MoviePass

MoviePass became beloved by selling a deal that made no sense: for a flat monthly fee, subscribers could see movies constantly while the company paid full ticket price behind the scenes. It was a $9.95 subscription miracle built on the theory that unit economics are for cowards. Federal prosecutors later said executives misrepresented the business to investors.

When the economics remained embarrassing, MoviePass did not simply say "whoops, movies cost money." The FTC later said the company used tactics to block heavy users from actually using their "unlimited" plan. This is a tough look when the product is called MoviePass.

By 2024, the founders were still settling charges over how the service trapped customers.