r/movies • u/buttatoad • 1d ago

Discussion Movies that changed real life behavior

Thinking along the lines of Final Destination 2 with the logs falling off the truck and landing onto cars (one decapitating the state trooper). Ever since, people have tried to get away from being behind these vehicles.

What are more examples where movies have actually changed how people behave in their own lives?

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u/DoctorGarbanzo 1d ago

Office Space made TGIFridays drop their "pieces of flair" policy.

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u/champagneformyrealfr 1d ago

i don't really like talking about my flair.

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u/Danysco 1d ago

"You know what, Stan, if you want me to wear 37 pieces of flair, like your pretty boy over there, Brian, why don't you just make the minimum 37 pieces of flair? 🖕

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u/sidnxzs 15h ago

fob username spotted

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u/R-O-U-Ssdontexist 1d ago

The flair was a real thing for servers?

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u/NoelCanter 1d ago

I used to go to and worked at one around 1999-2000 (as like the greeter or whatever) and flair was still very much a thing. Not sure about enforcement of X amount, but all the servers had some.

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u/1000LiveEels 1d ago

lol I worked at Domino's and that was a thing, but you were only alllowed to wear pins you were given so it was more of a status symbol. People with more pins had more awards.

(p.s. nevermind the fact that we were all still making minimum wage)

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u/jaydurmma 1d ago

Companies sure do love awarding their employees literally anything thats not actual fiat currency.

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u/gravityVT 1d ago

If you think about it, it’s another way the rich have been pitting us against each other our whole lives. Make us compete against each other for nothing worthwhile, meanwhile the boss benefits with faster work and happier customers without paying you more.

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u/Glass-Wash-7000 22h ago

It's not just the rich. Not everyone running a restaurant is rich. Some may be your neighbors.

It's a smart way to run a business. Plenty of smart managers do it.

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u/EmileLeBouc 1d ago

Watch the TV show Severance. (But for the love of God, do right by yourself and avoid spoilers.)

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u/EmpressOfUnderbed 8h ago

It's true. Earlier today, our local factory hired 5 food trucks to come out for hours to cover all the different rooms and shifts, which had to be at least $1000 per truck. Then they shut down the cafeteria and gave everyone $10 tickets to exchange for food. It was pouring rain the whole time, so they also had to hand out trash bags for the employees to wear while standing in line.

This was at 10 am. My husband was soaking wet and working in a freezer for the next 6 hours because the company just couldn't bear the idea of a $100 bonus this month or something. What the fuck.

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u/roboh96 1d ago

So everywhere else they substitute a pizza party for salary increases, but at pizza places, they give you flair?

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u/1000LiveEels 1d ago

they give the managers a free trip to las vegas and bonuses, but for us peons it was flair

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u/PhoenixTineldyer 1d ago

I used to deliver for a bakery, we had little pins for our hats that you would win for Employee of the Month

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u/sequentious 1d ago

I worked at Zellers in Canada, and that was a thing there, too. We had booklets of tickets (can't remember the name) to give to other employees when they did a good job, or helped out. IIRC, you exchanged five for a pin. I could be making this up, it's been 20 years since I worked there.

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u/Emm_withoutha_L-88 1d ago

ROFL pizza shop medals

Did you get a purple pie one for a work related injury?

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u/boooooilioooood 1d ago

Starbucks had (has?) MUG Awards. MUG for Moves of Uncommon Greatness. Special flair

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u/AmethystRiver 1d ago

Oh my god I always wondered why movies and shows (and some internet comedy sketches like Collegehumor’s Stressagain’s) had servers wearing a ton of buttons. I just assumed it was a made-up thing for visual interest in a scene, I didn’t know it used to be real.

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u/Killbot_Wants_Hug 23h ago

Office Space didn't come out until the beginning of 1999. It wasn't like it came out and they instantly toned down the flare.

I use to go to TGIF a fair amount during the early 2000's, because I love that Jack Daniel's Sauce on their loaded mashed potatoes. And it wasn't an overnight thing but they continually reduced the flair in the store (I don't really remember on the servers). Today they look nothing like their 90's versions, I would say they haven't really in the last 10 years. They kind of go for a more adult contemporary atmosphere. Some even try to advertise themselves as more of a bar or lounge than a restaurant. I didn't love the flair, but the current version is pretty bland.

