History YMMV / Cracked

* AcceptableTargets:
** DependingOnTheWriter really, given that the site has so many writers, but usual subjects include teenagers, {{hipster}}s, {{Canad|aEh}}ians, the song "[[WeDidntStartTheBillyJoelParodies We Didn't Start the Fire]]" (Music/BillyJoel himself rarely is a target, however), or Music/PhilCollins. It's pretty widely accepted that most of these are just running gags, however, that the writers actually don't hate these subjects, and are not really meant to offend anyone (except maybe in the case of the hipsters).
--->"[H]omeless, alone and dead. And ass-worm mouthed. Or worse. (You could be Phil Collins.)"
** PlayedForLaughs, but {{Nerd}}s and {{Fandom}}s are common targets for quick jokes. Cue FlameWar in the comments between people offended by this, {{Troll}}s, people who simply see it as a joke and others who legitimately hate nerds.
*** [[PeripheryDemographic Bronies]] get it really hard.
** They also don't seem to be shy about letting Creator/JennyMcCarthy have it. Ever since she jumped on the bandwagon of "Medical Vaccines Cause Autism," the writers have had multiple articles calling her an untalented moron who's talking about subjects way out of her depth and potentially endangering a lot of people in the process. The commentators don't like her either, considering how any article with her in an entry will have 90% of the comments saying how stupid she is. It helps that a lot of them have some form of autism, thus finding her views insulting.
** Half the time Japan is mentioned, the writers can't resist the urge to put "Japan" and "weird" in the same sentence. And that includes the times they mock themselves for the racism involved!
** Aquaman is considered a useless joke by most of the comic articles, particularly his ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'' incarnation.
** A lot of hate is directed at "Title Guy" or "the Title Editor", due to the horribly mismatching titles he/she uses for Photoplasties, and a gradual tendency towards click-baiting, as well as changing the titles multiple times throughout the morning. In the plasties especially this has a tendency to render all of the entries complete nonsense since they rely on knowing the original prompt.
** Some writers have a tendency to talk about {{contested sequel}}s or other adaptations as if they are, or at least deserve to be, universally reviled. ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' and ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' have received a lot of this.
** The most consistent of the site's AcceptableTargets, by far, is Thomas Edison thanks to Tesla being a favorite of a lot of writers.
** Complaining about Adam Tod Brown and his articles in the Comments section is less likely to get bombarded by dislikes than complaining/bashing the writings of other editors would be.
** Most articles that bring up men's rights will probably make fun of [=MRA=]s, and articles that discuss the MostCommonSuperpower will mock comic fans that get defensive about it. On that note, those that cry TheyChangedItNowItSucks at every adaptation are also generally fair game.
** The commenters consider both photoplaster Auntie Meme and the site's failure to properly indicate her solo articles (the last entry even declaring her the winner as if it was a contest) to be open targets. She even likes [[https://www.facebook.com/crackedauntiememe/photos_stream collecting angry responses]].
** The site isn't very fond of UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump either, and were writing vicious articles about him even before his highly controversial bid for the 2016 Republican Presidential nomination and subsequent presidential term.
** 'Chad', who keeps showing up in articles as [[BobFromAccounting a hypothetical officer worker]] who continually slacks off, eats food that isn't his and generally gets on everyone's nerves.
** Some writers appear to really hate ''Film/TheForceAwakens'', as it has frequently been brought up in a negative context, something the readers have not appreciated.
** They also pull no punches on the wealthy, painting them as [[UpperClassTwit Upper Class Twits]] and [[RichBitch Rich Jerks]]. One article argued that Film/{{Idiocracy}} would be a utopia for being pro-working class while all wealthy, successful people are BitchInSheepsClothing. We will ignore the possible implications that the [[GoodIsDumb article brings]].
** David Wong will take any opportunity to take shots at atheists (even though by most definitions other than his own he is one himself) and the site's own comment section.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment:
** It was after the fact, but in a list of "5 Ways To Enjoy Terrible Winter Olympic Events", it mentions that luge and skeleton is easy, because it's like a sled, right after the death of Nodar Kumaritashvili during a crash while luging. It was probably an unfortunate coincidence that the article was posted at that time since it takes a while for them to actually post them. Which, in a ridiculously meta twist, was a FunnyAneurysmMoment itself, due to the same thing happening in Agents of Cracked, involving the death of Nicholas Cage.

