Wackiest Of The Wacky Warning Labels Selected
POSTED: Friday, January 6, 2006
NOVI, Mich. -- And the winner is: a heat gun and paint remover that produces temperatures of 1,000 degrees and warns users, "Do not use this tool as a hair dryer."
That's the winner of the ninth annual Wacky Warning Label Contest conducted by Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch, the consumer watchdog group known as M-LAW. The idea behind the contest is to show how lawsuits, and concern about lawsuits, have created a need for common sense warnings on products.
M-Law president Robert Dorigo Jones called warning labels "a sign of our lawsuit-plagued times." He said judges who allow anyone to file a lawsuit on almost any theory have created a need for product makers to plaster warnings on everything.
Jones said when judges start dismissing cases rooted in frivolous theories, "An unpredictable legal system -- in which judges allow anyone to file a lawsuit on almost any theory -- has created a need for product makers to plaster wacky warnings on everything. When judges see it as their job to dismiss cases that are rooted in frivolous theories, we’ll see fewer wacky labels and more fairness in the courts."
The label on the heat gun was found by Tom Brunelle of Holland, Mich., who will receive $500 and a copy of the book, "The Death of Common Sense," by Philip K. Howard.
Other wacky labels:
The $250 second place award went to Jam Sardar of Grand Rapids, Mich., for a label on a kitchen knife that warns: Never try to catch a falling knife." The $100 third place award goes to Alice Morgan of La Junta, Colo., who found a very wacky warning on a cocktail napkin. The napkin has a map of the waterways around Hilton Head, S.C., printed on it along with this: "Caution: Not to be used for navigation." And don't eat the yellow snow, either. Kirk Dunham of Seabrook, Texas, got an honorable mention for a warning label he found on a bottle of dried bobcat urine made to keep rodents and other pests away from garden plants. It said: "Not for human consumption." But will it get cold in the refrigerator? Another honorable mention goes to Lyne Anton of Elk, Calif., who found the following warning label on a baking pan: "Ovenware will get hot when used in oven."
Click here to see pictures of the wacky labels.
Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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