More often than not these days, when you buy something, you don’t actually see it until it shows up in front of you. Online shopping, food delivery and questionable listings all sometimes remind us why buyers have to be aware.
So we’ve put together a list of some of the best posts from the “Expectations Vs Reality” online group showcasing the times folks didn’t get what they expected. So settle in as you scroll through, upvote your favorites and be sure to share your own thoughts and experiences in the comments section down below.
#1 Ordered The Blanket From A Sketchy Seeming Website. They Nailed It!
Image credits: ezfriedchiken
#2 My Daughter's Birthday Cake From Last Year
Image credits: Awnya
#3 The Way We Advertise Our Jack-O-Lantern Pizzas vs. The Way I Like To Make Them For Customers
Image credits: ArcusArtifex
Comedy rises and falls on surprise, and nothing surprises more than the gap between what we think will happen and what happens. That is why "What I ordered vs. What I got" pictures are a staple of the internet, especially in the fields of online retailing and quick eats. Basically, these images work because they use one of the oldest devices in comedy, the breaking of expectations.
When you hit "buy now" online, you're buying a promise of a sort. That seductive picture of a flowing gown that will slide like silk, the fast food advertisement with a burger heaped high with inexplicably fresh lettuce, or the sleek device that appears to have been ripped from a sci-fi movie, the entire experience forms a mental picture.
#4 The Birthday Cake My Wife Made For Our Daughter
Image credits: MiningForNoseGold
#5 This Patch I Ordered Off Amazon
Image credits: Chsrmsy
#6 I Got This Ice Cream Bar From A 7 Eleven Store In Tokyo And It Was Exactly The Same As In Picture. Plus It Was Delicious!
Image credits: laleli_lolu
Comedy, though, runs into disaster when reality knocks on your door and bears no resemblance to the fantasy. That "luxury dress" is made of cheap polyester and fits a kid. The burger is a thin patty hiding in a dismal smear of lettuce. The science-fiction device? A fragile bit of plastic that can't seem to function.
#7 Beauty Products These Days
Image credits: whoaaintitfun
#8 What My Sister Asked For vs. What The Salon Did vs. What My Mom Did After The Salon Disaster
Image credits: reddit.com
#9 These Things Never Work Out, Do They?
Image credits: beroemd
The joke works because the setup is relatable. Everybody has, at some point, been a victim of the gap between marketing and actuality. That common disappointment is turned into laughter when another person records it. Rather than just commiserating about disappointment, people embrace it by making their bad luck entertainment. This makes the subversion more digestible, it's not just about being disappointed, it's about catching the humor in being disappointed.
#10 Creepy
Image credits: reddit.com
#11 Husband Tried To Make A Dolphin For My Cocktail. It's The Cutest Eel I've Ever Seen
Image credits: CharmingtheCobra
#12 Reality Way Better Than Expectation!
Image credits: jenkla
The structure here is almost identical with that of the traditional joke form. The anticipation is the "setup," carefully built with pictures of perfection. The "punchline" is the surprise: a deformed cake, a deformed stuffed animal, or food that looks as if it has been dropped on the floor and then placed on the table. Because the punchline is something that one can view and something that is often enhanced through contrast, it strikes immediately and en masse, no language ability necessary. It's comedy in its most universal sense.
#13 My Friend Bought This Costume Online And I’ve Been Laughing All Day
Image credits: llewellyns
#14 I'm Seriously Impressed By This Frozen Pizza
Image credits: reddit.com
#15 The Top Is Pottery That My Mom Got In Germany, The Bottom Is My Attempt To Make It In My Ceramics Class ://
Image credits: erinflah1
A second way these expectation mismatch posts succeed is through their built-in sincerity. Advertising relies on deception, on exactly choreographed images designed to persuade. "What I got" photos take that away, exposing the rough, disappointing, and hilariously imperfect reality. It's a raw moment in a world of presentation sheen, and truth, when it defies artifice, has always been fertile ground for comedy.
#16 Elsa Cake
Image credits: sweethandz
#17 Merry Christmas Everyone!
Image credits: aggadoo
#18 These Sly, Sly Bastards
Image credits: tacticalBOVINE
There is also a thread of resolve here. Laughter instead of pouting over frustration, and in doing so, reclaiming some control in a situation that otherwise is helpless. You might not be able to return that ugly dress or refund your miserable burger, but you can at least garner some likes, chuckles, and solidarity online.
#19 Some Boots From Amazon
Image credits: Tzl1337
#20 Cute Little Aldi Ice Cream Cones
Image credits: HaiirPeace
#21 What My Mother Ordered vs. What She Got
Image credits: EternalTemple
"What I ordered vs. What I got" works because it universalizes one of the lesser tragedies of life and makes it funny. There's humor in the shock, the surprise no one expects, and there are few surprises more reliable than expecting beauty and receiving anarchy instead. And by embracing difference, the internet has provided us with a kind of humor that's not just actual but long-lasting, since disappointment will always find ways to seep into our lives, and the best way to handle it is usually to laugh.
#22 My Wife's McDonald's Cone In The Drive Through Last Night
Image credits: Eric_SS
#23 Underwater Scene Puzzle My Kids Got
Image credits: wolfdoom
#24 Includes A "Private Balcony." Is Just A View Of The Wall Of The Next Building
Image credits: Jagokoz
#25 I Ordered Bruschetta From My Local Pizza Shop
Image credits: Flyingforme
#26 Nailed It!
Image credits: blind-prostitute
#27 Started Off Carving Edna Ended Up With E.t
Image credits: _Mr_Bungle_
#28 Seafood Bowl In Sapporo Japan
Image credits: caverunner17
#29 My Kid Cried
Image credits: SlugCatt
#30 I Feel Robbed Of My Chocolate
Image credits: Awesomeclaw208
#31 These Cat Socks
Image credits: RapidCrocodile
#32 Tasty Cheese
Image credits: KindlyStreet2183
#33 Latex Thigh Highs Ordered But Got What Seems Like The Case For Sleeping Bags
Image credits: SweetHeatFeet
#34 Minnie Gained Some Weight
Image credits: MrSquid224
#35 Glass Mug
Image credits: Easy_Rate_6938
#36 My Aunt Tried To Make A Cake Of Dolly Parton For A Friend
Image credits: reddit.com
#37 I Bought This Bob Ross Chia Pet . . . These Are Not Happy Trees
Image credits: jhojo90
#38 Ordered A Cake For My Father’s Birthday
Image credits: weryou91
#39 Shirt I Ordered vs. What I Got
Image credits: strikecat18
#40 Well Then
Image credits: boarqing
#41 My Darth Maul Birthday Cake Ate Too Much Cake
Image credits: m00ska
#42 $60 "Professional" Halloween Makeup. I Asked For The Photo On The Left, With Just A Little Fake Blood. On The Right Is What The Makeup Artist Gave Me
Image credits: enukez
#43 Found On Twitter
Image credits: apro1990
#44 Are You Kidding Me
Image credits: drewsoulman
#45 My Son Turned 1 Yesterday. This Was The Topper To His Space Themed Cake
Image credits: Drewlyn
#46 I Asked For A Sugar Photo Bday Cake. I Got A Horrible Hand Drawing Instead
Image credits: tams228
#47 Alien Balloons
Image credits: Insertanamehere9
#48 The Crystal Mug My Boyfriend Ordered Me For Our Anniversary vs. What We Actually Received
Image credits: sleepysphynx
#49 The Mask I Ordered (Left) vs. The Mask I Got (Right)
Image credits: reddit.com
#50 My Wife’s Felting Project
Image credits: MDIT80
