Attach a notion of “specialness” to something, and people will find a way to throw money at it. This is a principal true of every consumer product with an advertising campaign (“If [such and such a celebrity] drinks it, then it must be pretty special”). But what’s bigger than anything any advertising agency could possibly dream up? A commercial holiday, “commercial” being a term used to discern from any possible religious significance. A commercial holiday is like an all-purpose ad campaign, wherein consumers are expected to buy and subscribe to a variety of pertinent rituals in order to fit in properly. Didn’t get Mom a card for Mother’s Day? Expect borderline excommunication. These beliefs are embedded deep in the fabric of our culture, to where tradition becomes more powerful than any fact or biblical preaching. There’s a lot of money to be made at the exact point where “personal” becomes strictly business; here are ten businesses and industries that are keenly aware of this fact.

Infomercials do a great service: they provide a last-minute option for procrastinating shoppers who can’t think of or hand-make anything thoughtful in time, and need something “gift-like”, stat. Many Christmases could end in tragic, empty-armed disappointment if it weren’t for the bombardment of suggestions that come on the tube after about 3 A.M. Christmas, birthday and graduation gifts can henceforth, and effortlessly, be any assortment of a Snuggy, ShakeWeight or underwater electric razor. Best gifts are the ones that lack gender-specificity; just get 8 of those and Christmas shopping is done. (Warning: people you actually care about won’t appreciate the obvious lack of thought that goes into any one of these gifts, but by all means indulge a coworker).

Every family is required to put out a Christmas card every year, or else the neighbors will be baited. A Christmas card captures just how “perfect” a family is, or at least the image of, whereafter they can go back to being terrible and volatile, on the way back from Sears. Only truly gifted artists could make such a fallacy an apparent truth, which is why they get paid the big bucks, and why families are so tickled by the notion of spreading this masterful concoction to everyone in their address book.

Not legal everywhere, these self-contained spectacles are the toast of every Fourth of July, Memorial Day, and patriotic other occasion. After all, nothing spells U.S.A. like Chinese imports. Every fair concludes with them, the mighty “Grand Finale,” and every drunken Summer night spent away from work deserves, and belligerently demands, their presence. Explosions in the sky never disappoint, feeding that animalistic desire for consequence-free fire and destruction, which is why border-runs are so frequent and unstoppable.

The one industry that rarely shuts an eye, hence the red-eye, is the airline industry. More than any other means of travel, it is the most efficient and practical way to travel great distances in a timely, scheduled manner (in spite of how much waiting and security checkpoints must be endured). Every holiday season, seats get booked to maximum capacity, to where the cheapest seat last minute is usually in the thousands (even as sites like Expedia and Travelocity do their best to alleviate this fact). Seeing family and friends is a component of virtually every holiday or festive occasion, and to do so, transportation is a vital, if mundane, consideration in every case. A business built around the essential motions and functions of life will always do unspeakably well for itself, just ask the healthcare or fast food industry.

Every holiday season, without fail, stores like Game Stop, Electronics Boutique and Best Buy sell out of every major console, especially right after the latest and greatest one has been released just in time for such a time of the year. Right around November, appeasing mothers cram into malls to snatch up that fancy “game-box” junior’s been talking about, just so the kid can rip it open Christmas morning without a scintilla of surprise or doubt. Wii’s, XBox 360’s, and PS3’s have sold out religiously in mostly every Christmas past, but as no kid seems to be without one these days, it seems right about time Wii 2, Xbox 720, and PS4 make their parking lot-congesting debuts.

The number one go-to or last resort gift is a visit, or gift card, to some classy-looking restaurant, but usually just the Olive Garden or T.G.I. Fridays. It’s a preferable escape from slaving over a hot stove, a dad-favorite on Mother’s Day, and an ideal date all at about twenty or thirty bucks a plate. It’s just the price that says “I’m not entirely cheap, but I’m not very original either.” Restaurants do very well on special occasions, seasonally that is, and given that there’s always some kind of commercial holiday every few weeks or so, it’s not a bad investment in any case. The food doesn’t have to be great, but dim lights and faint, vaguely romantic music overhead spells Valentine’s Day hot spot.

