25 Groups and Communities That Give Us Major 'Cult Vibes'

PocketEpiphany Published 01/08/2022 in Funny

Cult-like behavior is usually easy to spot from a distance. Like, was anyone surprised all those Trump flag people ended up attacking the nation's capitol when he lost the election?

Other cults, however, are hiding in plain sight. To help you stay safe and sane, here is our roundup of things the internet agrees are basically cults!

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1.
Disney World people are crazy.
2.
There’s a low key Cult of Walt(on) at Walmart stores
3.
Salesforce. They have gamified their recruiting, training, and career advancement. They have badges, tiers, ranks, mascots tribal/group-based identities, the notion of "Ohana". Not saying their product isn't good (quite the contrary actually), but it feels like a cult/MLM model at times.
4.
LulaRoe lovers
5.
Nickocado Avodaco subscribers
6.
Texas A&M University. Their fave saying? “From the outside looking in, you can’t understand it. From the inside looking out, you can’t explain it.” 100% a cult.
7.
All of those do-it-at-home, online marketing that I see a lot of women in my life get sucked into, where you make a ton of posts and hype up whatever occupation you're in as a "lifestyle", with promises of good pay, great social circles, and fulfilling incentives
8.
Being a fan of certain movies or shows. Some people just take it way too far (looking at you, Harry Potter fans).
9.
Peloton. ‘Nuff said.
10.
Employers who express themselves as a unit, such as we are a family/pack, etc.
11.
Hustle Culture. I used to work with a guy who bragged he "only sleeps 10 minutes a night" because as soon as he got off he'd go do gigs or play with crypto all night. The only things in his life, supposedly, were "banging b*tches and getting bags." He's far from the only person who thinks it's "Chad" to run yourself ragged and never take care of yourself.
12.
Kpop fandoms
13.
HOAs
14.
When I was in high school, I had several friends who did crew (rowing). These guys had some unusual rituals, to say the least. Before every race, the varsity captain would buy probably $100 worth of products and would host a food fight "in the name of the great gods of the water". To top it off, they all dressed the same and would speak in the jargon of crew terms nobody else could understand. Definitely not technically a cult but it sure as hell felt like one
15.
Every Army and every marine I've spoken to gave me cultish vibes, too.
16.
Alcoholics Anonymous. You’ll encounter various dogmatic characters in the rooms who turn AA into their life where there's nothing left of their personality.
17.
Any kind of brand loyalty. “I’d rather push a Ford than drive a Chevy!”But… why though!?
18.
People who trade NFTs
19.
Greek life
20.
Being on eBaum’s World
21.
Politics So many people have made their political party of choice into their personality and it's unbearable.
22.
MLM's. They suck you in with an info session and have convinced so many people that they can be their own boss, but first you have to pay them a bunch of money and try to recruit other members in order to be successful. Their followers then constantly broadcast their products all over social media, in the hopes that they will earn money and a brand new BMW.All very cult-like.
23.
Dave Ramsey walks around with so much cultish boomer energy it's insane.Like some of these people are really stupid and get themselves way over their heads but he just gives little quips in response. Caller: So yeah, that's when I used my credit card to pay to visit my mom's funeral Dave: Wow...long pause well that was really stupid wasn't it? You know what Tom (theme music starts slowly playing) it's time for you to start making better choices and to take responsibility for your actions. That's how we’re gonna get this country back on track. (Theme music gets really loud) This is the Dave Ramsey show.Caller: So what do I do? Dave? Hello?
24.
Tesla. And Elon Musk in general. He has very prolific PR campaigns and a lot of delusional defenders.
25.
Honestly, the Star Wars fandom is the one that comes to mind.The gatekeeping and abuse in that Fandom is terrifying. Just swarms of toxic Star Wars fans have literally bullied and harassed an actor to be nearly suicidal. (Ahmed Best). And drove Jake Lloyd to some serious mental illnesses when he was just a f*cking child. And Hayden Christensen nearly abandoned his career altogether.It really is a terrifying community.

1.
Disney World people are crazy.
2.
There’s a low key Cult of Walt(on) at Walmart stores
3.
Salesforce. They have gamified their recruiting, training, and career advancement. They have badges, tiers, ranks, mascots tribal/group-based identities, the notion of "Ohana". Not saying their product isn't good (quite the contrary actually), but it feels like a cult/MLM model at times.
4.
LulaRoe lovers
5.
Nickocado Avodaco subscribers
6.
Texas A&M University. Their fave saying? “From the outside looking in, you can’t understand it. From the inside looking out, you can’t explain it.” 100% a cult.
7.
All of those do-it-at-home, online marketing that I see a lot of women in my life get sucked into, where you make a ton of posts and hype up whatever occupation you're in as a "lifestyle", with promises of good pay, great social circles, and fulfilling incentives
8.
Being a fan of certain movies or shows. Some people just take it way too far (looking at you, Harry Potter fans).
9.
Peloton. ‘Nuff said.
10.
Employers who express themselves as a unit, such as we are a family/pack, etc.
11.
Hustle Culture. I used to work with a guy who bragged he "only sleeps 10 minutes a night" because as soon as he got off he'd go do gigs or play with crypto all night. The only things in his life, supposedly, were "banging b*tches and getting bags." He's far from the only person who thinks it's "Chad" to run yourself ragged and never take care of yourself.
12.
Kpop fandoms
13.
HOAs
14.
When I was in high school, I had several friends who did crew (rowing). These guys had some unusual rituals, to say the least. Before every race, the varsity captain would buy probably $100 worth of products and would host a food fight "in the name of the great gods of the water". To top it off, they all dressed the same and would speak in the jargon of crew terms nobody else could understand. Definitely not technically a cult but it sure as hell felt like one
15.
Every Army and every marine I've spoken to gave me cultish vibes, too.
16.
Alcoholics Anonymous. You’ll encounter various dogmatic characters in the rooms who turn AA into their life where there's nothing left of their personality.
17.
Any kind of brand loyalty. “I’d rather push a Ford than drive a Chevy!”But… why though!?
18.
People who trade NFTs
19.
Greek life
20.
Being on eBaum’s World
21.
Politics So many people have made their political party of choice into their personality and it's unbearable.
22.
MLM's. They suck you in with an info session and have convinced so many people that they can be their own boss, but first you have to pay them a bunch of money and try to recruit other members in order to be successful. Their followers then constantly broadcast their products all over social media, in the hopes that they will earn money and a brand new BMW.All very cult-like.
23.
Dave Ramsey walks around with so much cultish boomer energy it's insane.Like some of these people are really stupid and get themselves way over their heads but he just gives little quips in response. Caller: So yeah, that's when I used my credit card to pay to visit my mom's funeral Dave: Wow...long pause well that was really stupid wasn't it? You know what Tom (theme music starts slowly playing) it's time for you to start making better choices and to take responsibility for your actions. That's how we’re gonna get this country back on track. (Theme music gets really loud) This is the Dave Ramsey show.Caller: So what do I do? Dave? Hello?
24.
Tesla. And Elon Musk in general. He has very prolific PR campaigns and a lot of delusional defenders.
25.
Honestly, the Star Wars fandom is the one that comes to mind.The gatekeeping and abuse in that Fandom is terrifying. Just swarms of toxic Star Wars fans have literally bullied and harassed an actor to be nearly suicidal. (Ahmed Best). And drove Jake Lloyd to some serious mental illnesses when he was just a f*cking child. And Hayden Christensen nearly abandoned his career altogether.It really is a terrifying community.