In a recent viral Reddit post, someone asked, “What was meant for kids but adult consumers hijacked it and ruined it?” Thousands of suggestions poured in from people keen to discuss the ruinous impact of adult intervention! Here are 12 of the top responses (and what others had to say about them).
12. “Toy collecting.”
“Just grown adults creating a giant industry that produces nothing but landfill bait.”
“Without adults the toy market is pretty small these days. Adults make up 40% of toy sales. I know adults buy most things but I mean they are buying for themselves 40% of the time.”
“Collecting for investment is the issue. I buy Lego sets and build them. It’s a way for me to relax and enjoy my time off work. The issue is people who are collecting as an investment rather than a passion.”
11. “Beanie baby collectors.”
“I remember when it all got do crazy. I worked next door to a Hallmark store and there was a group of older ladies that waited at the door every release day. They were only allowed to buy 2 of each and they always knew the names of them. They’d often bring extra people if they wanted more than the limit. It was insanity!”
“I have a client with a giant curio cabinet. It’s probably 6’x4′ filled with beanie babies. They’re probably in their 70’s. Which means they were already in their 50’s by the time beanie babies came out.”
10. “Minions.”
“I remain baffled as to how and why minions, of all things, became the thing of choice for unfunny boomer memes.”
“Always the weird lady in the office with a desk full of them.”
“At the first Royal Show (like a state fair) after the pandemic lockdowns my city put on a special event to honour the essential workers who’d kept everything running. It was a minion parade.”
9. “Facebook.”
“[It] was meant for college kids.”
“It’s so funny seeing shows and movies where teenagers and young adults use Facebook. Nowadays the only people on Facebook are 40+.”
“I know Zuckerberg gets (and deserves) a lot of clowning, but believe me he did not intend for his user base to graduate and stop using the product. From the moment Facebook started showing signs of commercial potential, they knew that all ages of people would use it and the high school / college crowd was just the starting point.”
8. “Every card hobby.”
“It’s literally just about prices now.”
“As a Yu-Gi-Oh enjoyer I thoroughly agree, although it’s always been about prices for the rare cards but there are a lot more flippers than ever before.”
“Sports cards have been that way for a loooong time. IMO the card market we have now was birthed by the 1989 UD Griffey rookie. IIRC that’s the time when card companies started putting out more premium sets aimed specifically at adults.”
7. “Young adult books.”
“I’m an adult that reads them. But the characters are TEENAGERS. People get upset that teenagers act like teenagers, in books targeted at… you guessed it, teenagers.”
“I’m always amused by goodreads reviews on YA books where they’re like “the characters were immature!” Well yeah…They’re like, 13. That’s actually part of why I like YA. Characters make dumb decisions but it’s part of their growth and they come out better for it.”
6. “Childhood.”
“Parents who film their kid’s lives for likes and subs are [awful].”
“We really ought to pass a law about monetization of childhood. It shouldn’t be lucrative to milk your children’s lives at their expense.”
“Oh god, I hate those “family” YouTube channels where everything is super staged, rehearsed & obnoxious. The kids are treated like circus animals.”
5. “Trix.”
“When I was a kid I felt so bad for that rabbit. I still don’t understand the idea behind that marketing campaign. Was it- being greedy and mean is hilarious. Buy our cereal?”
“There is a breakfast cereal called Trix that used to run ads featuring a rabbit that would try to have some Trix, and these two children would always take the rabbit’s cereal away, and the tagline was ‘Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids!’”
4. “The word daddy.”
“My grandma had tons of black and white musicals where the women constantly called the men daddy. And then the men called the woman baby. Judy Garland and Fred Astaire era, I don’t know when that was, the 1940’s. It confused me as a kid.”
“I’ve actually heard people who say they judge adults that call their fathers “daddy”, including ones who live in places where, culturally speaking, it’s more likely to happen. It’s ridiculous that we’re judging people for using a word how it was intended because someone decided to use it as a part of their kink.”
3. “My Little Pony.”
“I watched it with my sister growing up. At one point we watched a video of a comic con or some such panel. A bunch of sweaty dudes were asking questions one after another. Then the sweetest little girl who was being encouraged by her dad stepped up to the microphone and very timidly (but bravely) asked about one of her favorite characters. The scoffing and jeers coming from the crowd for the little girl not already knowing some fandom trivia was disgusting.”
“I have a friend who does one of the voices in the cartoon and she has stalkers – some that are in love with her and ones that want to kill her because they don’t like how she does the voice. People are crazy.”
2. “Pokemon cards.”
“Scalpers were so horrendous they were raiding McDonald’s during the pandemic.”
“I remember in 2021 going to target to get a few packs for my kids, and there was a little line in front of the card section; three kids and a sloppy dude in his 20s. I asked what was going on and they said they were waiting for the Pokemon cards to be shelved, and the guy said he didn’t know why they were waiting, he was first and he wasn’t leaving anything behind. I was flabbergasted but that was apparently common practice for scalpers.”
1. “Youth Sports”
“When I was a kid 30 years ago, you’d have a practice or 2 a week, plus a game on Saturday. Then, if you loved sports, you’d get together with buddies in your ample free time and mess around playing super fun pick-up games. Now, many kids are having full weekend tournaments like every weekend. And tons of practices. They rarely have the free time to just play with their friends for the fun of it. Sure they are better athletes than we were, but are they better off?”
“Totally agree. I remember doing dance class like once a week with a recital once a year, super fun and made so many friends. I’m trying to sign my daughter up now and it’s 3 days a week plus practice at home, hundreds of dollars of professional leotards…and she’s three years old.”
MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS COMING UP:
10 Things Frowned Upon Today That Were Normal in the Nineties
You could get away with all sorts back in the nineties that’d wouldn’t go down well in today’s world! Here are 10 such things you might remember.
10 THINGS FROWNED UPON TODAY THAT WERE NORMAL IN THE NINETIES
10 Typical Nineties Scenarios That Today’s Youth Will Never Understand
Bedrooms were filled with Beanie Babies, Nickelodeon was forever on TV, and your biggest responsibility was remembering to feed your Tamagotchi. Here are 10 everyday Nineties scenarios kids today will never experience.
10 TYPICAL NINETIES SCENARIOS THAT TODAY’S YOUTH WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND
10 Things Folks From the Nineties and Earlier Did Before Bed (According to the Internet)
What did people in the 90s do before going to bed? After all, they didn’t have a smartphone to stare at! Here are 10 pre-bedtime preferences from the nineties, as voted for by people online.
10 THINGS FOLKS FROM THE NINETIES AND EARLIER DID BEFORE BED (ACCORDING TO THE INTERNET)
10 Common Nineties Meals That Kids These Days Will Never Know
Child of the nineties or earlier? Are there any meals you used to eat all the time back then that you never see anymore? Here are 10 that might ring a bell.
10 COMMON NINETIES MEALS THAT KIDS THESE DAYS WILL NEVER KNOW
10 Fascinating Facts You’ve Almost Certainly Never Seen Before
Here’s the second instalment of this popular series, where we pull together 10 of the most popular facts from the “Today I Learned” Reddit community from the last week.
10 FASCINATING FACTS YOU’VE ALMOST CERTAINLY NEVER SEEN BEFORE
Source: Reddit.