Tim Allen alone has lined his pockets with a lion’s share of Christmas tinsel, appearing in three progressively terrible Santa Claus movies, as well as a terribly over-acted Christmas with the Cranks (based on a novel?!). Every holiday seems to require a sludge pile of opportunistic films that ride a cheap gimmick with a plot centering around a holiday, and an unceasingly unfunny series of disasters (Four Christmases, Surviving Christmas, Deck the Halls, Fred Claus…you get it).
Christmas is the obvious cash-in, but even lesser holidays are finding distasteful exploitation: Valentine’s Day (the movie of the same name), Halloween (every 3D slasher movie that comes out conveniently on Halloween weekend, not to mention the movie of the same name and every time it is rebooted), Easter (Hop), etc. That’s not to say there’s no such thing as a good holiday movie (It’s a Wonderful Life, Nightmare Before Christmas, Christmas Vacation, Christmas Story, etc.), but Hollywood rarely seems concerned with generating memorable instant classics so much as greasing its own sprockets with transient rubbish and easy money.

How many times do we binge on marshmallow Peeps and swear to never touch them again, that is until they hit the shelves again in the shape of a Christmas tree or pumpkin rather than a bunny? And when we swear out candy for good, we can never resist that 80% off sale in the center aisle of the local pharmacy. Between candy corn, Peeps, boxes of chocolate, and various other fun-sized sugar-and-carnauba wax-covered sweets, our love for cloistering substances and suckered obligation to incorporate them into our every celebration means only big money for the Willy Wonkas of the world.

What a great enterprise: paying someone else to preconceive the ideal sentiment for any given occasion. What better way to tell someone you care about them than to pay four dollars to let someone say just how so. Somehow they’ve worked their way into every holiday/birthday/ form of congratulations and are somehow considered a “thoughtful” gesture. What would be thoughtful would be to type a personal letter, or get a BLANK card and write in something heartfelt and original. Nevertheless, a trip to the drug store counts just the same.

What’s a holiday without the booze. In fact there are holidays devoted exclusively to the substance (St. Paddy’s Day, with or without green beer), but all usually end in drunken foolishness. While kids look forward to cake, pie, and trick-or-treating, adults look forward to the swift elevation of their B.A.C. levels. Liquor stores and bars thrive more than anyone else on universally-designated “special” days, more so than the unsynchronized birthday or situational cause for celebration. When these big days approach, extra efforts are made to ensure a cornucopia surplus of cases and handles, or else dire consequences be wrought (in the form of bleeding cash registers).

The coronavirus has touched all of us. People, businesses, and entire countries are feeling its sting, even months after the initial outbreak. In these times, it’s important to know what has been affected and how.

From travel to video games, industries spanning all areas of life have been impacted, sometimes in interesting and unexpected ways. Here are the top 10 industries that are being wrecked by the coronavirus.

Top 10 Crazy Facts About The Coronavirus Outbreak

10 Travel

Quite possibly, the biggest impact of the recent pandemic has been on the travel industry. From floundering airlines and dying tourist traps all the way to shuttered high-end resorts, the effects have been felt across the globe.

Hilton Hotels and Resorts, one of the largest chains in the industry, has suffered extreme revenue losses that would have seemed ridiculous to contemplate before the pandemic. Likewise, Australia’s previously most successful airline, Virgin Airlines, is scrambling for cash and had to request loans from the Australian government.

A few airlines are restructuring completely to deal with the impact of COVID-19. The changes include redesigning the interior of their planes, reworking their booking systems, and shifting their prices either way up (to compensate for losses) or way down (to attract business). Billions have been sunk into different travel companies to keep them afloat in these desperate times, but the outlook isn’t good for many of these companies.^[1]

9 Video Game

Although the video game industry isn’t facing closures or a complete lack of incoming money, it is still being severely impacted by coronavirus. For example, many online games are seeing a large spike of player activity that has overwhelmed and ultimately crashed servers. In addition, some players complain of queue times as long as 10 hours.

There has also been a surge in subscriptions to several massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), such as Final Fantasy XIV and World of Warcraft. Although the number of gamers appears to be rising, the physical releases of games have faced challenges that are less beneficial to the companies.^[2]

From Amazon focusing on household essentials and refusing orders for entertainment or nonessential goods to game stores closing due to fears about coronavirus in the workplace, actually getting your hands on a physical copy of new releases became increasingly difficult at times during the pandemic. If these trends persist, some games may not even have physical releases at all.