** Overlaps with Harsher in Hindsight; One of the entries for a photoplasty focused on highly absurd potential twists in movies portrayed [[spoiler: Captain America as a DeepCoverAgent for Hydra]], the joke being that he's usually such a IdealHero that the idea of him being [[spoiler: EvilAllAlong is ridiculous]]. Come 2016 where [[spoiler: Nick Spencer would use that exact twist for 616!Cap in his run]] and the first issue alone has received near universal backlash from casual and diehard fans alike, it becomes much more uncomfortable than anything.

* HarsherInHindsight:

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: Take a look at the main page image. Back in 1975, that could easily be PlayedForLaughs (and was indeed a dig at the then-current big-budget disaster movie ''Film/{{Earthquake}}''). After 9/11? Try looking at the plane hitting what looks like the WTC, complete with the all-too familiar ring of smoke and fire around the tower's midsection, without cringing.

** The increasing number of articles that come out daily. Around 2018, it used to be five. Come 2020, with the exception of a few days that only has three articles, around ''10'' articles are popped out on a daily basis with majority of them being only a few paragraphs long instead of the list based format longtime readers are used to, and some other being a single section from an older article converted in pictofact format, resulting in accusations of clickbait while making daily reading less enjoyable and more of a chore. Also, from 2020 onwards, pictofacts which aren't recycled from older (non-pictofact) articles have their #1 entry being a link to older articles instead of a proper entry, which some of the readers reacted poorly too.

* {{Anvilicious}}: Some articles have a tendency to come out as being poorly researched, reactionary, or just plain bashing the reader with over the head with an "X IS WRONG" message, and even to the point of mocking the people who disagree with them preemptively. Thankfully, since there are so many editors and writers on the website, this is uncommon, but sadly, not unheard of. In particular, a recent trend of articles talking about sexism/feminism, racism, or other social issues are often accused of lacking subtlety.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped/{{Cracked}} It has its own page]].

** Robert Evans is not a part of Cracked's official columnists, but his "insider" articles are one of the more popular contributions to the site, and most readers appreciate his ability to track down and interview people who has very interesting stories to tell, and edit them with enough gentle humor to overcome DarknessInducedAudienceApathy for sometimes truly horrible subject matter. Few of his fans were surprised when, after leaving Cracked, Evans became a successful journalist, parlaying his talent into podcasting.

** "Roger", the CoolOldGuy that serves as the spokesperson of the "If X are honest" series. Many viewers say that they enjoy this series even more than After Hours and want to see him more often. When he was fired along with the rest of the video crew, fans still miss him to this day.

* HeartwarmingInHindsight: In their September 2018 article "[[https://www.cracked.com/blog/4-ways-corporations-are-turning-us-into-jerks/ 4 Ways Corporations Are Turning Us Into Jerks]]", Cracked criticized Disney's decision to fire Creator/JamesGunn from ''Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3'' due to [[{{GIFT}} pressure from internet mobs]], arguing that [[BlackComedy his jokes made before he was hired by Disney/Marvel]] were falsely equated with Roseanne Barr's racist tweets made during the short-lived ''Roseanne'' revival on ABC. In March 2019, Disney announced that they would be rehiring Gunn for ''Vol. 3''.

* BrowserNarcotic: The trope actually got its name from [[http://xkcd.com/609/ this]] XKCD's alt-text, which used the term to describe Cracked.com (although [[TVTropesWillRuinYourLife TV Tropes itself]] was used to illustrate the phenomenon). Now especially true with Cracked's Random Article button.

** The site isn't very fond of Donald Trump either, and were writing vicious articles about him even before his highly controversial bid for the 2016 Republican Presidential nomination.

** 2019 saw them remove the comment section entirely from most inherently controversial articles. Needless to say, imposing a "no backtalk" policy on an audience that ''thrives'' on backtalk has not been very popular, and other articles are full of comments from readers unimpressed with this particular bit of editorial cowardice. As of 2021, the comment sections appear to be gone entirely.

