Have you ever thought of the perfect product and then tried to find it online or in-store? Most of the time, what you desire just doesn't exist - or, if it does, it's not quite what you're after. This might be a pepperoni pizza that is so full of pepperoni you can't see the cheese underneath, a rug from an Instagram advert that isn't for a doll's house or a restaurant meal that looks exactly as it's advertised on the menu. But while so many people are disappointed with their purchases, it seems as though these people got exactly what they wanted. And these 'expectations vs reality' photos prove that the world isn't so bad after all and could just possibly restore your faith in humanity.
Absolutely Nailed It
If you're someone who gets your nails done at the salon, you've probably tried to do it yourself in an effort to try and save money. But no matter how hard you try and no matter how many gadgets and gizmos you buy, nothing ever compares to a professional - especially because it's impossible to neatly paint with your non-dominant hand! We can only assume that's why this woman knew that she could only trust a professional with the design that she wanted on the left.
Of course, most people know that they're rarely going to get exactly what they ask for when they take a reference photo to their nail professional. But you'll probably agree with us that this person absolutely nailed it. They could be the exact same nails!
Just Hanging Out
Have you ever been advertised something on social media that's so bizarre you know you have to have it immediately? Don't worry, you're not alone. When this cat lover was influenced by a hanging cat hammock that sits on the radiator, she expected her cat to turn her nose up at it before coming to the conclusion that it was a waste of money. But something made her buy it - and it's a good thing that she did.
Amazingly, her cat took to it immediately and is still obsessed with it to this day. We don't blame her, either. What we wouldn't do to be a cat in a radiator hammock...
A Blooming Good Ice Cream Cone
Let's be honest; we live in a world full of so many different ice cream cones, and that's exactly the way that we like it. Like many other people, we like to make our way through the whole selection in our grocery stores - and we love it when something new comes out. That's why we understand why this person had to snap up these blueberry and cheesecake-flavored rose cones. But, of course, we would have had doubts, too.
Ice cream cones rarely look like the pictures on the box - especially when they have an intricate design like this. But in an amazing (and delicious) twist of fate, this rose cone looks exactly how it should, and it's stunning!
The Cookie Jackpot
In today's day and age, you can buy everything online. You can even purchase customized baked goods online! And while most people know to take these things with a pinch of salt and wait for something sub-par to be delivered, it seems as though this person hit the cookie jackpot when they ordered these cookies from Etsy. In fact, we don't think we've seen anything so beautiful before in our lives.
We don't know how the person who ordered these plant-inspired cookies plucked up the courage to eat these amazing creations, but we just know that they tasted absolutely delicious, too.
Flower Power
Ordering flowers online is always a risk. After all, when you buy them in-store, you can choose flowers and stems that look bright, colorful, and as though they're going to last longer than a day. But what's life without a little risk, hey? Sometimes a risk can pay off, and that's exactly what happened when this person ordered flowers that were supposed to look like the bouquets on the left.
On the right is what arrived, and we're seriously impressed. What they got was way better than the original order, and the flowers look so fresh and bright! What a result.
Taste the Rainbow
Food always seems to lose some of its appeal in real life - especially when it's packaged and marketed in a way that makes it look perfect. That's because this food rarely ever looks the same as you expect and is often a slight disappointment. But can we all take a moment to appreciate how perfect this rainbow popsicle is? This popsicle really did exceed expectations, and we don't blame this person for snapping such a wondrous moment.
Normally, different popsicle flavors and colors merge together and become one giant blog of an indistinguishable color. That's not what happened here, though. This is the ultimate rainbow popsicle, and it's awesome.
Berry Cool
We love a menu that has pictures next to the items. This way, you can see what the food is supposed to look like and base your decision on what you're craving at the time. But anyone who has been to a restaurant in the U.S. and ordered off a menu with pictures will know that what you see isn't always what you get. That's not the case in Thailand, though. Sometimes what you get is so much better!
