Post by @dannypostmaa
80% credible (85% factual, 70% presentation). The criticism of Adobe's subscription and cancellation policies is largely accurate, aligning with user reports and Adobe's terms. However, the post exaggerates impact with claims of alienating an entire generation and omits mention of disclosed annual commitments, reflecting framing violations and logical fallacies.
Analysis Summary
The post criticizes Adobe for offering what appears to be a monthly subscription plan that is actually annual, imposing a full-year cancellation fee, and thereby alienating creatives. It pairs this with an image of Adobe's declining stock price to suggest business repercussions. Main finding: Adobe's subscription policies have drawn widespread complaints for hidden fees, potentially impacting user trust and company performance.
Original Content
The Facts
The claim aligns with numerous user reports and Adobe's documented terms, where annual plans paid monthly incur early cancellation fees equivalent to remaining months' charges, often surprising users. While the post uses hyperbolic language like 'sike' and 'alienates a whole generation,' it reflects real frustrations in the creative community. Verdict: Mostly accurate, with some exaggeration for emphasis.
Benefit of the Doubt
The author advances a critical perspective on corporate practices in tech subscriptions, highlighting perceived deception to resonate with indie creators and entrepreneurs frustrated by big tech. It emphasizes shock value and alienation to build empathy, while omitting that Adobe's terms explicitly disclose annual commitments and fees in fine print, potentially downplaying user responsibility in reviewing agreements. This selective framing shapes perception as predatory bait-and-switch tactics, amplifying outrage without balanced context on plan options like true month-to-month alternatives.
Visual Content Analysis
Images included in the original content
VISUAL DESCRIPTION
A screenshot of a financial stock chart from a trading app displaying Adobe Inc.'s (ADBE) stock performance; it shows a line graph with a downward trend over the past year from around 500 USD in early 2025 to 333.26 USD on October 17, 2025, including key metrics like market cap, P/E ratio, and after-hours price.
TEXT IN IMAGE
Adobe Inc (0.02%) ADBE NASDAQ: ADBE 333.26 USD -164.45 (-33.04%) past year Closed: Oct 17, 7:30 PM EDT Disclaimer After hours 333.50 +0.24 (0.072%) 1D 5D 1M 6M YTD 1Y 600 500 400 300 Jan 2025 May 2025 Sep 2025 Open 327.74 Mkt Cap 139.50B High 335.10 P/E ratio 20.77 Low 327.70 Div yield -
MANIPULATION
No signs of editing, inconsistencies, or artifacts; appears to be a genuine screenshot from a standard financial platform like Yahoo Finance or similar, with consistent formatting and data labels.
TEMPORAL ACCURACY
The chart closes on October 17, 2025, which is recent relative to the current date of October 20, 2025, and the yearly view aligns with the post's timing; no outdated elements evident.
LOCATION ACCURACY
The image is a digital stock chart with no specific geographical location depicted or claimed; it focuses on financial data rather than physical space.
FACT-CHECK
The stock price and decline (approximately 33% over the past year) match publicly available data for Adobe (ADBE) as of mid-October 2025; reverse image search context confirms similar charts from financial sites, verifying the visual claim of poor performance but not directly linking it causally to subscription policies.
How Is This Framed?
Biases, omissions, and misleading presentation techniques detected
Fails to mention that Adobe's terms explicitly disclose the annual commitment for plans paid monthly and that true month-to-month options exist without cancellation fees, presenting the policy as purely deceptive.
Problematic phrases:
"> has a monthly plan > sike its actually a yearly plan"What's actually there:
Annual plans paid monthly with disclosed fees; monthly-only alternatives available
What's implied:
All monthly-labeled plans are secretly annual with unavoidable fees
Impact: Leads readers to perceive the policy as bait-and-switch trickery, increasing distrust without acknowledging user options or disclosures.
Exaggerates the impact by claiming alienation of an entire generation, ignoring that complaints are widespread but not universal among millions of users.
Problematic phrases:
"alienates a whole generation of creatives"What's actually there:
Numerous but not all creatives report frustrations; Adobe retains large user base
What's implied:
Policy drives away virtually all young creatives
Impact: Inflates the perceived magnitude of backlash, making the issue seem like a generational exodus rather than targeted complaints.
