‘Dystopia’ is usually a word that is used to refer to an imaginary place where the world seems to have gone completely sour, bad and generally unpleasant.
The hit series ‘Black Mirror’ is a perfect example of how a dystopian world can look, but it turns out that there are plenty of real-life examples of this as well. Some things really don’t make any sense at all, and it’s both sad and terrifying to see.
Although it’s definitely important to never lose faith in humanity, these photographs and images are a perfect showcase of how dystopian our society and world can be sometimes. It’ll definitely make you look at things from a different angle.
1) Top visits to explore…
… before they disappear. At first glance, this looks like your average travel guide showing all of the nice places you can travel to, but the reality is much more distressing. These 100 incredible places are about to disappear due to climate change. Some of these tropical islands, for example, will simply submerge below sea level.
Not even fortune cookies are safe anymore! Instead of a traditional saying, the person who opened this fortune cookie got an advertisement for a credit card company instead. Well, at least this nifty commercial is related to fortune.
Even though it’s meant to have a comedy effect and many people would agree that this is a brilliant piece of marketing work, you can’t help but think that there’s some harsh truth hidden in this ad. If they’re aiming towards millennials, mission succeeded.
4) For famous people only
Influencers and social media celebrities are already the subjects of much controversy, and this mural in Los Angeles doesn’t exactly make things any better. You can take a picture with the mural as a background – but only if you’re a verified influencer or have more than 20,000 followers on your social media. How far we’ve come…
5) All that work for nothing
A community in Toronto was thrilled to finally get a brand new community garden, but there was one thing that still needed to be done: a stair for seniors. The city council told the community that the costs for such as stair would be at least $65,000. Surprised by the exuberant amount, a local handyman decided to build the staircase for a much lower price instead. Unfortunately, the city tore it down because it didn’t comply with code and regulations.
In the end, a stair could be placed by the city for the price of $10,000.
Of course, any donations towards a good cause should be encouraged, but in this case, it appears that the ones responsible haven’t really given this much thought. For every purchase of a stupendously large jug of soda, this KFC restaurant would donate a dollar to the JDRF – the juvenile diabetes research foundation.
7) Distasteful advertising
Shooting incidents are absolutely horrible and cowardly, and even though the placement of this ad is likely just a mistake or an oversight, it’s quite shocking nonetheless. A sticker promoting a local gun show was put on top of a newspaper headline that reads: “Shock, anger after shooting.”
8) Marketing at its finest
Great, humoristic marketing or just plain distasteful? The opinions on Ford’s new marketing campaign for the high-performance (and expensive) Shelby GT350R have been mixed, to say the least. Instead of supporting your children in their educational career, they’re implying that spending the money on a sports car is obviously the better choice.
9) Brand names at a young age
Where were the days of teaching toddlers how to read with the first letter of an object? This school decided to use brand names instead and has decided to expose those to the children at such a young age. People are concerned that children will associate the letters with those companies for the entirety of their lives, and rightfully so.
Luckily, tons of companies are doing their best to reduce their plastic waste nowadays. Starbucks, for example, has banned the use of plastic straws and has adopted a more drink-friendly cup instead. The slogan for this plastic company, however, is definitely remarkable. We’re pretty sure that nature did not intend for tons of plastic waste negatively impacting our environment.
11) For display purposes only
The person who posted this picture on the internet was absolutely stunned. “How can we decorate our lobby to look refined while still being utterly devoid of character?” the photographer rightfully noted. Books are made for reading? Not over here, it seems.
Someone decided to paint the words ‘Life is beautiful’ in huge letters on a large mural, but it ended up being the background of a rather delicate photograph. We see a group of men being apprehended by the police right in front of the inspiring and uplifting phrase. Oh, the irony.
This tweet has gone viral for all the right reasons. A concerned parent shared just how much YouTube can affect our kids’ lives. “My friend’s toddler babbled ‘don’t forget to subscribe’ as he was put to bed,” he tweeted. “Kid watches so much YouTube he thought it means ‘goodbye’. Limiting online screen time for children, especially toddlers, definitely seems important now.
The conflict in Afghanistan is obviously still ongoing, but it looks like the press isn’t all that interested in the fact that we’re at war and have been for seventeen years now. At an Afghanistan briefing in the Pentagon, only four journalists showed up. “It’s just old news,” people might think.
At this conference, the attendants were asked to unfollow three of their friends on Facebook ‘whose posts do not honor Christ’. Some people have rightfully noted that forcing to cut people off from non-believers feels like cult behavior.
16) “Shareholders get leftovers”
American Airlines has decided last year that it would give all of its pilots and flight attendants a raise. Positive news, you might think? The investors were appalled by the thought and were frustrated and convinced that they were just ‘getting the leftovers’.
An official survey asking people their opinion on President Trump’s performance in the Oval Office has a few interesting choice options, and all of them are positive. In other words, you won’t find any negative options to choose from and can only state the job performance as ‘Great’, ‘Good’, ‘Okay’ or simply ‘Other’.
Unfortunately, due to recent shootings in schools, messages, and posts like these are getting more and more common. Law enforcement can’t take any chances and has to treat anyone who has a ‘surprise’ in store for school with the utmost caution, just like what happened here. A teen posted a message on Snapchat saying that he would surprise everyone at school, referring to his new haircut. The police were notified about the message and thought that he had malicious intent.
The Gulf of Mexico is known for its oil rigs and has made the news in 2010 with a massive Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill, causing significant harm to the local aquatic wildlife. It’s a bit ironic and sad to see all of these oil companies as sponsors showcasing the very thing that they’re threatening.
