Top 10 Times Terrible Companies Were CAUGHT Lying

#10: Nestlé Baby Formula Scandal (1977)

Few corporate lies have been deadlier than this one. In the 1970s, Nestlé aggressively marketed infant formula in developing countries. They claimed it was healthier and more “modern” than breastfeeding. Sales reps dressed as nurses and handed out free samples, persuading poor mothers to switch. But once the samples ran out, families had to buy expensive formula. Worse, in developing nations they often had to mix it with unsafe water, stretching it too thin. The results were catastrophic: widespread malnutrition, illness, and infant deaths. Advocacy groups launched a global boycott in 1977, accusing Nestlé of putting profits before lives. The scandal forced worldwide changes to the marketing of baby formula; for a generation, it became the textbook example of predatory corporate deceit.

#9: Naked Juice (2016)

Turns out that “all natural” label may not have been so natural after all. In 2016, PepsiCo was hit with lawsuits over its Naked Juice brand, accused of misleading health-conscious consumers. The drinks were marketed as wholesome blends of fruits and vegetables, plastered with labels like “100% juice,” “no sugar added,” and “all natural.” But in reality, many bottles were mostly apple or orange juice spiked with cheaper fillers, with only trace amounts of the exotic superfoods advertised on the label. Plaintiffs also noted the “all natural” claim didn’t hold up, since the juices contained synthetic ingredients too. PepsiCo eventually settled, agreeing to drop the branding. In the end, Naked Juice was more about marketing spin than clean living.

#8: Listerine’s Exaggerated Claims (1976)

For decades, Listerine mouthwash promised miracle cures it couldn’t deliver. Ads claimed the product could prevent or treat colds, sore throats - even dandruff. The Federal Trade Commission finally cracked down in 1976. They ruled that Warner-Lambert, the maker of Listerine, had misled the public for over half a century. In one of the most famous false advertising cases in history, the company was ordered to spend millions on corrective ads. They were finally forced to clear up their lies. The ruling was blunt: Listerine doesn’t prevent colds, it just freshens your breath. The case set an important precedent, proving that even century-old household brands couldn’t get away with ridiculous health claims.

#7: AT&T’s Unlimited Data (2014)

Their claims of unlimited data eventually pushed credulity to the limit. In 2014, the FTC sued AT&T for misleading millions of customers. They honestly thought they were signing up for true unlimited data plans. They were in for a rude awakening once they hit certain thresholds. Sometimes, it only took a couple of gigabytes. At that point, AT&T would quietly “throttle” their speeds, slowing connections by as much as 90 percent. Customers who thought they could stream or browse freely had their phones slowed to a crawl. And there was AT&T, still charging full price for a crippled service. The deception lasted for years, affecting at least 3.5 million people. In 2019, AT&T finally agreed to pay $60 million to settle the case.

#6: Uber Can’t Stop Lying (2016-)

Uber built its empire on both disruption and deception. In 2017, the FTC nailed the company for lying to drivers about how much they could earn. Uber lured recruits with inflated salary promises and pushed car leases that left many drivers drowning in debt. That was bad enough. But while this was happening, the company had another scandal brewing. In 2016, hackers stole personal data from 57 million riders and drivers. Instead of disclosing the breach, Uber quietly paid the hackers $100,000 to keep it secret. The cover-up later cost the company $148 million in fines, and its former chief security officer was convicted of hiding the incident. From drivers to customers, Uber’s growth was built on broken trust.

#5: Enron (2001-02)

Once hailed as a corporate powerhouse, Enron became the ultimate cautionary tale. Its empire was a house of cards built on lies, greed, and creative accounting. The energy giant dazzled Wall Street with reports of soaring profits, but behind the numbers was a maze of hidden debts and sham partnerships masking billions in losses. Executives kept up the act until late 2001, when the company collapsed and $74 billion in shareholder value vanished. Overnight, thousands of employees lost their jobs and pensions. The scandal toppled Enron’s leadership and destroyed its auditor, Arthur Andersen, once one of the world’s largest accounting firms. In response, Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Enron cooked the books so thoroughly it burned the house down.

#4: Big Oil Misled Public on Climate Science (1959-)

It may seem obvious now, but oil companies were ready to burn the world down for profit; what you may not know is that they struck that bargain decades ago. As early as 1959, industry scientists warned that fossil fuels could dangerously heat the planet. By the late 1970s, Exxon and other oil giants had mountains of detailed internal research. They knew rising CO₂ levels, melting ice caps, and devastating climate impacts were on the horizon. But instead of warning the public, Big Oil buried the findings and doubled down on lobbying. In the 1980s and 1990s, they bankrolled think tanks and PR campaigns to cast doubt on climate science and stall regulation. A 2024 Senate report confirmed the industry misled the public for generations.

#3: ExxonMobil Lied About Plastics Recycling (2024)

For decades, ExxonMobil told the public a comforting story. Namely, that plastic wasn’t a real problem and could be easily recycled. In 2024, California sued the company for what it called one of history’s biggest consumer deceptions. ExxonMobil and other oil giants promoted the recycling symbol, commercials, and public campaigns suggesting plastics were easily reusable. But internal documents revealed they knew the truth all along: most plastics can’t be recycled economically and the vast majority ends up in landfills, incinerators, or oceans. The lawsuit argues Exxon misled consumers to protect its bottom line while the plastic crisis ballooned worldwide. By selling the myth of recycling, Exxon bought itself decades of profits. Meanwhile, the world chokes on their broken promises.

#2: Theranos (2016)

Once hailed as Silicon Valley’s next great unicorn, Theranos turned out to be a $9 billion mirage. Founder Elizabeth Holmes planned to revolutionize blood testing. She promised a sleek little machine that could run hundreds of tests on just a few drops of blood. Investors, politicians, and even the media bought the story. There was one little problem: the technology was fake. Behind the glossy façade, Theranos secretly relied on traditional machines. They lied to patients, doctors, and regulators alike. Critical medical decisions were made based on faulty results. Whistleblowers and reporters eventually exposed the fraud, leading to the company’s collapse in 2016. Holmes and her partner Sunny Balwani were later convicted of fraud.

#1: The Tobacco Industry on Cigarettes (1964-98)

Few lies have cost more lives than Big Tobacco’s half-century of deception. Yes, the 1964 U.S. Surgeon General’s report definitively linked smoking to cancer; and internal memos prove they knew the risks all along. But this only encouraged a bloody war on the battlefield of public opinion. They bankrolled junk science, hired PR firms, and pushed marketing that downplayed the dangers. For decades they claimed smoking wasn’t addictive, while secretly engineering cigarettes to deliver more nicotine. It took lawsuits in the 1990s - and the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement - to finally expose the conspiracy. By then, millions of deaths could be traced to an industry that knowingly sold literal poison. All the while, they created cartoon camels to say ‘nothing to see here.”

Drop your favorite ‘corporate oopsie’ in the comments below; bonus points if it dinged your faith in humanity.