We live in a such a weird time when influence is queen, and we’re constantly being shilled to. I shill you guys some stuff, definitely. But I do my damndest to keep it at a minimum and also keep things very real (see: my TIBAR letters). I will say, though, I think the shilling has gotten better overall. That is, I think you (the consumer) got a lot wiser and can better differentiate between someone just trying to make quick money on products they don’t give a fuck about versus someone who, yes, wants to make money from sales, but also genuinely loves what they’re advertising.
Anyway, with the rise of the influencer over the past few years, I’ve basically come to the conclusion that any super popular product to the point of viral-dom is usually bullshit, but I wanted to test out of my theory a few months ago by asking my Instagram followers the same question. That is,
What viral products have you tried and hated?
Y’all delivered the goods on the bads and, today, I’m sharing the most-mentioned viral products that the general “you” immediately regretted falling for. I have a top 10 list for you followed by my reactions to each, followed by several honorable mentions, and I can’t say any of them are that shocking.