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all 171 comments

[–]Desirai 1027 points1028 points  (25 children)

I'm convinced that companies that come up with this stuff and hire people to make it for them, don't actually shop at the stores they're designing this shit for

[–]sedition- 614 points615 points  (17 children)

You'll never believe this, but the dude who owns the company that makes and installs these stupid doors is actually the former CEO of Walgreens lmao.

He used his connections to cut a $200 million deal with Walgreens to install these dumb things in like 2,000 stores.

Then when the current CEO saw how stupid and worthless the doors were when she visited some stores and saw them in action, she immediately cancelled the roll out, and now the screen company is suing Walgreens.

It's all just a big circle jerk with these CEO's.

[–]JerrMondo 126 points127 points  (7 children)

Walgreens doesn’t have a CEO currently, so wonder how that will impact this rollout

Edit: interim CEO is Ginger Graham

[–]sedition- 37 points38 points  (2 children)

No clue, tbh. I just remembered this off the top of my head from reading an article a while back.

I'm pretty sure the lawsuit is still active.

[–]af_mmolina 21 points22 points  (2 children)

Ginger Graham doesn't count? I only know about her because she owns a bland overpriced restaurant in my town.

[–]JerrMondo 3 points4 points  (1 child)

True! Though I believe they’re looking for someone else to be permanent

[–]RevengencerAlf 41 points42 points  (2 children)

I like h ow you said we'll never believe it and then said something completely believable. (to be clear not throwing shade at you, just fuck life)

Corporate CEOs and boards are all a big circlejerk. Hell the entire reason companies are flipping out so much about "back to the office" now is because the corporate leaderships all either own corporate real estate investments or sit on the boards of other companies that do.

[–]sedition- 12 points13 points  (1 child)

That part was meant to be sarcastic lol, but it's hard to convey tone through text.

[–]RevengencerAlf 5 points6 points  (0 children)

To be honest I pretty much registered that was probably the case and I was trying to be clever. I'm just not that funny unfortunately

[–]Cobek 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Synergy!

[–]sedition- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thats the kind of thing we like to hear, you're promoted.

[–]Rokey76 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Is that why I've only seen these doors on the internet but not in person?

[–]sedition- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Probably, I assume they're not paying to install more with the lawsuit going.

[–]KingApologist 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Boards of for-profits (and a few shameful non profits) should be considered conspiracies to extract money and resources from society and make everyone else do all the work.

There shouldn't be a legal license to conspire against the rest of society.

[–]cowboybiby 5 points6 points  (0 children)

They’re running out of things to do and need to impress investors lol

[–]dks64 5 points6 points  (1 child)

I work at a restaurant and the decisions corporate makes make it very clear that they have NO idea what it's like to work in a restaurant.

[–]FunIllustrious 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It happens in IT too. We had gone through an evaluation process to choose between several packages for a particular part of the business. The actual IT people picked package A because it did everything we wanted, integrated nicely with our other equipment and looked good. Package B failed to check most of those boxes. We were all set to go out and get package A, until the CIO played golf with someone representing package B. CIO really didn't couldn't tell a CPU from a doorknob, but by golly those package B people give a good game of golf, so he signed us up for B.

[–]who_you_are 8 points9 points  (0 children)

For that one I won't be surprised if there is a good reason behind it.

It could be they want to put ads at some points (including ads for a product that is into that window itself, or just random ones), maximize product visibility (when the window fog), displaying a better image than the product itself, not allowing us to see if the product is out of stock so we try to get something else, automating price display, ...

[–]Nvenom8 4 points5 points  (1 child)

Coming up with a problem that nobody has and then selling a solution that works worse than the original.

[–]Desirai 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes. I do believe this is the best definition.

[–]Beall619 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I swear this is what happened with the standon pallet jack

[–]DarthArtero 248 points249 points  (31 children)

I never understood why these decisions were made. Like what was wrong with the standard glass doors for the coolers?

