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Wacky Warning Label Winner Declared.
The sign on the toilet brush says it best: "Do not
use for personal hygiene."
That admonition was the winner of an anti-lawsuit group's contest for the
wackiest consumer warning label of the year.
The sponsor,
Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch, says
the goal is "to reveal how lawsuits, and concern about lawsuits, have
created a need for common sense warnings on products."
The $500 first prize went to Ed Gyetvai, of Oldcastle, Ontario, who
submitted the toilet-brush label.
A $250 second prize went to Matt Johnson, of
Naperville, Ill., for a label on a children's scooter that said, "This
product moves when used."
A $100 third prize went to Ann Marie Taylor, of Camden, S.C., who
submitted a warning from a digital thermometer that said, "Once used
rectally, the thermometer should not be used orally."
Fourth place was a label on an electric hand blender
promoted for use in “blending, whipping, chopping and dicing,” that warns:
“Never remove food or other items from the blades while the product is
operating.” This label was sent in by Ken Stein of Berkeley, California.
In fifth place was a label, sent in by Christen
Millard of Westerville, Ohio, was found on a nine by three inch bag of air
used as packing material. It carries this warning: “Do not use this
product as a toy, pillow, or flotation device.”
"Warning labels are a sign of our lawsuit-plagued times," said group
President Robert Dorigo Jones. "From the moment we raise our head in the
morning off pillows that bear those famous Do Not Remove warnings, to when
we drop back in bed at night, we are overwhelmed with warnings."
The leader of a group that opposes the campaign to limit lawsuits admits
that while some warning labels may seem stupid, even dumb warnings can do
good.
"There are many cases of warning labels saving lives," said Joanne
Doroshow, executive director of the Center for Justice and Democracy in
New York. "It's much better to be very cautious ... than to be afraid of
being made fun of by a tort reform group."
The Wacky Warning Label Contest is in its eighth year.
Source: Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch, AP, "Toilet Brush Warning Wins
Consumer Award," Jan. 6, 2005.
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