Implies the subscription policy directly causes broad alienation without evidence linking it to widespread user exodus or business decline.
Problematic phrases:
"charges full year cancelation fee > alienates a whole generation of creatives"What's actually there:
Policy draws complaints but no proven direct causation to generational alienation
What's implied:
Fees are the primary reason for mass alienation
Impact: Creates false causal link, encouraging readers to attribute broader dissatisfaction solely to this policy.
Sources & References
External sources consulted for this analysis
https://helpx.adobe.com/manage-account/using/creative-cloud-subscription-terms.html
https://ui.dev/rwd/articles/cancel-adobe-without-paying-the-cancellation-fee
https://www.quora.com/What-happens-if-you-cancel-your-annual-Adobe-subscription-after-12-months-Will-there-still-be-a-cancellation-fee
https://www.adobe.com/legal/subscription-terms.html
https://prodesigntools.com/adobe-annual-vs-monthly-plans.html
https://prodesigntools.com/guide-to-change-cancel-creative-cloud.html
https://www.scribeup.io/blog/avoid-the-adobe-termination-fee-when-cancelling-your-subscription
https://community.adobe.com/t5/stock-discussions/the-annual-subscription-scam-by-adobe/td-p/13680681
https://community.adobe.com/t5/account-payment-plan-discussions/cancellation-fee-on-the-day-the-subscription-ends/td-p/15411309
https://community.adobe.com/t5/account-payment-plan-discussions/130-cancellation-charge-to-a-student/td-p/9517060
https://community.adobe.com/t5/account-payment-plan-discussions/i-had-a-monthly-plan-i-need-to-cancel-now-but-it-s-asking-for-cancellation-fees-3-months-left/td-p/14770721
https://community.adobe.com/t5/account-payment-plan-discussions/high-penalty-fees-when-you-cancel-adobe-cloud-so-you-know-it/td-p/10428153
https://community.adobe.com/t5/account-payment-plan-discussions/i-am-charged-a-big-cancellation-fee-to-a-monthly-plan/td-p/13626266
https://x.com/dannypostmaa/status/1926873873305243998
https://x.com/dannypostmaa/status/1654063324496289792
https://x.com/dannypostmaa/status/1795275800071290947
https://x.com/dannypostmaa/status/1752109208781349373
https://x.com/dannypostmaa/status/1783649685963702736
https://x.com/dannypostmaa/status/1689229633177489409
https://helpx.adobe.com/manage-account/using/creative-cloud-subscription-terms.html
https://helpx.adobe.com/manage-account/using/cancel-subscription.html
https://www.adobe.com/uk/legal/subscription-terms.html
https://helpx.adobe.com/ca/manage-account/using/creative-cloud-subscription-terms.html
https://www.adobe.com/legal/subscription-terms.html
https://community.adobe.com/t5/account-payment-plan-discussions/cancellation-charges-surely-this-isn-t-legal/td-p/14848739
https://www.scribeup.io/blog/avoid-the-adobe-termination-fee-when-cancelling-your-subscription
https://makeuseof.com/adobe-has-me-locked-down-i-hate-it
https://community.adobe.com/t5/account-payment-plan-discussions/when-to-cancel-adobe-membership-and-avoid-the-cancellation-fee/m-p/15540007
https://www.subscriptioninsider.com/article-type/news/adobe-faces-new-class-action-over-hidden-subscription-fees-and-cancellation-barriers
https://community.adobe.com/t5/account-payment-plan-discussions/request-for-waiver-of-early-cancellation-fee/td-p/15392061
https://webpronews.com/adobe-courts-controversy-with-new-creative-cloud-subscriptions
https://www.techpowerup.com/323692/us-government-sues-adobe-over-shady-business-practices-hidden-fees-and-subscriptions-too-hard-to-cancel
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6482592/adobe-acrobat-cancellation-charges
https://x.com/dannypostmaa/status/1795275800071290947
https://x.com/dannypostmaa/status/1654063324496289792
https://x.com/dannypostmaa/status/1815709679538073965
https://x.com/dannypostmaa/status/1926873873305243998
https://x.com/dannypostmaa/status/1840552198054576574
https://x.com/dannypostmaa/status/1802855196554625529
Want to see @dannypostmaa's track record?
View their credibility score and all analyzed statements