20) Giving meds without consent
It has recently been brought to Judge Dolly Gee’s attention that the US Government has been giving psychotropic medicine to migrant children without their consent. Luckily, this judge is putting in the efforts to make an end to that – but it’s absolutely incredible that this is happening in the first place.
Coincidence or not, President’s Trump tweet after a mass shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas has definitely been the source of major controversy and criticism. The tweet is exactly the same as the one he sent after another national shooting, only the city has been altered.
22) The power of advertising
All these kinds of specific and personal advertisement methods can definitely be a bit scary sometimes, to say the least. This Facebook Messenger integration is able to understand the context of your chats and will serve fitting ads or information automatically – without asking.
23) President’s endorsement
President Donald Trump has recently promoted Jeanine Pirro’s new book in the Oval Office accompanied by a whole lot of attention from the press. It turns out that this kind of presidential endorsement is actually illegal, but it happens anyway.
24) Scaring away the homeless
Finding a place to sleep is anything but an easy task for as a homeless person, especially if you want to be somewhat comfortable. In some cities, anti-homeless measures are being taken such as the one shown in the image. Benches and areas under bridges are being outfitted with retractable spikes, to prevent homeless from sleeping there.
On this Instagram-page, nine ‘creative’ methods are shown to help you pay your rent when you’ve got no more blood plasma to sell. Of course, donating blood is a very noble thought – but insinuating that you’re selling your bodily fluids to pay the rent? Some might think that’s a step too far.
26) Teachers shouldn’t rely on talk shows
It’s no secret that plenty of schools don’t have sufficient funds to make sure all of their students have decent supplies. Classrooms are often in need of tons of necessary items. It’s a bit of a shame that nowadays, it seems like you need to be on a talk show in order to be gifted school supplies.
27) Healthcare summed up in one picture
This picture was taken two years ago in Croatia and according to the photographer, refers to how the American Healthcare system works. We see an injured man being transported on a stretcher by paramedics, withdrawing money from a local ATM implying that healthcare is only for those who can afford it.
28) A strange combination
This aggressive-looking barbed wire fence has been altered with some festive Christmas lights, but it’s a rather strange combination to see nonetheless. If there’s one place where you don’t expect to see Christmas lights, it’s on barbed wire.
29) No dissatisfied customers allowed
The concept may be cool, but actually executing it is another thing. This sliding door in Ajman, United Arab Emirates, will only open if a sensor can detect a smile. The best part? This door is placed at the Public Transport Corporation, meaning that you simply can’t even walk out of there dissatisfied, although the crew promises to help open the door in case that happens.
30) What a generous break
Some natural events occur so rarely that they’re dubbed as ‘once in a lifetime’ events, such as one of the recent full solar eclipses. A note in a McDonald’s restaurant said that its crew wouldn’t be able to take orders for a full three minutes, to allow the employees to see the eclipse.
31) Immediate fining via facial recognition
In a number of areas in Shenzhen, China, facial recognition is being used for something that we would call a massive breach of privacy. Jaywalkers are immediately identified by high-definition cameras and facial recognition technology. Subsequently, the jaywalkers are immediately sent their fine via text. Impressive? Definitely. Scary? Absolutely.
Computer chips are always getting smaller and smaller – and we’ve now reached a point where we’re able to implant chips directly underneath our skin. These microchips are then used for authentification purposes. Instead of using a phone, a magnetic card or even a smart bracelet, this company has decided to embed these identification chips in their employees instead. The kicker? They apparently love the idea.
This is a perfect showcase of a contrast that is so striking it’s terrifying. This advertisement for the Trump Tower in Mumbai is definitely an eye-catcher, but what’s more striking is the clear sign of poverty in the streets where the ad is displayed on. Turns out that there isn’t only one way to live.
After a cash withdrawal, this Twitter-user noticed that the back of the receipt had some strange slogans imprinted on it. “Cash is freedom, cash is social, cash is control,” the ticket says. The Twitter-user can only describe it as the “most dystopian bloody thing”, and judging by the number of likes on the tweet, it looks like many people agree.
35) Absolute freedom of choice
Complying with your workplace’s dress code is one thing, but pretending that your employees have ‘a lot of freedom’ is slightly exaggerated, to say the least. As you can see in the image, the only dress-code compliant colors you can wear on the job are a couple of tints of blue – that’s it.
School shootings are absolutely horrendous, and even the thought that you’re invited to watch it happening live is absolutely terrifying. “Active shooter at Florida high school, 20+ people shot, WATCH LIVE” the online newspaper headline reads.
These days, it’s almost completely unavoidable: we are always connected, whether we like it or not. A survey by Microsoft has shown some interesting results about working at times you shouldn’t be working: such as during your meal, during a child’s event or even in the bathroom. Time to disconnect!
Even though this is a headline for a satirical news site, the post has gone viral due to the controversial topic of massive student loan debts. “Yay! This millennial got hit by a city bus and finally pay off her student loans,” the satirical post reads. Turns out that for many, it was an eye-opener.
“You don’t need therapy. You just need a new car,” is the slogan that is found on a couple of buses, and it’s almost as if they’re making fun of people who are in need of therapy. And it doesn’t stop there: “We’ll drive you happy” is another one of their catchphrases.
40) Kurt Cobain’s suicide note on a t-shirt
Kurt Cobain took his own life back in 1994 and wrote a suicide note, that is still somewhat mysterious. Some people have taken the handwritten words of Nirvana’s frontman and decided to paste them on a t-shirt. Suicide notes as a fashion item is apparently a thing now.
As you can see in these 35+ examples above, our current society can definitely be described as a bit of a dystopia sometimes. Some of these could come straight out an episode of Black Mirror or are simply deemed to be unthinkable, while others are so scary that they make you realize privacy is becoming more and more scarce. Food for thought!
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