Maybe I’m not profit-driven enough to understand these “good ideas”

[–]Tim7Prime 60 points61 points  (3 children)

Don't forget, the C suite designer probably hasn't even shopped at one of these locations. Same vibe as charging a FPS player $1 to reload...

[–]DarthArtero 4 points5 points  (2 children)

Good point

[–]Geng1Xin1 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Same vibe as charging a FPS player $1 to reload...

I haven't played an online FPS since around 2014, please tell me this isn't real...

[–]Chainsawd 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Unity's CEO floated the idea.

[–]vesleskjor 24 points25 points  (7 children)

It's just for ad space

[–]whosat___ 6 points7 points  (6 children)

Invasive ads too. They have cameras and infrared sensors to identify people by their face to serve ads for what they’ve purchased in the past.

[–]RadicalDreamer89 19 points20 points  (2 children)

When I was younger watching the film Minority Report, I thought it was kind of cool how, in the mall scene, it would tag your eyes and a hologram would say something like, "Hey there Steve, coming back for another pair of those boot-cut jeans?"

Now, that's terrifying.

[–]GoldSilverPaper 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Well said mate!

[–]FunIllustrious 1 point2 points  (0 children)

During the Pandemic I saw a number of masks screen-printed with someone's face. I wonder if facial recognition would be fooled by that? Not the Minority Report kind, because that's retinia or iris scan, but maybe cameras would be fooled?

[–]AnimusNoctis 5 points6 points  (1 child)

These things don't even accurately display what's in-stock half the time. I seriously doubt they're capable of tracking what you buy.

[–]whosat___ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree, it’s likely not capable right now. But it’s a big selling point of the tech.

[–]x2040 8 points9 points  (0 children)

The CEO of the door company is former CEO of Walgreens. Not a joke.

[–][deleted] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

If the screens were actually functional, they could use them to display advertisements.

[–]BeKind_BeTheChange 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Read the top comment thread, it's explained. You're gonna love it!

[–]DarthArtero 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow. So that’s the real reason.

[–]KaXiRavioli 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The optimist in me likes to believe that glass doors waste more energy and the screen doors are better insulated to be a net energy savings.

[–]Phantom1thrd 117 points118 points  (5 children)

"Seeing what's inside this freezer is currently out of order. Sorry for the inconvenience." How often are they playing ads on these freezer doors?

[–]mezmerak 28 points29 points  (4 children)

They have these at a Walgreens near me and while they surprisingly don’t play ads, they do play annoying splash animations every couple minutes. Like the beer door will look like a glass filling with beer.

[–]Phantom1thrd 25 points26 points  (0 children)

That's kind of an ad, for the concept of beer. lol

[–]Rokey76 3 points4 points  (1 child)

[–]mezmerak 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Okay ngl that one I’d be okay with 😂 my Walgreens only has the boring animations

[–]LightBluePen 98 points99 points  (4 children)

If only we had a solution that would allow us to look through the door and see what’s inside.

[–]thatburghfan 51 points52 points  (1 child)

OK, Mr. Big Brain, go invent it then and become a billionaire. A solid material that you can see through but also keep the cold air in. An "invisible door" LOL Good luck.

People think this stuff is so easy. /s

[–]BeKind_BeTheChange 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Unpossible. A solid material that you can see through. Next you are going to suggest that man can fly.

[–]Gloomy_Stage 53 points54 points  (4 children)

Wasn’t it in the news recently that Walgreens have pulled out of the trial citing that customers did not like them and that they were unreliable.

Good! Hope it doesn’t catch on as it’s a waste of resources for virtually no benefit.

[–]_Atlas_Drugged_ 26 points27 points  (3 children)

It wasn’t all bad. Those doors gave us this: https://youtube.com/shorts/GiJ0UWspCUw?si=3VeAqhDcXFnFXEHL

[–]coachfortner 4 points5 points  (2 children)

why are they all dressed liked ninjas?

[–]graywh 9 points10 points  (0 children)

to hide from the facial recognition for targeted advertisements ;)

[–]_Atlas_Drugged_ 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Winter weather I think.