The picture on the left is the picture on the menu, while the picture on the right is what the person received - and it's safe to say that this restaurant absolutely nailed it. Other restaurants... take note!
A Happy Floof
If you have a pet, there's a high chance that a huge portion of your paycheck goes to them every single month. And why not? They make you happy, so it only makes sense that you try and make them happy too. This person decided to do that by buying their dog a donut-shaped bed on a whim, but there's no doubt that they had their doubts about what would arrive after their online order.
To their surprise, the donut bed not only looked high quality, but their dog fell instantly in love with it! In fact, legend has it that this little floof-ball hasn't emerged from his fluff cocoon since it arrived.
The Real Deal
You've probably seen countless ads like the one on the left while scrolling social media. That's because these kinds of adverts are a dime a dozen, and targeted at so many people around the world. But how many times have you simply scrolled past these ads because you thought them to be too good to be true? Well, the person on the right decided to take a risk anyway - and it paid off.
On the right is what she received, and we have to say that this two-piece looks even better on an actual person than it does in the advert! This was a serious win.
Want More Bacon?
Free food is always welcome, right? But in a world where everything is getting more and more expensive, getting free food is a rarity. That's why we love the story of this guy, who went to Five Guys just before they closed to order his food. After he'd paid, the workers asked if he wanted some extra bacon as they had some left over and were going to throw it out. Of course, he said yes!
What he didn't expect was to be greeted with a whole tray stacked full of perfectly cooked bacon - and we can't belive it either. How could they throw out such crispy bacon?!
Time to Travel
The internet is full of photos. In fact, it's basically one giant photo album. And while most people scroll past these photos without as much as a second glance, there are sometimes one or a few photos that really stand out from the crowd. For this person, it was the picture on the left. When they saw this photo of Banff, they were so taken by the beauty of it that they decided to go and recreate it themselves.
After finding the perfect spot, they took the perfect photo. And aside from a slight change in clouds and the addition of a person riding a bicycle, these two photos could be identical!
Are You Hungry?
If your stomach is rumbling and your mouth is drooling after seeing this, we really don't blame you. When we look at this picture, we're impressed on two levels. On the one hand, we're impressed with the meal as a whole. It's not often you can find a substantial meal that looks as though it would actually fill you up, after all. On the other hand, we're impressed with how it looks like the menu picture.
You could even say that the real deal looks even better than the menu photo, and we'd love to know where this restaurant is. We'd travel the world to eat there if we had to.
Look at That Ink
If you're planning on getting a new tattoo anytime soon, this is your reminder to send your tattoo artist a reference photo. Of course, you should always give your tattoo artist some creative control - but if you want something specific, it's always a good idea to give them a reference photo of what that is. That's what this person did when they wanted a tattoo of a frog X-ray.
Their tattoo artist was able to perfectly recreate this X-ray on this person's body, and you don't have to be familiar with tattooing to know that this is seriously impressive.
Their Lucky Day
We really hope the person who took this photo bought a lottery ticket after finding an extra Samoa in their packet of cookies, because that really was their lucky day. After all, everyone knows that you can't just eat one Samoa at a time. As soon as you open that packet, you're eating every single cookie in front of you - and this person hit the jackpot when they were able to eat a baker's dozen.
Now, we hope you'll excuse us while we buy 100 packets of cookies in the hope of finding a pack that has 13 Samoas rather than 12. One day we'll get lucky, hopefully.
That's What We're Taco-Ing About
How much would you spend on a high-quality taco? $10? $15? Well, when this person realized that they only had $7 in their bank account, they decided to take a leap of faith and order a $7 taco from a new Mexican place they hadn't tried before. Of course, they didn't have high hopes and assumed it would be small and fairly unimpressive - but this is what turned up on their doorstep.
This is what food dreams are made of, and this has to be one of the best tacos we've ever seen. It looks so much better than the picture, and is chock-full of food! Where can we purchase one?
