The RealCheckMe Hall of Shame

The other collections stick to one kind of mistake. The Hall of Shame takes the worst from all three checks: business ideas that are dangerous as well as dumb, messages that should never have left the drafts folder, and posts that announce a personality instead of having one.

Each inductee gets a plaque: its verdict, its scores and the charge against it. A few were acquitted by the judge on a technicality, and we say so.

Every inductee was written for this page and judged by the matching live checker on 10 October 2026. The verdicts and scores are real; the charges are our commentary. Checks used: Is My Idea Stupid?, Should I Send This?, Is This Cringe?.

The ideas wing

Where products go when they are not just stupid but slightly alarming.

• Inductee No. 1 · Is My Idea Stupid?

  A fire extinguisher that runs on a subscription and locks itself if you miss a payment. GLORIOUSLY STUPID. 96% stupid

  Bold. Also possibly a crime.

  Biggest problem: It might be illegal or harmful. · Need 0/10 · Clarity 4/10 · Money 1/10 · Originality 9/10 · Difficulty 7/10

  The charge: The highest score anywhere in the library: 96% stupid, flagged as possibly illegal or harmful. A safety device that stops working when your card expires fails at the exact moment it matters. The roast: Bold. Also possibly a crime.

• Inductee No. 2 · Is My Idea Stupid?

  An airline that charges passengers a fee to get off the plane. GLORIOUSLY STUPID. 94% stupid

  Maybe run this one past a lawyer first.

  Biggest problem: It might be illegal or harmful. · Need 0/10 · Clarity 3/10 · Money 1/10 · Originality 9/10 · Difficulty 9/10

  The charge: 94% stupid, with execution difficulty 9/10 and a recommendation to consult a lawyer. Charging people to leave is the plot of a thriller, not a pricing strategy.

• Inductee No. 3 · Is My Idea Stupid?

  A smoke detector you have to recharge every single night. GLORIOUSLY STUPID. 91% stupid

  Maybe run this one past a lawyer first.

  Biggest problem: It might be illegal or harmful. · Need 1/10 · Clarity 7/10 · Money 1/10 · Originality 8/10 · Difficulty 4/10

  The charge: 91% stupid and flagged as harmful. The device is designed to be off on exactly the night you forget, which is the one night it would be needed.

• Inductee No. 4 · Is My Idea Stupid?

  An escape room with no exit, priced by the hour. PRETTY STUPID. 85% stupid

  Technically viable. Emotionally unnecessary.

  Biggest problem: Weak customer need. · Need 1/10 · Clarity 4/10 · Money 4/10 · Originality 6/10 · Difficulty 4/10

  The charge: 85% stupid. Need scored 1/10, which may be generous for a room you can enter but never complete.

• Inductee No. 5 · Is My Idea Stupid?

  A self-help book called How to Stop Buying Self-Help Books, sold as a 12-volume set. QUESTIONABLE. 62% stupid

  People will love it right up until the checkout page.

  Biggest problem: Weak path to making money. · Need 5/10 · Clarity 5/10 · Money 4/10 · Originality 7/10 · Difficulty 0/10

  The charge: Acquitted, more or less: only 62% and questionable. Need reached 5/10, which suggests the judge thinks the readers exist. The twelve volumes are the crime.

The texts wing

Messages that look short and land heavy.

• Inductee No. 6 · Should I Send This?

  I'm not mad, I'm just never speaking to you again 🙂 SLEEP ON IT 74% risky

  Future you has notes.

  Why: hostile tone · high regret risk · passive-aggressive jabs · Hostility 8/10 · Regret risk 7/10 · Neediness 4/10 · Unclear point 8/10

  The charge: SLEEP ON IT, the riskiest message in the wing at 74%. The calm smiley after a permanent threat is what makes it chilling; hostility scored 8/10.

• Inductee No. 7 · Should I Send This?

  Congrats on the engagement! Shame about the ring though. SLEEP ON IT 68% risky

  This reads like 2 a.m.

  Why: hostile tone · high regret risk · passive-aggressive jabs · Hostility 8/10 · Regret risk 6/10 · Neediness 0/10 · Unclear point 8/10

  The charge: 68% risky, hostility 8/10. Two sentences: one kind, one that cancels it.

• Inductee No. 8 · Should I Send This?

  Remember when you said you'd never let me down? lol SLEEP ON IT 61% risky

  Future you has notes.