[–]Shattered_Disk4 23 points24 points  (1 child)

Why use see through glass when you can have a screen that tells you what is inside!

[–]NylaStasja 37 points38 points  (6 children)

Why?? What's wrong with glass doors? So you can see what's inside them, and whether the thing you want is in stock...

There is types of glass that are hard to break (harder than a led screen) and isolatie is also fine.

[–]zomentenos 13 points14 points  (2 children)

They don’t have a software to track and record consumer behavior.

[–]ram_hawklet 11 points12 points  (1 child)

Yeah but just track what I’m buying through the god damn sales records like what???

[–]zomentenos 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Sales records don’t show how long you looked at the product, if you grabbed another one first, If you had to reach far, how was that instant, track your facial expression of the instant you grabbed the product, and much more. All this helps them learn how they can “improve” to sell you more.

[–]Tim7Prime 12 points13 points  (0 children)

But how can we advertise to you while you are shopping? Do we have to rely on you being a dude and going pee so we can advertise at the urinal? We gain a whole 2 cents from you when we advertise to you in the frozen section. /s

[–]Aviarinara 3 points4 points  (0 children)

it would be one thing if they actually put which things were out of stock on the screen, but they DONT. You have to open every door to see if anything is still left behind it.

[–]Skull_Reaper101 1 point2 points  (0 children)

And it's cheaper

[–]prosperosniece 12 points13 points  (1 child)

A high cost solution to a problem that didn’t exist in the first place.

[–]Anru_Kitakaze 2 points3 points  (0 children)

But the problem exists. There are space and surfaces around you without ad! It's a huuuuge problem companies want to fix

[–]HerMajestysButthole 11 points12 points  (2 children)

Let me show you what's inside before you can see what's inside and it may not even be inside.

What is this? Pimp My Refrigerator?

[–]HoboSkid 4 points5 points  (1 child)

"I see you are wanting to buy a drink, please watch this 5 second ad to see what's in this cooler"

[–]Ender_Wiggins18 23 points24 points  (1 child)

We have them now at my Kroger. They're super frustrating because half the time they're displaying ads so you can't see what's in them.

[–]animitztaeret 18 points19 points  (0 children)

God I hate this so much I almost downvoted you out of some weird instinct 😭

[–]Tof12345 8 points9 points  (2 children)

I remember seeing some brain-dead idiots either on Reddit or Twitter, defending the shit out of these LED doors.

This design is stupid and does absolutely nothing that couldn't have been done with clear windows.

[–]McFeely_Smackup 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If only there were a way...

fuck, if only there were a way to make a joke about something this stupid that isn't already obvious to everyone.

What's going on in Walgreens executive offices? first they got totally suckered by Theranos, now they got rooked by "Cooler Screens" so thoroughly that they're suing WALGREENS over their shitty stupid product not being used enough

https://www.winsightgrocerybusiness.com/technology/cooler-screens-sues-walgreens-200-million

[–]iNFECTED_pIE 8 points9 points  (2 children)

So funny, same stupid doors in my local Walgreens, same problem with half of them dying already. Would love to know what idiot executive pushed this nonsense.

[–]Dependent_Squash9754 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Elmo Spencer has been fired.*

*probably the name of the guy who came up with this idea

[–]LeeQuidity 12 points13 points  (2 children)

There is a growing trend: the electrification of everything. You don't need a Bluetooth capable fork or water bottle, just as you don't need an LED screen on freezer doors.

[–]Square-Wing-6273 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Don't you harsh on my Bluetooth fork! It weighs every bite I eat, analyzes the nutritional value and if I try to eat too much, or something that I shouldn't, it shocks me! But it's new, and better then anything and I have to have it! Give me all the Bluetooth

[–]silveretoile 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Reminds me of the fucking smart salt shaker on kickstarter

[–]mekonsrevenge 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Walgreens is taking them out here in Chicago.