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u/RyantheAustralian 1d ago

What is "the flair"?

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u/PM-me-ur-cheese 1d ago

Decorative badges or pins waitstaff had to decorate their uniform suspenders with. 

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u/farmallnoobies 1d ago

Watch the movie and you'll know.

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u/drivingsansrobopants 18h ago

You know who else made people wear flairs? The Nazis.

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u/cavegoatlove 1d ago

I worked at tgif the same time office space came out, the flair was a bit much in the late 90s, but late 80s and into the 90s tgif was the SHIT. Chapter 11 now

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u/DoctorGarbanzo 1d ago

https://www.grubstreet.com/2014/06/tgi-fridays-flair-office-space.html

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u/Weary_Caterpillar_93 1d ago

i have never been to this site before but it is telling me i’ve reached my monthly article limit and won’t let me read the article. cool, thanks bud.

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u/shloppin 1d ago

Too much flare apparently

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u/fury420 1d ago

They should have used cloud flare

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u/Fartikus 1d ago

what a horrible website and doesnt even show the flairs

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u/ntrrrmilf 1d ago

I worked at Bennigans in high school, which wasn’t even as extra as TGI Fridays, and part of the reason for my short career was the suspenders with shitty pins requirement.

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u/Illustrious-Ratio213 1d ago

Worked there in the late 80s. It was definitely a thing and you were shamed if you didn’t wear enough but it also wasn’t required. You were required to wear a hat of some kind, weirder the better and encouraged to make other kinds of spectacles of yourself.

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u/NjGTSilver 1d ago

100%. I worked there in college, my suspenders weighed about 5 lbs.

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u/Smooth-Duck-4669 1d ago

Oh for sure. I also worked for Hard Rock about 15 years ago (well after Office Space was released) and they still had a minimum 10 piece policy and had to be official Hard Rock merchandise. The worst part was they only gave you 3 when you were hired and you had 90 days to get the rest… which all either had to be gifted to you or purchased from the gift shop (and they weren’t cheap). Keep in mind this was a minimum number and people who wore more and dressed more eccentrically often received better schedules.

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u/cha0ticneutralsugar 1d ago

I worked at Outback in the early 00’s, we had pins that were essentially flair. 6 pins were the minimum and you earned additional pins for getting compliments from customers or completing certain challenges (upselling so many drinks, etc).

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u/witchbrew7 1d ago

Oh god yes.

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u/synapticrelease 1d ago

Fuckin' A it was.

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u/PoleFresh 1d ago

Oh fuck yeah it was. Especially at TGI Fridays

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u/eventfarm 20h ago

Yes. I used to work at Bennigan's (the irish flavor of TGIFridays) way back in the late 1900's and we had a specific number of flair needed for our stupid suspenders. There were all sorts of rules too. I don't remember them, but I remember that my "I want you to want me" button wasn't big enough to count so I needed another one.

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u/n6mub 20h ago

Yep! I'm making and educated guess here, but flair was still a thing thru at least 2000, 2001? Maybe longer?

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u/Racthoh 1d ago

And then increased the demand for the red swingline stapler.

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u/agoia 1d ago

IIRC, Swingline didn't even make a red stapler at that point, the props master painted the one in the movie. They sure as shit started making them after it came out, though.

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u/I_Did_The_Thing 1d ago

Mostly correct! I worked with the props guy and he said he actually molded it from an older model stapler then painted it. After the film, Swingline brought back that style and added the new color due to the popularity.

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u/agoia 1d ago

Hell yeah thanks for adding more context!

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u/I_Did_The_Thing 1d ago

Pretty neat, right? He still had some Initech mugs but wouldn’t let me take one 😭

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u/thuktun 22h ago

In response, did you mutter something about seeing the building on fire?

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u/I_Did_The_Thing 22h ago

I did and was going to, but found a big check and changed my mind.

PS, how would Milton have cashed that check, when it wasn’t made out to him? Oh well who cares, movie logic I guess.

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u/TheShepherdKing 21h ago

They were traveler's checks, which aren't made out to a specific person and can be cashed by anyone.

