History YMMV / CRACKED

** Many fans dislike the fact that [[CerebusSyndrome the site has become less comedy-oriented]] over time. By 2013, a lot of articles were more like opinion pieces or philosophical treatises than humorous stories or lists of factual information (like bizarre animals, or legends, or suchlike) presented in a funny way. Accusations in 2014 that the site was becoming host to {{Soap Box Sadie}}s with political axes to grind didn't help their case. By 2016, readers noted a sharp increase in political articles, all of them with a strong progressive bent that comes across as {{Anvilicious}}, even to those who agree with much of the content. Even articles on pop culture haven't been free of politics: Many writers will add in a jab toward gun owners, evangelical Christians, or social conservatives in an article about deconstructing Hogwarts or the Marvel universe. Not helping matters was the 2016 US presidential election; two days after the results were in, ''every single article'' that ran that day was about politics. For those who go to Cracked for a distraction from political issues, this did not bode well, and the mission since then seems to have become turning the site into a marginally lighter-hearted version of ''The Huffington Post''. They backed off slightly on the volume of political articles in 2018, at least to the point that a day or two could go by without any polemics on the front page, but by 2020 it was back with a vengeance. As of 2024, the bulk of content is either pictorials recycled from older material or "This Thing You Enjoy is Actually Racist/Sexist/Homophobic and You're Evil For Enjoying It" screeds that may as well have been leached off of Website/{{Tumblr}}.

** Many fans dislike the fact that [[CerebusSyndrome the site has become less comedy-oriented]] over time. By 2013, a lot of articles were more like opinion pieces or philosophical treatises than humorous stories or lists of factual information (like bizarre animals, or legends, or suchlike) presented in a funny way. Accusations in 2014 that the site was becoming host to {{Soap Box Sadie}}s with political axes to grind didn't help their case. By 2016, readers noted a sharp increase in political articles, all of them with a strong progressive bent that comes across as {{Anvilicious}}, even to those who agree with much of the content. Even articles on pop culture haven't been free of politics: Many writers will add in a jab toward gun owners, evangelical Christians, or social conservatives in an article about deconstructing Hogwarts or the Marvel universe. Not helping matters was the 2016 US presidential election; two days after the results were in, ''every single article'' that ran that day was about politics. For those who go to Cracked for a distraction from political issues, this did not bode well, and the mission since then seems to have become turning the site into a marginally lighter-hearted version of ''The Huffington Post''. They backed off slightly on the volume of political articles in 2018, at least to the point that a day or two could go by without any polemics on the front page, but by 2020 it was back with a vengeance.

** Dan O'Brien is generally pretty funny, but he tends to recycle jokes, and as a self-admitted FanBoy, has very rigid and narrow opinions about his franchises of choice (''Franchise/DieHard'' and Franchise/SpiderMan in particular), to the point of expressing sneering contempt for anyone who doesn't share them.

** On December 22, 2008, Cracked wrote an article about [[http://www.cracked.com/article_16870_the-20-most-ridiculous-batman-comics-ever-released.html the 20 Most Ridiculous Batman Comics Ever Released]], a few of which included Bat-Mite and the Rainbow Batman, the latter of which the site claims is "what happens when ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' is written by Music/{{Liberace}}." Later, however, all of these are included in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' (though Rainbow Batman was not included until the 2010 AnimatedAdaptation of ''ComicBook/EmperorJoker'').

** In the 2012 article of the "[[http://www.cracked.com/article_19979_5-old-childrens-cartoons-way-darker-than-most-horror-movies.html 5 Old Children's Cartoons Way Darker Than Horror Movies]]", ''WesternAnimation/SwingYouSinners'' was #1 on the list for this reason: "Officially, LSD was first produced in 1938. We say "officially" because this cartoon says it's from 1930, [[WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOndrugs and there's no way it was created without massive doses of acid being pumped into everyone involved]]." Five years after this article, we have ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}'', which is heavily modeled on ''Swing, You Sinners!'' and the other works of Creator/MaxAndDaveFleischer in UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation while combining them with the ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Parodius}}'' franchises (the CreditsGag even said that the game was set in 1930, which was the exact year that ''Swing, You Sinners!'' came out in TheGreatDepression!).

** Luke [=McKinney=] and especially J. F. Sargent for their polarizing social justice articles, leading to frequent accusations of white knighting. Sargent also gets hate for his occasional lapses in research and frequent use of his columns to vent his contemptuous opinion of stuff he doesn't like: {{Contested Sequel}}s, [[Website/TVTropes This Very Wiki]], and all of their fans. Meanwhile, [=McKinney=] is often seen as trying way too hard to make obscure female superheroes look cool. Even some non-radical feminists think he's a bit of a tool, due to his contributions to feminism amounting to little more than reading comics and watching movies. Nonetheless, they have their fans, due to their bitingly sarcastic sense of humor and willingness to direct it at segments of the fandom many consider AcceptableTargets, and in Luke's case handling other topics much better, especially science ones.

