Tuesday, January 18, 2005

This product moves when used

I'm thrilled to learn (via Seth Godin) that an organisation exists which monitors lawsuit abuse and, as an aside, grants awards (pictures) for absurd, presumably lawsuit-inspired, "safety" labels on consumer products. This year's first- and third- place getters are painful to contemplate (a toilet brush labelled "DO NOT USE FOR PERSONAL HYGIENE" and a thermometer whose packaging is marked "Once used rectally, the thermometer should not be used orally, for sanitary reasons."), however to my mind, the second place getter has an understated but rather more compelling absurdity to it: a child's scooter marked "THIS PRODUCT MOVES WHEN USED".

Warnings about obvious risks are a long familiar irritation, but a warning that a product actually does what its name says it does is getting beyond the pale.