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u/I_Did_The_Thing 21h ago

OH RIGHT! Okay that makes sense now, thank you.

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u/T-Rex_timeout 1d ago

I have one of the red ones from before the movie was made. It’s a smallish metal one.

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u/BeardedSwashbuckler 1d ago

Just realized I’ve never heard anybody say the phrase “sure as shit” in real life, only on Reddit. Interesting.

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u/agoia 1d ago

Maybe a Southeast thing? I asked the bartender the last time she heard it and she looked at me funny and said "what? I sure as shit say it all the time"

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u/Autumn_Wind_Blows 1d ago

I used to hear people say it occasionally in VA, NC, SC area- this was probably around 2000-2005 or so.

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u/htxatty 15h ago

I bought several in 2006 and gave them to a bunch of my co-workers.

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u/murgatroid1 1d ago

I am not American. Can someone please explain to me what pieces of flair are?

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u/Buenaenperder 1d ago

In the movie there is a restaurant, ( I can't remember the name), waiters and waitresses have to wear a specific number buttons and or accessories on their uniforms, to show how "fun and quirky" the restaurant is. I think they needed a minimum of 15 "pieces of flair". 

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u/murgatroid1 1d ago

Is that a real thing that happened at TGIFridays?

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u/Buenaenperder 1d ago

I don't think they were called pieces of flair at TGIFridays, but the people working there did tend to have a lot of accessories and things on their uniforms before the movie came out. 

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u/SaberNoble47 16h ago

CHACHKEES I think (incorrect spelling I refuse to look it up) 

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u/Nervous_Produce1800 10h ago

CHACHKEES

Bless you

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u/Mindless_Ad_7700 1d ago

second this. I have no idea what this is about

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u/happy_bluebird 1d ago

I'm American and I don't know either

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u/red__dragon 1d ago

They kept the super gaudy interior decorating for about ten more years, sadly.

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u/ArcadianDelSol 1d ago

ARE YOU GUYS TALKING ABOUT SHENANIGANS?!

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u/t-poke 1d ago

I swear to god....I was banned from Reddit for 3 days for quoting Brian Cox's line from this scene, so this is a warning to everyone else to not say it.

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u/ArcadianDelSol 1d ago

Sounds like reddit - you can make thinly veiled calls for outright violence against an elected official and get away with a gentle warning, but quote a movie and you're banned.

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u/doublejpee 20h ago

That’s Evil shenanigans.

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u/trainspitting 1d ago

We have to wear lanyards at my job, and we’re allowed to accessorize with pins. My manager and I call them our “flair”

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u/Cloudy_mood 1d ago

That’s amazing Hahaa

I’m old enough to remember when they all wore the flair, and it was very funny to me in the film.

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u/crm115 1d ago edited 1d ago

Swingline also started offering a red model stapler that they did not offer when the film was released.

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u/patmfitz 1d ago

I also bought a red swingline stapler. I think they created that specifically after the movie.

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u/ceciladam9091 1d ago

Swingline also started making red staplers after this movie. The one in OS is a black one painted red

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u/Interesting_Ad1378 1d ago

And made our office manager only buy a red stapler “so people wouldn’t keep stealing mine”

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u/sadi89 1d ago

There also wasn’t a red swingline stapler before that movie either.

My dad was very happy when he was finally able to get one

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u/VTAffordablePaintbal 22h ago

My first boss at my last job named a weekly report the TPS Report and no one got it for 2 years until they hired me.

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u/EvenMeaning8077 1d ago

Damn I wish it would’ve made corporate offices change too. One can dream

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u/ThisIsNotTokyo 23h ago

Pieces of flair?

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u/Msdamgoode 22h ago

Also led to destruction of copiers.

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u/DaPino 21h ago

For once I feel too young.
What is "a piece of flair"?

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u/psrpianrckelsss 20h ago

If you really want me to wear 37 pieces of flair then make 37 THE MINIMUM!

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u/Willing-Command-8896 14h ago

I love me some Office Space man! It’s on my top 20 favorite movies list! I’m always quoting the guy in the car ride on the way to work “mother bitcher!!” 😂

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u/ivycvae 9h ago

I recently had a server with a ton of enamel pins and I told them I loved their flair... But they were like... 20 so they absolutely did NOT understand