Cat's Out the Bag
Ordering online has never been easier than it is today. You can buy anything you want online, and so when this person went in search of a windshield protector, they found exactly what they were after. Of course, this doesn't suit everyone's taste - but if you're someone who loves the idea of cats driving cars and sitting in baby car seats, you might want to add this to your online order, too!
As well as being one of the funniest things we've ever seen, we're also very impressed that this graphic is spot-on. It's the right shape, it's the right image, and it also looks very high quality.
That's Thick
Many of the items on this list lived up to their expectations, but this is one of the few cases where the reality has actually exceeded expectations. Yes, just look at this ice cream! Everyone knows that the best part of an ice cream like this is the chocolate and nuts around the side and the gooey sauce in the middle. And this ice cream seems to have doubled all of the best bits.
Sure, the picture on the box is definitely enticing. But we'd suggest this company use the real-life photo to sell their products in the future. They'd fly off the shelves!
Watch Your Step
Purchasing furniture and home accessories online is always a risk. Most people would always suggest buying in-store so you can actually see what you're buying - but sometimes it's hard to find exactly what you want in a physical store. When this person couldn't find a similar rug to the picture above in real life, they knew they had to just order the online version. And that's exactly what they did.
While it does seem a little smaller than the picture, there's no doubt about the fact that the actual design and the quality look exactly the same. Just watch your step when you go into this house.
A Pepperoni Explosion
A lot of products offer us broken promises, so it's fair to say that some people have lost trust in the world - especially when it comes to food marketing. But if you're someone who loves pepperoni pizza, you might want to make a note of this one. That's because this 'Loads of Pepperoni' pizza does actually live up to its name, and the picture of the real thing proves it.
Just look at all that pepperoni! When most people buy a frozen pepperoni pizza, they only get about three pieces of pepperoni. So, this really is something special, and we need it immediately.
We All Scream
If there's ice cream on the menu, you can bet your bottom dollar that we're going to order it - even if the $1.80 ice cream cone does look a little worse for wear on the menu. It seems as though this person is of the same opinion, which is why they decided to order the ice cream. But what they didn't expect was for the reality to seriously exceed the expectation.
Not only does this ice cream cone look so much better than the picture, but it also looks like one of the best ice cream cones we've ever seen. Just look at that whip!
Trader Joe's Strikes Again
Hands up if you're a lifelong member of the Trader Joe's fan club? Well, if you're not waving your hands in the air like you just don't care right now, you might want to get on board. This store is famed for offering some of the best products - and we think this picture proves it. After all, when this person purchased this mousse dessert from the store, they didn't expect it to look exactly like the picture on the box.
When they opened up the packaging, it was as though they had lifted the picture from the box and plonked it on their plate. Now we need to try this perfect dessert for ourselves.
The Perfect Pizza
If you thought the perfect pizza didn't exist, think again! Vegetable pizzas are notorious for looking completely different to the pictures on the box, as they always seem to be lacking in the vegetable and cheese department. But it seems as though the person bought bought this pizza from the store got lucky on this occasion. In fact, this pizza looks so perfect that it doesn't look real at all.
Is this person sure that they didn't get the pizza they prepped for the photoshoot? Let's hope that these were actually slices of goat cheese, rather than pieces of plastic!
Total Pandamonium
Is there anything cuter than food that looks like an animal? From candy that looks like pigs to cakes that look like caterpillars, these foods are so whimsical and fun. So, we don't blame this person for snapping up this packet of panda popsicles when they went to the grocery store. We would have done the same - but we would have taken these with a pinch of salt, too.
Most popsicles lose their definition as they're transported from factory to store, and then from the store to home. But this panda popsicle was perfectly formed, and that just makes it look even cuter.
Choc-Full of Chocolate
Let's be honest; nobody loves granola bars. Most people eat these things because they think they're healthier than a candy bar, and because it makes them feel better about eating something sweet at lunch. This person decided to make their granola bar experience a bit better by choosing the dark chocolate and hazelnut flavor - but they struck gold when they found a bar that was more chocolate than granola!
