The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) defines slack-fill as the difference between the size of a container and the volume of product contained therein. And while the agency does try to hunt down the misleading ones that do not allow the consumer to fully view its contents, every potato chips lover would tell you that they still hit the shelves.

Luckily, there’s the r/NonFunctionSlackFill subreddit that works hard to expose them — its 49.1K members regularly share pictures of packages looking like they were intentionally designed to lure away our money. Continue scrolling to check out the most infuriating examples.

#1 Biggest Letdown I’ve Had In A While

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We got in touch with one of the moderators of the subreddit and, judging from the chat we had, the community is pretty civil and inclusive too.

“Most of the work I do is [just] removing things that aren’t actually nonfunctional slack fill, like packaging for medical products,” they told Bored Panda.

“A wide variety of products are posted here, but I see candy and beauty/hygiene products posted most often,” the moderator added.

#2 Only Function Here Is To Trick You Into Thinking It’s A Bottle

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#3 Buoyancy

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According to Nina van Toulon, the initiator of the Indonesian Platform for Prevention and Management of Waste, some slack-fill is needed.

“One valid reason for functional slack-fill is product protection,” she explained. “Good examples are packages filled with chips or cookies. The extra space prevents damage to the product by outside pressure, without this empty space, your product would crumble.”

“Another valid reason is avoiding product loss due to spilling when opening the package,” she added.

#4 This Bamboozling Package

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#5 Bath Bombs

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Another reason is called settling. “Some products fill up a package at production time and the product ‘settles’ to a lower level inside the packaging over time, for example, flour.”

“[One more] technical reason is the closing process of the packaging after it is filled in a production line,” van Toulon continued. “There needs to be an allowance of extra material to seal the packaging properly, which in some cases (and depending on the type of packaging) results in some empty space.”

#6 Why Do You Have To Play Me Like That?

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#7 Not Buying This Kind Of Box From Michaels Again

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#8 Does This Count?

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#9 I Know Popcorn Is Mostly Air, But

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However, as we can see, sometimes there’s simply too much slack-fill. “Non-functional slack-fill is a neglected topic. Publications on regulating slack-fill [are] scarce and U.S. lawsuits are mostly related to misleading consumers and not to the unnecessary use of materials, of which the majority of certain packaging materials is not effectively being recycled,” van Toulon said.

#10 This “Box” Of Beef Jerky

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#11 A Yard Of Snickers. Sorry, But I Tore Out The Cardboard Flaps That Kept Them Centered

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#12 The Solar Panel Of My Flashlight Came Off And Reveals A Block Of Concrete To Make It Feel More Well-Built And Heavy

Image credits: hitmannumber862

#13 Why Is This Not Illegal

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One reason why we see so much of it, according to the expert, boils down to the producers trying to create a feeling of “more value for your money.”

“Consumers need to rely on the amount of grams or pieces printed on the packaging when the product is … in non-transparent packaging,” van Toulon highlighted. “When the number of pieces is mentioned, it is clear what you get for your money.”

Another reason why companies do this is trying to stand taller than their competitors’ products on the store shelves.

#14 Sales Genius

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#15 Coloring Book For My Son

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#16 An Airport Sandwich At Its Finest!

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#17 This Jumbo Tube Is Only Filled To The Letter E

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#18 2/5 Away

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#19 I Get That Samples Are Samples, But What A Waste Of Plastic

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#20 You Can Probably Imagine My Daughter’s Disappointment When We Opened Up This Crayola “Super Art Tub”

Image credits: arka80

The packages we see in the pictures should be downsized not only because it misleads the buyers. “The unnecessary and excessive use of packaging aggravates the climate, waste and plastic pollution crises, at all stages from resource extraction, production, distribution, transport in collection systems, landfilling, incineration, and recycling,” van Toulon said.