8 Fast Food

Although many businesses were closed to halt the spread of COVID-19, fast-food restaurants such as McDonald’s and Taco Bell remained open as “essential businesses.” Many have updated their cleaning procedures and operating hours to keep workers safe. Others have become drive-through only.

Still others have mandatory mask policies for both workers and customers. Although the measures do seem to be working, many workers remain fearful of the virus and have chosen to quit their jobs or limit contact with the public as much as possible.

However, it’s not all gloom and doom. The fast-food industry saw a massive uptick in sales after many finally made the move to include delivery services, either of their own making or by partnering with apps like DoorDash. Thanks to this sales boost, many fast-food joints have declared an intent to keep their new delivery service options beyond the end of the pandemic.^[3]

7 Health Care

One of the most obviously impacted industries is health care. Due to shortages of supplies to prevent infection as well as a “reluctance” or inability of essential health-care personnel to observe social distancing measures, thousands of these workers have fallen ill with COVID-19.

In addition, a shortage of beds and hands to tend them has meant at times that people with COVID-19 end up going without care at all as nurses and doctors are pushed to their limits in certain areas. In turn, this has led to burnout among the staffs of some hospitals, which can lead to a drop in quality of care.^[4]

Once again, it’s not all bad news. A number of volunteer health-care workers have come forward across the US to lend a hand where they can. The groups do basic tasks and give exhausted nurses and doctors time to rest, a much-needed luxury in the midst of a pandemic.

6 Retail

Quite possibly one of the most important industries during this pandemic, the retail business has been in absolute chaos since COVID-19 began to spread widely. Grocery stores have been pummeled by the demand for supplies.

It became common to see photos and videos of places such as Walmart and Publix completely barren of toilet paper and hand sanitizer. At first, most of these supplies were bought by scalpers who intended to resell them for huge amounts of money. With many workers worrying about their own safety and exposure to possibly infected customers, tensions and tempers have run high at stores across the nation.^[5]

The pandemic panic has even caused many stores to place restrictions on the quantity of certain goods you can buy in one trip. Compounded by the rising prices of certain goods, the mandatory closing times, and the constant fear of illness and firings, the retail industry has become a much more damaged and hostile place in the wake of the coronavirus.

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5 Pro Wrestling

Like odd moments from a distant alternate reality, some showings of WWE during the pandemic have played out in eerie seriousness without the backdrop of a roaring crowd. An almost surreal silence and lack of audience gives you the impression that you’re watching a play and fundamentally changes the feeling of the wrestling matches.

Quips and feats that are normally humorous or absurd take on a new emotional weight without jeering crowds and wailing fans behind them. Although this new “crowdless” pageantry is not slated to last forever, the new vibe of pro wrestling is certainly something that will leave an impression on each viewer—all thanks to the coronavirus.^[6]

4 Streaming

Streaming services appear to be doing exceptionally well in the new normal. In particular, Netflix is reporting record-high traffic as more people stay home during the pandemic. Other services, such as Hulu and Vudu, are also seeing massive upticks in usage as well as hundreds of thousands of new subscribers.

However, this upswing does have its drawbacks. Many services (such as Netflix) are increasing bandwidth consumption to meet the almost astronomical demand, which is slowing Internet speeds overall. Many sites, like YouTube and Amazon Prime, are also seeing more traffic.

Although it is clear that many businesses are suffering, coronavirus has been good to the streaming industry, which appears to be at an all-time high with no signs of slowing down.^[7]

3 Music

From concert cancellations to album delays and tanking sales, COVID-19 appears to have upended the music business. Although the already prolific and established artists are not as severely affected, record labels reportedly have taken massive hits. The cash-strapped, homebound populace turned to YouTube and piracy for their music in lieu of live concerts or the purchase of albums.^[8]

However, music is still being made. Rapper Playboi Carti dropped an album from quarantine that was supposedly finished in his home studio. Also, several artists (including Taylor Swift, Travis Scott, and Lady Gaga) have held concerts over livestream or virtually in popular video games such as Fortnite.

2 Porn

Most people don’t think about the impact of coronavirus on porn, but the industry is seeing a massive increase in consumption across various sites. It’s no surprise that it’s doing so well. After all, what else are all these homebound people doing with their free time?