If all granola bars were like this, we'd happily eat them every day. But at this point, you might as well eat a candy bar, so maybe we'll just have the candy bar instead.
What a Melon
Does anyone else have a real hankering for popsicles? The popsicles on this list all look so perfect, and this is another example of one. And we all know these watermelon popsicles, right? Although these things taste delicious, there's rarely an occasion where these things actually look like watermelons. Instead, they always turn into red splodges with squashed chocolate buttons on them. But every so often a popsicle like this comes along.
We've yet to find a watermelon popsicle that looks like this, so we'd probably seal this popsicle in a box and put it in the freezer rather than eat it. This popsicle deserved to be admired.
Cute Little Guys
In today's market, finding a box of chocolates for just $4.99 is a miracle. Chocolates have become extremely expensive - and they seem to become even more expensive around the holidays. So, we can totally understand why this person decided to snap up a box while they were in the grocery store. But for such a cheap price, they probably expected these chocolates to look a little worse for wear.
In reality, though, they look perfect! For such small and cheap chocolates, the company behind this box definitely put a lot of work into them. That detailing is something else.
Straight Out the Box
You probably don't need us to tell you that it's hard to make cereal look appealing. Most of the time it's just a few shapes thrown into a bowl, with the odd piece of fruit thrown in there for good measure. But the bowl of cereal on this box looks very enticing - and we bet this person was surprised when they opened it up to pour a bowl that looks almost identical.
Sure, this person needs to add some more milk into the mix, but how amazing does this breakfast look? We'd eat cereal everyday if it looked this good all the time.
Time for Denny's
If you live in the U.S., there's a high chance that you've been to Denny's at least once. This restaurant is a fast food institution, but did you know that you can also find Denny's across the world? This picture was taken at a Denny's in Tokyo - and it's fair to say that we're impressed. The picture at the top is the photo of what the person ordered, and the picture at the bottom is what arrived in front of them.
The fact that this is the work of Denny's is blowing our minds, and it just makes us want to move to Tokyo and explore all of the amazing food options they have out there.
A Total Bargain
Can you believe that this delicious dessert costs just $7 in Walmart? Well, you might want to stock up now before the world catches on and they disappear from the shelves. That's because these creme pies are famous for being absolutely delicious and having thick layers of cream and chocolate. More than that, though, they're famous for looking exactly how they're supposed to look. And that's rare in today's day and age.
From the chocolate drizzle to the peaks of whipped cream, this creme pie is what dessert dreams are made of. We could probably eat this whole thing by ourselves, too.
Buy One Get Three Free
If you've ever ordered online, you'll know that this process isn't foolproof. When you purchase something in-store, you can choose the exact thing you want - and the exact number of those things you want. This isn't the case when you order online, though. As soon as you input your credit card details, your purchase is then in the hands of factory workers an delivery drivers. And sometimes they can make mistakes.
These mistakes aren't always bad, though! On this occasion, this guy bought one PlayStation controller but somehow ended up with four on his doorstep. We wonder what he did with them all.
Orange You Glad
Give us anything with a fruity flavor, and we'll be able to eat it all day. That's why we'd love to get the information on what this fruity flan is, and where we can find it! After all, it looks absolutely perfect. And while baked goods can often look very different to the advertised pictures of them, this flan is the perfect replica of its picture. It's just a little smaller, that's all.
Everything about this flan is the same, from the shiny jell-o topping to the number of holes you can see at the bottom of the pastry case. That's pretty cool, actually.
Extra Slice of Luck
Fortune cookies aren't exactly delicious, but they're always fun to receive at the end of your meal. And no matter whether you believe in these fortunes or not, you just have to break them apart and read the insides. But what would you do if your packet came with two fortune cookies in it? Well, that's what happened to this person - and we're not sure if that means they're extra lucky, or that's a bad omen.