[–]Hairy_Bumblebee7101 5 points6 points  (0 children)

If only we had the technology to see in real time what was behind the door.

[–]spinnerspence 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It’s the reason the boss got fired a few months ago.

[–]jubbostwitch 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I just open it and enjoy the cold air. Even when they work idk what it is the screens make me dizzy and I feel like throwing up. Funnily enough the cold air helps with the nausea

[–]AppropriateGate4649 4 points5 points  (2 children)

How much heat do these produce? Like are the doors effectively reducing the freezers efficiency and longevity?

[–]SockPunk 1 point2 points  (1 child)

If they're designed with any brains at all, they're heavily insulated behind the screen. And modern screen tech is reasonably power(/heat) efficient. I still very much doubt it's a net positive vs traditional coolers overall, though.

[–]AppropriateGate4649 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I imagine you're right, just noticed the screen Vents at the bottom...come to think of it the problem is probably overheating of something lol

[–]wayne0004 3 points4 points  (0 children)

"My proposal is simple: wouldn't it be nice if there was some kind of system that automatically updates the contents of the screen depending of the fridge contents, (and hear me out) without having to connect the screen to the mains?

From the Fraser University Center of Knowledge, Innovation and New Gadgets, we present...

The new General Locator and Assessment-of-Stock System.

Help your store by installing a FUCKING GLASS™."

[–]Callinon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Man if only there were some transparent material those doors could be made out of so that you could just use your normal human eyes to look through and see what was inside the freezers.

Someday, science. Someday.

[–]goudasupreme 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Probably just hoping that forcing you to look inside will make you grab something even if what you want isn't there. If you can see everything from farther away then you have less incentive to scan the shelves

[–]achoowie 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Now whats wrong with just a regular old see through door?

[–]testies2345 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Why, fucking please tell me why anyone thought these were a good idea?

[–]paperfett 2 points3 points  (0 children)

How could anyone ever think these things made any sense at all? There's absolutely no up side. Now you have a bunch of doors with computers and screens built into them that will fail. When they fail you can't even see what's inside. It's so stupid. Ok so they don't have to update the price tags. Wouldn't digital price tags make more sense then? It's just so damn silly.

[–]XCypher73 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Talk about fixing something that didn't need fixing.

[–]hannibal_morgan 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Just stand their with the door open to look at the items. Eventually these stores will learn

[–]GuessWhoItsJosh 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They’re annoying. Either they aren’t updated or right when I’m trying to find something, the door switches to an ad.

[–]BlackOutEfficiency 1 point2 points  (1 child)

They run on Ubuntu and are very fun to...test in a safe environment...for educational purposes

[–]penguin_stomper 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So did you play meatspin, or something by a certain Mr. Astley?

[–]Empyrealist 1 point2 points  (0 children)

When are the corpos going to realize that not everything should be turned into ad space

[–]ypoora1 1 point2 points  (0 children)

These are just ad space and tracking under the guise of... There isn't really a guise, these just randomly started being shoved into people's faces one day.

I hate the modern tech industry sometimes.

[–]ForrestFeline 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Why?!

This costs more to do than a simple glass one! This is a bad investment! How do they not see that!

[–]RelevantSteak1977 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Waste of money time and resources. We’re gonna regret wasting all of these precious metals in 30 years

[–]GrowCanadian 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Imagine being the sales guy that sold these. He must be laughing all the way home that he convinced a massive company to buy them.

If only there was an easy way to see what’s behind the glass…..

[–]McFeely_Smackup 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Imagine being the sales guy that sold these. He must be laughing all the way home that he convinced a massive company to buy them.

it's even funnier than that

https://www.winsightgrocerybusiness.com/technology/cooler-screens-sues-walgreens-200-million

[–]IIRAZEII 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just make them refrigerated vending machines at that point

[–]lovetyrannicalreddit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If i can see into it, there's no need for me to hold the door open until I grab the item I want. I bet their electricity bill went up after installing them from doors being opened so much more often for much longer periods of time.