But it is seeing an uptick in more than just viewers. Alongside the soaring consumption, there’s been a surge in amateur production. In fact, a new genre seems to have sprung up.^[9]

A very popular search right now is for coronavirus-themed porn. Many new videos feature scenes where an actor pretends to be sick with COVID-19 and needs to visit a doctor or be tended by a partner. On the more disgusting end, some actors appear to cough on and infect other actors.

Unfortunately, it’s not all fantasy as the actors are genuinely feeling the impact of the virus. For safety reasons, many professional shoots are being canceled or postponed. Many workers in the industry have turned to doing webcam modeling, known as “camming,” to replace the income from a lack of shoots. Many have even temporarily quit the industry altogether. They are afraid of being exposed to the virus.

1 The Film Industry

The film industry (especially theaters) is seeing mass closings, cancellations, and revenue hemorrhage. Many actors refuse to or are otherwise ordered not to work during the pandemic. As such, the making or release of many movies has been pushed back or cancelled. Worse yet, the death of the theater experience could finally be at hand thanks to streaming sites.

Many movies—including the highly discussed Trolls World Tour—were released to streaming sites instead of theaters due to the many closures. Instead of much-anticipated losses, the released movies saw massive profits, far outstripping the expectations for the theater releases.

This has caused a massive backlash from the theater industry. In fact, many theaters are threatening to ban future Universal Studios movies at their locations as punishment for the company’s new plan to release films in theater and on streaming sites simultaneously once the pandemic has passed.^[10]

According to the theater owners, if movies are no longer guaranteed to be exclusive to them for the first few weeks of release, no one will come to a theater anymore. But then again, maybe that’s a good thing!

Top 10 Ways Coronavirus Will Change Your Life Forever

There have always been scammers. But with the internet, scammers easily access their victims and often present themselves as legitimate businesses. As people have come to recognize the more obvious scams, scammers have become more sophisticated, and it can now be difficult to tell the real from the fake.

When online:

• Be wary of websites that use “http” rather than “https” at the beginning of the site URL.
• Check to see that there is a padlock icon next to the URL.
• Watch out for deals that are too good to be true, a sense of urgency (only 6 hours left to take advantage of this opportunity), and being asked to pay through a non-secure method such as a money order or transfer.

If you are interested in partnering or purchasing with a business, do a little digging around to ensure they are legit. With that in mind, let’s look at 10 legitimate business industries that seem like scams.

10 Antiques

The antique business is not logical. After all, why buy a 100-year-old table for a thousand bucks when you can get a trendier one at the local furniture store for much less?

Setting a price for an antique or collectible doesn’t depend on practical concerns such as usefulness; it depends on nebulous qualities such as rarity and what the market will pay. The market for antiques and collectibles is worth some $1.7 billion annually in the U.S. Antique dealers are not usually scammers – although they are naturally trying to get the best possible price.

If you have decided to buy antiques or collectibles, perhaps as an investment, you need to do a lot of research and discover what similar items are selling for on sites such as eBay or from auction catalogs.

9 Used Car Sales

Used car salespeople have a terrible reputation. They often work on commission and need to sell vehicles quickly and for the highest possible price. But this doesn’t mean that the business is a scam. A salesperson would probably be surprised if you accepted the posted price without bargaining. This is not a scam; it’s part of the game.

If you buy a used car privately, you know the seller is trying to get the best possible price, and some back-and-forth negotiations might be involved. It’s no different on a car lot or the internet. A number of websites will give you price comparisons so that you know if the price is reasonable for the year and model you want to buy.

Even if you know cars, it’s always a good idea to have a friend with you who can point out obvious problems you may have missed.

8 Content Creation

There are countless websites out there, hoping to grab your attention for more than a few seconds. To do this, businesses need good content that is interesting and informative. An industry has developed to meet the demand for attractive content.

Content providers promise to provide well-written articles that meet their client’s needs. Competition between providers is fierce, and writers are not usually paid much for their articles. Many people believe that these providers are scammers and that writers will do their work and never be paid for it—this is not true.

While some providers may not be entirely trustworthy, the majority understand that their writing team is their best asset. If you are thinking of writing for one of these sites, there are various review sites on the web that will give you a good idea of what to expect.

Many disgruntled writers leave negative reviews on forums, but perhaps these people have not understood the terms and conditions of their firms. The vast majority of content providers are perfectly legitimate.