Perhaps one of them always tells the truth, while the other fortune cookie tells the truth? Whatever the case, we think we'd be a little freaked out if we got two in one.
Too Much Topping?
We love pizzas as much as the next person. The cheesy goodness makes us happy, the crunchy crust puts a smile on our faces, and the toppings make our stomachs do a little dance. And while we never thought we'd be asking this question... do you think there's such a thing as too much topping? When this person bought a cheese and vegetable pizza, they were expecting toppings similar to those in the picture. But this is what they got instead.
There are so many toppings on this pizza that you can barely see the cheese underneath, and we're not sure how we feel about it. We'll just have to have a taste and see.
A Sprinkle of Joy
Is there anything better than a popsicle covered in sprinkles? No, we thought not. But anyone who has ever tried to find these popsicles will know that they're often very disappointing. That's because they rarely have enough sprinkles on them to be deemed a sprinkle popsicle, apart from the odd one here and there. That's why we're seriously jealous of this person who opened up the world's best sprinkle popsicle.
This thing is almost completely covered in sprinkles and looks identical to the picture on the wrapper. Now we just need to see the inside to see whether it really is perfect in every way!
Grab a Slice
The fact that there are so many pizzas on this list just goes to show that the world has very little trust in frozen pizzas. Of course, they're great to have in the freezer when you want a quick dinner, but they're just not the same as ordering food from a proper pizza parlor. Every so often there comes along a frozen pizza that surprises us all, though, and this is one of them.
There's a reason why Dr. O pizzas are generally considered to be the best out there, and this picture proves it. The expectations were low, but the reality exceeded all expectations... and then some.
Imitation Is Art
The food world is divided into two sections. On one side you have big name brands that have a big reputation and big prices. On the other side you have smaller brands that try to compete with their own cheaper versions of similar products. Most of the time, the big name brands always win in terms of taste - but they didn't on this occasion. Just look at these things!
These ice cream bars are a knockoff of a Snickers ice cream bar, and the person who bought them claimed that they were so much better than the real deal. Plus, they look better too!
Feeling Fruity
Ice cream pops are delicious, but how about gelato pops? If you haven't tried any yet, this is your sign to purchase a box from the grocery store and taste the deliciousness for yourself. You might want to seek out a box of these ones, too. This person did just that and assumed that their gelato popsicle wouldn't have any visible fruit in it. But they were pleasantly surprised when they opened it up.
Not only is there visible fruit, but it almost looks completely identical to the picture on the box. That's rare in the popsicle world, so we'd buy as many boxes as you can.
Totally Coco-Nutty
These caramel coconut cookies remind us of something we can only buy at certain points of the year from certain youngsters, but what happens when you want to eat these cookies outside of the Girl Scout window? Of course, we don't want to take money away from the Girl Scouts - but how could you resist no-name branded cookies that taste the same an also cost much less? Well, it would be hard.
The person who bought these was not only impressed with the price and the taste, but also how much they looked like the picture on the box. And we're impressed, too.
The Perfect Snack
The only thing better than pretzels is pretzel crisps drizzled in chocolate, but anyone who has ever tried to buy this snack will know that they can often be disappointing. The chocolate drizzle is barely there most of the time, which makes the whole experience miserable. So, you can imagine our surprise when we saw that this person had managed to find the most perfect chocolate-drizzled pretzel thins on the shelf.
In fact, there's so much chocolate on these things that they were stuck together! Let's just hope that this wasn't the whole contents of the bag, because four pretzel thins is just not enough.
Too Good to Be True
If you're looking at this burger and wondering how it's real then you're not alone. Sure, we've seen pictures of burgers like this in commercials - but we've seen enough YouTube videos to know that these things are designed to trick the eye. Most of the time, burgers never look as good in real life as they do in commercials. But it seems as though this impressive burger is an exception.
What we can't get over is how fake this burger looks - but in a good way! From the perfectly crisp lettuce to the cheese just slightly oozing out, it looks too good to be true.