Customer outraged after discovering 'unethical' message inside fortune cookie: 'It's not designed to bring in new customers'

A traditional fortune cookie turned out to be a promotion for a different type of fortune — and Reddit users are not happy.

The original poster shared a photo of the fortune in the r/mildlyinteresting subreddit. However, the fortune was actually an ad for an online gambling company.

"It's designed to trigger people." — Photo Credit: Reddit

The picture shows the ad on a fortune cookie paper strip offering consumers the chance to win $250,000 by scanning a QR code.

Unfortunately, fortune cookies aren't the only targets for wasteful advertisements. These types of ads are nearly inescapable on social media. Even gas station cooler doors have digital ads — and the environmental impact is significant.

According to energy company Cepsa, ads are responsible for 3.5% of all polluting gases produced. One ad campaign generates 70 tons of heat-trapping pollution — just about the same amount that seven people release into the atmosphere on average per year.

Advertising often promotes overconsumption, which can lead to overflowing landfills. The Environmental Protection Agency reported that the United States produced 292.4 million tons of municipal solid waste in 2018. That's nearly 5 pounds per person a day. Most of that waste is dumped into landfills or burned in incinerators, creating more air pollution, according to Environment America.

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Shopping at thrift stores is an easy way to help reduce consumption. Buying secondhand items from shops like Goodwill means less resources are used and fewer products end up in landfills. Another added benefit? Replacing new purchases with pre-owned items can save consumers a lot of money.

In addition to excessive consumption and pollution, there's also a moral concern among Redditors when it comes to wasteful advertising.

One commenter called the fortune cookie advertisement "unethical." "It's not designed to bring in new customers, it's designed to trigger people with gambling addictions," the commenter added.

Other Redditors tried to look on the bright side with the type of advertisement in the fortune cookie. "Better than the manscape ones I got a year ago," one said.