7 Health and Wellness Items

The worldwide market for health and wellness food products is worth around $841 billion, and that’s just food. Add on supplements and treatments, and the market is enormous.

Everyone wants to live longer and healthier lives, and many of us are willing to spend a lot of money to help us achieve our goals. This allows scammers to exploit our vulnerabilities and sell us products or treatments that are of dubious benefit or, sometimes, downright dangerous. This is a headache for the many genuine companies that market carefully-prepared goods that meet a real need.

You should carefully research both the product and the seller. The golden rule is that if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. Before taking supplements, it’s a good idea to consult your medical provider.

6 Recruitment Agencies

A professional recruitment agency wants to place the right person in the right job. The company the agency represents is paying a fee whether the job is part-time or full-time, temporary or permanent. It’s a legitimate business that can save an employer time and effort and find a job-seeker the position that suits their needs. Unfortunately, some scammers also work in this field.

Fake recruitment agencies might offer jobs on social media or contact you directly through email. These are after your personal information—do not respond if you don’t know the agency. Some job-placement agencies ask you to pay a registration fee. This is a red flag; a genuine agency will charge the company, not the job seeker.

Once more, it’s a question of doing a little homework to find out if the recruitment agency is genuine.

5 Technical Support

A genuine technical support team works under a strict code of conduct. Take Microsoft as an example. Microsoft will never send you an email out of the blue that tells you your computer has a problem. The company will not phone you to ask for financial or personal information. If your computer displays a pop-up asking you to call a number, no matter what it claims, it isn’t from Microsoft. In other words, they won’t contact you if you don’t contact them.

Scammers who pretend to be technical support staff might ask you to pay for a repair you don’t need or try to scam you out of personal information.

You should report any suspicious messages directly to the real company (eBay, Amazon, Walmart, etc.) and consider telling local law enforcement. These scammers are giving real technical support teams a bad name.

4 Online Coaching

You might have decided to work for yourself and try a new profession. Perhaps you don’t have the necessary experience and want to learn a little more before you take the plunge. Check out online providers such as edX or Coursera that offer a wide range of courses that might be just what you are looking for. These platforms offer well-designed courses that are sometimes free to access but will charge you a fee if you want to earn a certificate.

If you don’t find what you are looking for on these reputable sites, you could contact a professional brand in your chosen field and see which training courses they suggest.

Unfortunately, scammers have moved into the field with promises of guaranteed income and untold riches. Carefully vet these providers before you part with your money.

3 Real Estate

You can make good money in real estate, but it demands training, and plenty of courses offer the necessary preparation. An online course can allow you to continue in your present job while you are getting ready to change professions. Most of these are legitimate, but there are some shady ones out there.

Your course should meet your state’s licensing requirements, and your state should certify or approve the course. Having a word with a local realtor is not a bad idea to see what they would recommend. Online seminars that charge a fee but are not full courses can be a rip-off.

2 Charity

If there’s one area where scammers show what a cruel business they are in, it is charity. And it’s no wonder because there’s a lot of money in the charity business. In 2020, Americans donated an amazing $471 billion to worthy causes. Or they believed that they were worthy causes.

Most charities are perfectly legitimate, but some are criminal. After a natural disaster, for example, “charities” immediately appear, appealing for immediate financial help for the affected. A few of them are simply after your cash and disappear as quickly as they came. And, sometimes, even genuine charities can be mismanaged.

It would be a shame if all charities fell under suspicion just because a few are scams. You should always check before donating, especially if you’re unfamiliar with the charity. The Better Business Bureau, Charity Navigator, and CharityWatch all monitor charities.

Because of the scammers, people might be wary of giving to genuine charities. Whichever one you choose to support, be dire to do your homework before handing over your hard-earned money.

1 Debt Collection

Nobody likes debt collection agencies, but they do a difficult and necessary job. A code of ethics and federal legislation govern what a debt collector can do in the legitimate recovery of money owed. They must deal with people respectfully, register complaints about the validity of a debt, and never use threatening behavior when attempting to collect.

All genuine collectors adhere to the regulations and code of conduct that apply to their activity.

Because many people are naturally frightened of debt collectors, scammers have moved into the field, hoping that some of their victims will pay up to avoid threatened repercussions. A professional agency will never use threats either in writing or by phone.