiotics), and produce compounds that prevent further damage.
They also can serve as distress signals, which some believe leads to questions about a form of language meant to warn others about potential harm.
While some of these emissions help oxygenate the atmosphere, others could pollute the air by contributing to photochemical smog in urban areas – really, the jury is out on that.
Some people need a full eight hours of sleep to function no matter what, while others seem to be able to go go go with less than six hours of solid sack time. The latter like to brag about their ability as if it’s something they’ve trained for, or a reason to think themselves a superior human, but what is it about their makeup, really, that leaves them able to function with so few zzz’s?
Neurologists from the University of California San Francisco think they’ve isolated a gene that could directly impact how much a person has to sleep to feel good.
The findings, published in Neuron, show that people with a single-letter gene mutation seem to be able to function well on six hours of sleep or less without suffering any of the adverse heath effects associated with too little time under the covers.
Whereas people without the mutation wake up moody, tired, and subject to the other nasty side effects of sleeping less than six hours a night.
Study author Louis Ptacek explained more in a statement:
“It’s remarkable that we know so little about sleep, given that the average person spends a third of their lives doing it. This research is an exciting new frontier that allows us to dissect the complexity of circuits in the brain and the different types of neurons that contribute to sleep and wakefulness.”
Interestingly, this isn’t the only gene that’s been linked to requiring less sleep – one called DEC2 also typically means a person averages 6.25 hours of sleep per night, as opposed to the 8.06 hours averaged by the people who do not posses the mutation.
This new gene exists in people without the previously known mutation, and it appears to affect neurons and their level of activity in the brain region that controls stages of sleep.
When the mutated gene was engineered into mice, the ones with the new gene mutation not only slept less, but were more active both when they were awake, and when they were in REM sleep. So it seems the mutation affected their circadian rhythms, says Ptacek.
“Sleep is complicated. We don’t think there’s one gene or one region of the brain that’s telling our bodies to sleep or wake. This is only one of many parts.”
One of many parts that I clearly don’t have. Le sigh…
Let’s just dive right in to this story: a large underwater observatory has mysteriously gone missing. It was on the seafloor, and now it’s not. Nobody knows why.
The Boknis Eck Observatory has been on the seafloor off the northern coast of Germany since December 2016. It’s managed by GEOMAR Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research Kiel and the Helmholtz Center Geesthacht.
For almost three years, the observatory collected information about water temperature, nutrients, salinity, the speed of water flow, and concentrations of chlorophyll and methane.
But on August 21, transmissions from the observatory suddenly stopped. Divers went down to the site to investigate what went wrong, and they discovered that the entire structure had disappeared except for a shredded transmission cable, Gizmodo reports.
An underwater laboratory disappeared one night last month, and scientists have no idea what happened. https://t.co/EPR3bTHeJg
Sure, it could be an accident. But officials think it’s more likely that someone intentionally removed the observatory, because the structure is so large and heavy that natural causes (such as a storm or animals) couldn’t possibly move it.
But who would steal an underwater observatory? And why?! For now, it remains a mystery. German police are now investigating the incident, and the scientists have asked anyone who knows anything to come forward.
The instrument, located off Germany’s Baltic coast, cost more than $330,000. But its data was ‘priceless,’ one expert said. https://t.co/YHsUOA5rBA
“[At] first we thought of a transmission error,” Hermann Bange, project coordinator for the Boknis Eck Observatory, said in a GEOMAR statement. Then the diving mission revealed that the problem was much larger. “The devices were gone, the divers could not find them anymore. When the divers reached the bottom of the sea last week at the observatory’s location, they found only the torn off land cable. It was completely shredded,” Hermann said.
If you’ve ever done the laundry of a teenaged boy, then you’re probably aware that the smell can get pretty rank, but hospitalization via stinky socks?
Read on, my friends.
A 37-year-old man from southeast China went to the hospital experiencing chest pains. There, he was admitted and given X-rays to determine the cause of his pain, as well as a cough he couldn’t seem to shake.
The diagnosis? A fungal infection deep in his lungs.
It took doctors some time to deduce the cause, and they were only able to do so after the man admitted to a habit (addiction?) of sniffing his dirty socks after they’d just come off his feet.
Feet that, it turns out, were harboring a fungus. Which they then transferred to his socks. Which he then sniffed.
A fungal infection he’d developed on his feet was transferred to his lungs when he smelled his socks, taking in some of the fungal spores (microscopic particles that allow fungi to reproduce and disperse) as he did so.
A post shared by Matt Berger (@sheriff_woody_pct) on
The questionable habit, combined with a weakened immune system due to life and parenting, contributed to the seriousness of the incident, according to doctors.
The patient had to spend some time in the hospital, but is expected to make a full recovery – as long as he can find a new hobby.
No one really warns you that eating only crappy food could cost you one of your five precious senses.
The teen – who, sadly, was living with parents and not on the street – had subsisted on fries, Pringles, white bread, and the occasional slice of processed ham for years. Not surprisingly, he started experiencing medical issues at the age of 14.
His parents brought him to the doctor, who found that his hearing problems were due to poor vitamin intake.
“His diet was essentially a portion of chips from the local fish and chip shop every day. He also used to snack on crisps – Pringles – and sometimes slices of white bread and occasional slices of ham, and not really any fruit and vegetables.”
He was diagnosed with a vitamin B12 deficiency. B12 is found in fish, meat, dairy, and eggs, and it is essential for proper brain function, forming red blood cells and new DNA, proteins, hormones, and fat. Doctors provided him with supplements, but recommended a diet change.
Eventually, they conceded that he was more than just a “fussy eater” and diagnosed an eating disorder called Arfid – avoidant restrictive food intake disorder. The disorder causes people to limit their food based on appearance, texture, presentation, taste, or past negative experience. People who suffer from Arfid often also have anxiety and will limit their food to the point that it affects their health, without intervention.
At 17, he returned to the doctor complaining of vision loss, and admitted he had quit taking his supplements. His original doctor said, “He had blind spots right in the middle of his vision. That means he can’t drive and would find it really difficult to read, watch TV, or discern faces.”
His eyesight had deteriorated quickly and was past the point of recovering through treatment. According to his mother, he showed no other obvious signs of poor health along the way. “He has always been skinny so we had no weight concerns. You hear about junk food and obesity all the time – but he was as thin as a rake.”
The boy was severely malnourished, suffering a catastrophic loss of minerals from his bones and has been referred to mental health services to treat his eating disorder.
“They said it was all in his head. By the time they realised what was wrong it was too late to save his sight. The whole ordeal has been very traumatic. I want to scream about what we have gone through.”
I mean, now I want to scream about parents who don’t realize that diet could cause problems for a child in their care, so I guess we’re all traumatized here.
If you have young kids, then you know that their thirst for knowledge is basically unquenchable. They ask “why” countless times a day and want to know how everything works (and why) and ask questions from dawn until dusk…
It’s kind of exhausting.
This dad found that his four-year-old daughter was no different from anyone else’s, and every night at bedtime, she asked for a new and interesting fact.
He quickly ran out of ideas on his own and turned to Reddit, who totally delivered.