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I guess this is really a legal issue, but it still struck me as an example
of interesting technical writing choices.
-Lucy
Thu Jan 6, 7:31 AM ET
By DAVID N. GOODMAN, Associated Press Writer
DETROIT - 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."
This year's contest coincides with a drive by President Bush and
congressional Republicans to put caps and other limits on jury awards in
liability cases.
"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."
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