** 2019 saw them remove the comment section entirely from most inherently controversial articles. Needless to say, imposing a "no backtalk" policy on an audience that ''thrives'' on backtalk has not been very popular, and other articles are full of comments from readers unimpressed with this particular bit of editorial cowardice.

** [[http://www.cracked.com/article_16152_10-highly-anticipated-video-games-youll-never-get-to-play.html "10 Highly Anticipated Video Games You'll Never Get To Play"]]. Among the listed games? ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'', ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'', ''VideoGame/MaxPayne3'', ''VideoGame/{{Darkfall}}'', ''VideoGame/TheLastGuardian'', and ''VideoGame/DukeNukemForever''. Yeah, we've actually got to play more than half of the games in the list, now that ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Guardian The Last Guardian]]'' was released in December 2016.

** On the flip side to the above point, the site hosted a Photoshop Contest on March 2008 where the theme was ''Things that Should Never Be Adapted To Film'', one [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sonicphotoentry.jpg entry]] created by S. Peter Davis got 3rd place showing a live-action Sonic with Mike Myers which dips into the UncannyValley. Eleven years later and ''Film/SonicTheHedgehog2020'' came about featuring an off-looking CGI Sonic in a live-action setting.

** In 2013, Felix Clay wrote [[https://www.cracked.com/blog/6-amazing-movie-crossovers-hollywood-should-be-making-now/ 6 Amazing Movie Crossovers Hollywood Should Be Making Now]] where, among other ideas, he pitches a ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' vs.''Franchise/{{Rambo}}'' movie. 7 years later, both characters are playable in VideoGame/MortalKombat11

** Alex Hanton. Many readers felt that his articles are the only ones that kept the funny spirit of the website alive in 2020.

** On February 8th 2020 Cracked published a pictofacts article about [[https://www.cracked.com/pictofacts-1557-celebrity-relatives-who-should-be-famous/ Celebrity Relatives Who Should Be Famous]]. One of the entries was about [[Creator/BradPitt Brad Pitt's]] brother Doug, who works with a non-profit to bring clean water to people in East Africa, and was named Goodwill Ambassador for Tanzania "..which is objectively a much more important accomplishment than winning an [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Oscar]] for acting. Not that his brother would know what that's like, either." The next day Creator/BradPitt won the [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Oscar for Best Supporting Actor]] for playing Cliff Booth in ''Film/OnceUponATimeInHollywood''.

* DontShootTheMessage: Some readers argue that Cracked's increasingly large number of [[SoapboxSadie preachy, poorly researched]] articles do more harm than good to the causes they purport to help. That anyone who brings this up in the comments will be angrily shouted down almost immediately doesn't help matters.

** Robert Evans is not a part of Cracked's official columnists, but his "insider" articles are one of the more popular contributions to the site, and most readers appreciate his ability to track down and interview people who has very interesting stories to tell, and edit them with enough gentle humor to overcome DarknessInducedAudienceApathy for sometimes truly horrible subject matter.

** DependingOnTheWriter really, given that the site has so many writers, but usual subjects include teenagers, {{hipster}}s, {{Canad|aEh}}ians, the song "[[WeDidntStartTheBillyJoelParodies We Didn't Start the Fire]]" (Music/BillyJoel himself rarely is a target, however), or Music/PhilCollins. It's pretty widely accepted that most of these are just running gags, and not really meant to offend anyone (except maybe hipsters).

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: On [[http://www.cracked.com/personal-experiences-1440-5-things-i-learned-as-sex-slave-in-modern-america.html/ 5 Things I Learned as a Sex Slave in Modern America]], they posted a trigger warning due to the disturbing material contained in the arcticle (the article was written after Cracked interviewed a woman who was a child sex slave and beaten severely for most of her childhood). They stated that they don't usually put warnings on their articles as a policy, but decided to make an exception in that case thanks to the exceptionally triggering subject matter.

* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: [[https://www.cracked.com/blog/6-harsh-truths-that-will-make-you-better-person/ 6 Harsh Truths That Will Make You A Better Person]] stresses that the world only cares about what you can do for it, and says, almost verbatim, that you are your job. Many readers see it as a valuable wake-up call, but others believe that it cynically suggests that people are only worthwhile if they have a good job and that personal values don't matter.