[–]DeNooYah 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Man, if only there were a better way to see the product inside.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is probably the dumbest use of a screen that will ever exist. Seriously, what the hell were they thinking lmao.

[–]RelevantSteak1977 -1 points0 points  (1 child)

You gotta shop somewhere else this is so stupid

[–]Necessary_County4339 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I want people to steal the doors, put glass in and put them back. That’s their origin story

[–]Halbbitter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Woah, future boy. What is this monstrosity?

[–]AppropriateGate4649 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Woah...what kind futuristic witch craft is this....I was amazed/ impressed two weeks ago when Aldi fitted LCD price tickets to the product shelves,it was like walking into a real-life tomorrow's world episode....iwas even more stunned when I walked in two weeks later and only seen one broken one.

[–]42tfish 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For the life of me I don’t understand these. It’s like sticking tvs up where your windows are with cameras facing outside.

[–]xxdibxx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So… they are screen doors?

[–]i_never_ever_learn 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How else are we supposed to know what is on the other side of a pain of glass?

[–]xzanfr 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've not yet encountered these in my country, but when I do I'm wedging them open with a bottle of milk or whatever so the next people can see what's inside.

[–]dgradius 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I haven’t seen these in real life and until I do I remain convinced this is a sophisticated performance art internet prank.

[–]aomeone 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Now i see these as being more convenient for updating prices and stuff, and it makes them easier to see, but you have to actually make sure they dont malfunction or break

[–]Cannon_Fodder558 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Plot twist

Their doors to the back rooms

[–]mreid74 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Gotta make it look like you have something in stock after our promising youths take it all.

[–]nineinchgod 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Who could have predicted something like this happening?!?

<shocked_Kirk.gif>

[–]Vaux1916 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is a perfect example of just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

[–]tinypotheadprincess 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The walgreens by me keeps every other door off all the time to save electricity

[–]TheHatedPro020 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As some random guy said

"Society is progressing, just backwards".

Digitalisation of supermarkets is insanely stupid

[–]diarrheainthehottub 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unnecessary technology.

[–]fantom_farter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There is an obligation to post this video every time these doors are brought up, and it doesn't appear anyone else has https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcXu4_K1tMQ

[–]DaweiArch 0 points1 point  (2 children)

What is the actual benefit of these doors for businesses? There must be some benefit if they are willing to invest in them, but I can’t think of one.

[–]Glad_Army1595 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Ad revenue

[–]CapmyCup 0 points1 point  (0 children)

..that goes into maintaining these shitty contraptions

[–]hummus_is_yummus1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The only thing I can think is that behind the LEDs, the doors are insulated. In which case this is an [expensive] way to approach energy savings, since glass is a poor thermal insulator.

If that's the engineering rationale then maaaybe it makes sense after all (?)

[–]The_One_True_Matt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

BuT sTuDiEs ShOwEd OuR pRoDuCtS lOoKeD mOrE pUrChAsBlE

[–]MishmoshMishmosh 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don’t get it. At all. Why are we making problems where there are none?

[–]MishmoshMishmosh 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is cooler screens another Theranos? Didn’t Walgreens learn? Holy moly

[–]KingApologist 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The climate is falling apart, driving people from poor countries out of where they live, people are starving, and yet this tremendous waste of ever-shrinking resources is allowed to exist.

[–]space_is-great 0 points1 point  (0 children)

JUST USE GLASS SO PEOPLE CAN SEE WHATS IN STOCK AND WHAT IS NOT

[–]apexunicore 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m

[–]nah-soup 0 points1 point  (0 children)

imagine if those were just windows and you could actually look at what’s inside. hopefully someday we’ll have that kind of tech

[–]Jslewalite 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pure comedy

[–]Fr0stW4lker 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Using these actually causes the electricity bill to go down, when they work, due to being able to add another side of the freezer that is insulated

[–]Macca618 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I won’t shop at Walgreens because of their public rebuke of women’s choice, so what are these doors?