People Are Sharing Moments When “An Attempt Was Made” At Something But It Failed Hilariously (50 Pics)

Some days you wake up a graceful, functioning adult. Other days, you frost a cake that looks like a crime scene, accidentally glue your sleeve to the wall, and send an email that should’ve stayed in Drafts forever. That second kind of day is exactly what the internet calls an “An Attempt Was Made” moment and it’s the chaotic energy behind Bored Panda’s viral collections of 50 hilariously failed attempts at… well, just about everything.

These posts round up real photos from people online who tried their best (or at least tried something), only for reality to swerve hard into absurdity. From tragic DIY projects and cursed desserts to poorly thought-out signs and overconfident life hacks, each picture is proof that effort doesn’t always equal success but it can equal comedy gold.

What Does “An Attempt Was Made” Even Mean?

The phrase comes from meme culture, especially from online communities that celebrate “beautiful disasters” moments when someone clearly put in effort, but the outcome missed the mark in spectacular fashion. On subreddits like r/ThereWasAnAttempt and meme hubs like Imgur, people share screenshots and photos that perfectly capture that awkward zone between trying and failing miserably.

Bored Panda has turned this vibe into a recurring series, curating 50 or more of the funniest “attempts” from all over the internet into scroll-stopping lists. Instead of making fun of people for simply messing up, the tone is playful, self-aware, and very “we’ve all been there.” It’s not about cruelty it’s about recognizing that failure is universal, and sometimes the only sane response is to laugh.

Why We Can’t Get Enough Of Hilarious Fails

There’s a reason compilation videos of fails rack up millions of views and social feeds are overflowing with expectation-versus-reality memes. Psychologists point out that seeing other people’s mishaps can make our own mistakes feel less catastrophic. You’re not the only one who burned dinner or misread a label you’re part of a very clumsy, very human club.

“An Attempt Was Made” photos are especially satisfying because the effort is so visible. You can see the carefully piped frosting, the ruler-straight lines of a DIY shelf, the perfectly designed graphics on a sign… and then the final result derails at the last second. The setup says, “I’ve got this,” but the punchline says, “Actually, no I do not.”

Add in the fact that these fails are usually harmless no one is seriously injured, just mildly embarrassed and you get the perfect recipe for guilt-free laughter. It’s like watching a blooper reel for everyday life.

Classic Types Of “An Attempt Was Made” Moments

While every fail has its own unique chaos, certain categories show up again and again in Bored Panda’s 50-pic roundups and in similar galleries across the internet. Here are some of the greatest hits.

1. Kitchen Experiments Gone Horribly Wrong

Baking and cooking fails might be the unofficial mascot of this genre. Someone sees a gorgeous cake online smooth fondant, delicate flowers, maybe a cartoon character that actually looks like itself and thinks, “How hard can it be?” Cue a lopsided, half-melted dessert that looks like it’s begging to be put out of its misery.

Burnt casseroles, cookies fused into a single mega-cookie, pizza stuck to the oven rack, bread that refuses to rise… these photos perfectly capture the gulf between glossy food photography and what happens in an average home kitchen at 11:47 p.m. the night before a birthday party.

2. DIY & Home Improvement Disasters

Another fan-favorite category? DIY projects that accidentally create new problems instead of solving old ones. Think shelves installed at a 15-degree angle, tiles that almost line up but don’t, or a freshly painted wall where someone clearly forgot painter’s tape was a thing.

There are also furniture assembly tragedies, where a simple flat-pack chair somehow turns into an abstract sculpture with extra pieces “just in case.” These pictures are a gentle reminder that contractors, designers, and carpenters exist for a reason.

3. Design & Sign Fails That Send The Wrong Message

Graphic design is an art and when it goes off the rails, it really goes off the rails. Bored Panda’s lists often feature unintentionally suggestive sculptures, confusing public signs, or packaging where the text and image combine into something deeply questionable.

Maybe it’s a banner where the line breaks turn a wholesome message into something mildly threatening, or a mascot that is clearly meant to be friendly but looks like it escaped from a horror movie. The best part is that you can almost hear the meeting where someone said, “This looks great, let’s print it.”