  Why: passive-aggressive jabs · no clear point · hostile tone · Hostility 5/10 · Regret risk 4/10 · Neediness 3/10 · Unclear point 8/10

  The charge: 61% risky. The “lol” is doing the opposite of laughing; unclear point scored 8/10, because the message wants a fight without saying what it is about.

• Inductee No. 9 · Should I Send This?

  We need to talk. PROBABLY FINE 54% safe to send

  Fine. Read it once more anyway.

  Why: low regret risk · no jabs · friendly tone · Hostility 4/10 · Regret risk 3/10 · Neediness 3/10 · Unclear point 8/10

  The charge: Acquitted on a technicality: PROBABLY FINE at 54%. Hostility only 4/10, but unclear point 8/10, which is the whole problem. Four words, and the recipient spends the next hour imagining the worst.

• Inductee No. 10 · Should I Send This?

  Can you cover my shift on Saturday? It's your birthday? Even better, you'll be up anyway. PROBABLY FINE 53% safe to send

  Low drama, acceptable risk.

  Why: low regret risk · friendly tone · calm formatting · Hostility 4/10 · Regret risk 4/10 · Neediness 4/10 · Unclear point 5/10

  The charge: Also acquitted: 53% safe to send, which we would appeal. The judge saw a polite request and missed that it asks someone to give up their birthday.

The posts wing

Posts where the personality is mostly hashtags.

• Inductee No. 11 · Is This Cringe?

  Some people chase dreams. I chase dreams AND build empires. #HustleHarder #CEOmindset MAXIMUM CRINGE 79% cringe

  Delete before anyone sees.

  Why: trying too hard · LinkedIn energy · fishing for likes · Try-hard 10/10 · Humblebrag 5/10 · Emoji load 0/10 · LinkedIn energy 9/10

  The charge: MAXIMUM CRINGE at 79%, the highest cringe score in the library, with try-hard at 10/10. The roast: Delete before anyone sees.

• Inductee No. 12 · Is This Cringe?

  Manifesting a Lamborghini. Step 1: post about manifesting a Lamborghini 🙏💸 PRETTY CRINGE 60% cringe

  The algorithm is wincing.

  Why: trying too hard · fishing for likes · LinkedIn energy · Try-hard 8/10 · Humblebrag 4/10 · Emoji load 0/10 · LinkedIn energy 5/10

  The charge: 60%, try-hard 8/10. The joke is almost self-aware, but the step-by-step framing is pure guru.

• Inductee No. 13 · Is This Cringe?

  Normalize being this happy 🥰🥰🥰 (sorry if this offends anyone) MILD CRINGE 47% cringe

  A light wince.

  Why: effortless · self-aware · no guru voice · Try-hard 3/10 · Humblebrag 5/10 · Emoji load 2/10 · LinkedIn energy 2/10

  The charge: Only 47%, mild. The judge read the apology as self-aware; we read it as a brag wearing a disclaimer.

• Inductee No. 14 · Is This Cringe?

  If you can't handle me at my worst, you don't deserve my podcast. MILD CRINGE 46% cringe

  A light wince.

  Why: natural wording · light on emoji · no guru voice · Try-hard 6/10 · Humblebrag 4/10 · Emoji load 0/10 · LinkedIn energy 2/10

  The charge: 46% and mild. The judge called the wording natural, which is true. It is a naturally worded threat to make people listen to a podcast.

• Inductee No. 15 · Is This Cringe?

  I don't do drama. Anyway, here are 14 paragraphs about my ex. MILD CRINGE 40% cringe

  Slightly try-hard, mostly fine.

  Why: effortless · self-aware · no guru voice · Try-hard 2/10 · Humblebrag 3/10 · Emoji load 0/10 · LinkedIn energy 0/10

  The charge: 40%, acquitted as self-aware. The contradiction is the joke, and the judge got it, which is more than the fourteen paragraphs deserve.

Want to know whether your own idea, message or post belongs here? Check it with Is My Idea Stupid?, Should I Send This? or Is This Cringe? before the internet does.

More collections

• Stupid Business Ideas: Twenty terrible ideas, ranked from merely stupid to glorious.
• Texts You Probably Shouldn’t Send: Twelve risky messages, each with a rewrite that scored better.
• The Cringe Hall of Fame: Awards for LinkedIn posts, bios and announcements, with real scores.
• All examples and collections