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Novi, Mich January 4,
2006: 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”
has been identified as the nation’s wackiest warning label in an
annual contest sponsored by a consumer watchdog group.
The Wacky Warning
Label Contest, now in it’s ninth year, is conducted by Michigan
Lawsuit Abuse Watch, M-LAW, to reveal how lawsuits, and concern
about lawsuits, have created a need for common sense warnings on
products.
The winning labels
were selected from a list of M-LAW’s finalists by listeners of
the Dick Purtan show on Detroit radio station, WOMC-FM. The
label on the heat gun was found by Tom Brunelle of Holland,
Michigan. He receives $500 and a copy of the national
bestselling book, “The Death of Common Sense,” by Philip K.
Howard.
The $250 second place
award went to Jam Sardar of Grand Rapids, Michigan for a label
on a kitchen knife that warns: “Never try to catch a falling
knife.” Third place and $100 goes to Alice Morgan of La Junta,
Colorado who found the following warning on a cocktail napkin
with a map of the waterways around Hilton Head, South Carolina
printed on it: “Not to be used for navigation.” An honorable
mention award went to Kirk Dunham of Seabrook, Texas who found a
warning on a bottle of dried bobcat urine used to keep pests
away from garden plants: “Not for human consumption.”
“ Warning
labels are a sign of our lawsuit-plagued times,” said Robert B.
Dorigo Jones, M-LAW president. “An unpredictable legal system –
in which many 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.”
M-LAW is a
non-partisan organization working to increase awareness of how
litigation is hurting America. Dorigo Jones is writing a book
entitled “Remove Child Before Folding, The 101 Stupidest,
Silliest and Wackiest Warning Labels Ever” that will be
published next year by Warner Books.
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