For the audience reactions to the [=TV=] show that's unrelated but of the same name, click [[YMMV/CrackedSeries here]].

** [[http://www.cracked.com/article_20406_5-reasons-superhero-movies-are-bubble-that-will-soon-burst.html "5 Reasons Superhero Movies Are a Bubble That Will Soon Burst"]], written way back in Spring 2013, used the then-upcoming films ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'', ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' and ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'' to support the argument that the superhero movie genre was on the verge of crashing and burning, mocking the sheer stupidity of "Captain America [fighting] a cyborg", "Kitty Pryde sending her brain back in time", and making an action movie with [[ComicBook/RocketRaccoon a talking raccoon]] ("Are you seeing the raccoon?"). Surprise! Those movies not only ''didn't'' tank at the box-office, they turned out to be three of the most successful and acclaimed movies of 2014, and superhero movies are still making billions more than five years later.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: Cracked got in hot water with its fans over [[http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-ways-society-sexist-against-men-and-how-we-can-fix-it/ 5 Ways Society Is Sexist Against Men (and How We Can Fix It)]], which outright ''made fun'' of male abuse victims and male soldiers and employees who die in their professions, and has in general been accused of taking a StrawFeminist stance on gender politics.[[note]]It was ''supposed'' to be making a point about how the goals of [=MRAs=] actually line up with the goals of modern feminism, but the sarcasm and disdain for the misogynistic types who also use the title obfuscates it.[[/note]] Three months later they published [[http://www.cracked.com/article_21884_5-awful-realities-being-man-who-was-raped-by-woman.html 5 Bizarre Realities of Being a Man Who Was Raped by a Woman]], which treats DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale as a serious issue without a hint of sarcasm. No matter who you are, being raped is awful, and playing MiseryPoker doesn't help anyone. Many readers were pleased.

** There is a divide between the fans that come strictly for the humor, and the fans that come to be entertained ''and'' informed. Often, one set lambasts the other when they complain about an article's {{Critical Research Failure}}s and misleading claims in the comments.

* CriticalResearchFailure: In [[https://www.cracked.com/blog/6-harsh-truths-that-will-make-you-better-person 6 Harsh Truths that Will Make You a Better Person]], it's claimed Creator/AlecBaldwin was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in ''Film/GlengarryGlenRoss''. Creator/AlPacino was the only Oscar nomination for ''Film/GlengarryGlenRoss''.

For the audience reactions to the [=TV=] show [[NamesTheSame that's unrelated but of the same name]], click [[YMMV/CrackedSeries here]].

** Luke [=McKinney=] and especially J. F. Sargent for their polarizing social justice articles, leading to frequent accusations of white knighting. Sargent also gets hate for his occasional lapses in research and frequent use of his columns to vent his contemptuous opinion of stuff he doesn't like: {{Contested Sequel}}s, [[Wiki/TVTropes This Very Wiki]], and all of their fans. Meanwhile, [=McKinney=] is often seen as trying way too hard to make obscure female superheroes look cool. Even some non-radical feminists think he's a bit of a tool, due to his contributions to feminism amounting to little more than reading comics and watching movies. Nonetheless, they have their fans, due to their bitingly sarcastic sense of humor and willingness to direct it at segments of the fandom many consider AcceptableTargets, and in Luke's case handling other topics much better, especially science ones.

** On the flip side to the above point, the site hosted a Photoshop Contest on March 2008 where the theme was ''Things that Should Never Be Adapted To Film'', one [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sonicphotoentry.jpg entry]] created by S. Peter Davis got 3rd place showing a live-action Sonic with Mike Myers which dips into the UncannyValley. Eleven years later and ''Film/SonicTheHedgehog2020'' came about, with its first trailer featuring a very off-looking CGI Sonic that forced a whole VFX rehaul.

* DanBrowned: The website is not immune to poorly researched articles. For example, "[[https://www.cracked.com/article_20753_5-movie-happy-endings-that-are-about-to-go-horribly-wrong.html 5 Movie Endings That Are About To Go Horribly Wrong]]" bases a significant portion of its entire argument about the supposed NoEndorHolocaust facing the ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'' universe on the claim that "the monster world doesn't exactly appear to be in the grips of an energy crisis". Except, as numerous commenters pointed out, it's established in the first fifteen minutes that the monster world very much ''is'' in the grips of an energy crisis, and this fact is the key driving force of the entire plot.