* DanBrowned: The website is not immune to poorly researched articles. For example, "[[https://www.cracked.com/article_20753_5-movie-happy-endings-that-are-about-to-go-horribly-wrong.html 5 Movie Endings That Are ABout To Go Horribly Wrong]]" bases a significant portion of its entire argument about the supposed NoEndorHolocaust facing the ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'' universe on the claim that "the monster world doesn't exactly appear to be in the grips of an energy crisis". Except, as numerous commenters pointed out, it's established in the first fifteen minutes that the monster world very much ''is'' in the grips of an energy crisis, and this fact is the key driving force of the entire plot.

** "Roger", the CoolOldGuy that serves as the spokesperson of the "If X are honest" series. Many viewers say that they enjoy this series even more than After Hours and want to see him more often.

** Many fans dislike the fact that [[CerebusSyndrome the site has become less comedy-oriented]] over time. By 2013, a lot of articles were more like opinion pieces or philosophical treatises than humorous stories or lists of factual information (like bizarre animals, or legends, or suchlike) presented in a funny way. Accusations in 2014 that the site was becoming host to {{Soap Box Sadie}}s with political axes to grind didn't help their case. By 2016, readers noted a sharp increase in political articles, all of them with a strong progressive bent that comes across as {{Anvilicious}}, even to those who agree with much of the content. Even articles on pop culture haven't been free of politics: Many writers will add in a jab toward gun owners, evangelical Christians, or social conservatives in an article about deconstructing Hogwarts or the Marvel universe. Not helping matters was the 2016 US presidential election; two days after the results were in, ''every single article'' that ran that day was about politics. For those who go to Cracked for a distraction from political issues, this did not bode well, and the mission since then seems to have become turning the site into a marginally lighter-hearted version of ''The Huffington Post'' (they've backed off slightly on the volume of political articles in 2018, at least to the point that a day or two can now go by without any polemics on the front page).

** The increasing number of articles that come out daily. Around 2018, it used to be five. Come 2020, with the exception of a few days that only has three articles, around ''10'' articles are popped out on a daily basis with majority of them being only a few paragraphs long instead of the list based format longtime readers are used to, resulting in accusations of clickbait while making daily reading less enjoyable and more of a chore.

* {{Irony}}: The old main cast of After Hours being [[NoSocialSkills Daniel]], [[LoveableSexManiac Michael]], [[LovableJock Soren]] and [[ManicPixieDreamGirl Katie]] tend to discuss/criticise common tropes in shows and movies along with their character archetypes and wonder what life would be like if it played [[TropesAreTools common movie/tv tropes]], while they fail to realise that they themselves are parodies of common character archetypes. Even the world around them paraodies the tropes that they tend to talk about.

* {{Irony}}: The old main cast of After Hours being [[NoSocialSkills Daniel]], [[LoveableSexManiac Michael]], [[LoveableJerk Soren]] and [[ManicPixieDreamGirl Katie]] tend to discuss/criticise common tropes in shows and movies along with their character archetypes and wonder what life would be like if it played [[TropesAreTools common movie/tv tropes]], while they fail to realise that they themselves are parodies of common character archetypes. Even the world around them paraodies the tropes that they tend to talk about.

* {{Irony}}: The old main cast of After Hours being [[NoSocialSkills Daniel, [[LoveableSexManiac Michael]], [[TheJock Soren]] and [[ManicPixieDreamGirl Katie]] tend to discuss/criticise common tropes in shows and movies along with their character archetypes and wonder what life would be like if it played [[TropesAreTools common movie/tv tropes]], while they fail to realise that they themselves are parodies of common character archetypes. Even the world around them paraodies the tropes that they tend to talk about.

* {{Irony}}: The old main cast of After Hours being Daniel, Michael, Soren and Katie tend to discuss/criticise common tropes in shows and movies along with their character archetypes and wonder what life would be like if it played [[TropesAreTools common movie/tv tropes]], while they fail to realise that they themselves are [[DeconstructedCharacterArchetype parodies]] [[ManicPixieDreamGirl of]] [[TheJock common]] [[NoSocialSkills character]] [[LoveableSexManiac archetypes]]. Even the world around them paraodies the tropes that they tend to talk about.