4. Pet & Kid Grooming Mishaps

Pets and children also star in a lot of “attempts” usually because an adult tried to save money or time and learned a hard lesson. DIY haircuts on kids produce bangs that defy gravity and geometry. Pet grooming attempts can turn a fluffy dog into something that looks like a badly sheared potato with legs.

These images are hilarious precisely because you know the intention was love and care. The haircut may be tragic, but the motivation was wholesome. Plus, hair grows back. Mostly.

5. Tech, Autocorrect & Social Media Fails

Screenshot-based fails are a staple of the genre too. Autocorrect turns a normal sentence into something completely unhinged, someone tries to schedule a work email and sends it half-written to the entire company, or a person attempts a bold online flex and accidentally reveals way more than they intended.

In the Bored Panda style of curation, these are usually paired with short captions that let the awkwardness speak for itself. The humor isn’t in mocking people for not understanding tech it’s in recognizing that software loves to betray us at the worst possible moment.

6. Expectation vs. Reality In The Wild

Many “attempt” moments feel like cousins to classic expectation-versus-reality posts. It might be a prom dress that arrived three sizes too small, a hotel room that looks nothing like the professional photos, or a “giant” toy that turns out to be palm-sized in real life.

These pics reveal how much we trust marketing photos and polished online listings and how hilariously wrong that trust can be. The effort here isn’t just from the buyer; it’s from the person or company that tried (and failed) to deliver.

Inside A Typical Bored Panda “An Attempt Was Made” List

Bored Panda’s compilations work like a guided walk through the internet’s collective blooper reel. They collect user-submitted photos from platforms like Reddit, Instagram, X (Twitter), Imgur, and Facebook, then arrange them into a scrollable list of 50 or more snapshots of failure.

Each entry usually includes:

• A single eye-catching photo or screenshot capturing the fail
• A short, snappy caption from the original poster or editor
• Sometimes a bit of context, sometimes nothing at all which can make it even funnier

Readers can upvote their favorite disasters, share their own “attempt” stories in the comments, and send the link to friends who desperately need a laugh. Over time, these lists have grown into a kind of comfort content the digital equivalent of a friend saying, “Trust me, it could be worse.”

Why These Fails Feel Weirdly Wholesome

At first glance, you might assume fail compilations are about laughing at people. But the tone of “An Attempt Was Made” content is usually surprisingly gentle. Instead of mocking, it’s more like affectionate teasing. We’re not watching strangers crash and burn for sport; we’re recognizing ourselves in their mistakes.

There’s also something quietly empowering about seeing failure framed as entertainment rather than catastrophe. In a world that constantly screams “optimize” and “hustle,” these photos whisper, “Relax. Everyone messes up. Sometimes the failure is the best part of the story.”

Plus, many of the people who submit their own photos are clearly in on the joke. They know their cake looks like it’s melting into another dimension. They know their DIY shelf will never meet a spirit level. Sharing it anyway is a way of reclaiming the moment. Instead of hiding the evidence, they turn it into content.

What “An Attempt Was Made” Teaches Us About Creativity

Creativity always comes with risk. You try a new recipe, a new haircut, a new art style, a new home project and you don’t know for sure how it’s going to turn out. The internet tends to showcase only the polished final versions: the perfect sourdough loaf, the stunning living room makeover, the flawlessly decorated cookies.

“An Attempt Was Made” compilations flip that highlight reel on its head and say, “Here’s what it looks like when things do not go to plan.” Instead of being discouraged, many viewers actually feel more willing to try things after seeing these fails. If even a disastrous cake can make people smile, maybe it’s okay to take a chance on your own slightly chaotic ideas.

Ultimately, every masterpiece is built on a graveyard of attempts. These lists just give the graveyard its moment in the spotlight and a punchline.

50 Pics, Infinite Relatability

Even though each Bored Panda gallery features 50 specific photos, the feeling they capture is endless. We may never personally install a crooked staircase or accidentally design a deeply cursed company mascot, but we have:

• Misread instructions and improvised with disastrous results
• Overestimated our skills and underestimated the project
• Forgot one crucial step that ruined the whole thing
• Made something that technically “works” but looks ridiculous doing it

That shared experience is why these compilations stay viral. Every “attempt” is a mirror, just distorted enough that we can laugh instead of cringe.

Extra: Real-Life Experiences Where “An Attempt Was Made” (And Failed Hilariously)

You don’t have to be featured on Bored Panda to qualify for this hall of fame. Most of us could easily fill our own 50-pic gallery with moments where we tried hard and still landed face-first in failure. Here are a few types of stories that echo the same spirit and might feel uncomfortably familiar.

1. The Surprise Party That Wasn’t A Surprise

Picture this: you spend weeks secretly organizing a surprise party. Group chats are muted, code words are invented, and half your browser history is “How to hide party supplies from partner.” The big day comes, the lights are off, everyone is whispering… and the guest of honor walks in holding the cake because someone texted, “We’re almost ready for your surprise!” to the wrong thread.

An attempt at surprise was made. Instead of a cinematic reveal, you get an awkward doorway conversation and a room full of people laughing at how badly the secret was kept. Is it a fail? Technically, yes. Is it still a good story? Absolutely.

2. The Pinterest-Perfect Home Project That Fought Back

Many of us have had that dangerous thought: “I can totally do this myself.” Maybe you decide to install a “simple” accent wall, build a custom desk, or repaint the kitchen cabinets. The tutorial makes it look straightforward. The influencer did it in a 40-second video. How hard can it be?

Three days later, there’s paint on the ceiling, the cabinet doors don’t close, your level app insists everything is crooked, and you’ve said “this is fine” so many times it’s starting to sound like a spell. In the end, the project is technically finished but only if no one looks too closely and all the photos are taken from the good angle.

That’s a classic “attempt was made” moment: your vision was solid, your execution… less so. But you probably learned more from that chaotic project than from any perfectly staged reveal.

3. The Ambitious Recipe With A Mind Of Its Own

Maybe you tried to cook a holiday roast for the first time or bake a multi-layer cake with three different fillings. Everything started strong. You prepped, you marinated, you measured. Then the oven decided to run hot, the frosting broke, or you realized too late that you forgot the sugar.

The final dish is edible… sort of. You serve it anyway, because at this point the effort itself deserves an audience. People take cautious bites, everyone says “It’s not that bad!” in the exact tone that means “It’s a little bad,” and the legend of your culinary adventure lives on for years.

4. The Overconfident Tech Fix

Tech failures are their own genre of comedy. Maybe you tried to “quickly” fix the family Wi-Fi before a work call and ended up resetting the entire router to factory settings. Or you attempted a simple phone backup and somehow deleted all your photos from 2018.

The attempt is always noble: “I’m going to solve this like a responsible, capable adult.” The outcome is usually: “Why is nothing working and why am I Googling this on my neighbor’s network?” These moments are prime meme material because we’ve all watched one tiny button click spiral into a full-blown tech crisis.

5. The New Year’s Resolution That Lasted 2.5 Days

Some of the most relatable “attempts” aren’t even physical; they’re about habits. You buy the planner, the workout clothes, the healthy groceries, and the habit tracker app. Day one: amazing. Day two: slightly chaotic but still okay. Day three: life happens, you miss a workout, and suddenly it’s June and you’re using the planner as a coaster.

From the outside, it looks like failure. But from a more generous angle, it’s proof that trying is not a one-time action it’s a loop. You attempt, you stumble, you laugh (or cringe), and you try again differently next time. That’s the quiet message behind every “An Attempt Was Made” gallery: yes, this ended badly, but at least something was attempted.

Laughing At Failure Without Fearing It

In a way, scrolling through 50 hilariously failed attempts is like low-stakes exposure therapy for perfectionism. You see proof that the world doesn’t end when things go wrong. People keep living, keep posting, keep laughing, and sometimes even get internet-famous for the very thing that didn’t work.

So the next time your project, recipe, outfit, or plan completely derails, you have options. You can hide it and pretend it never happened, or you can treat it like one more frame in the endless blooper reel we’re all secretly filming. Who knows your disaster might be exactly the kind of joyful chaos someone else needs to see.

After all, an attempt was made. And sometimes, that’s the most relatable success of all.