Converting Magazine

Mark Spaulding

Caution: Wacky warning labels ahead
December 14, 2007

Label converters are paid to print labels...not necessarily read them.
So, along comes the "Danger: Avoid Death" label, this year's grand prize winner of the Wacky Warning Label Contest conducted by Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch (M-LAW). Kevin Soave of Farmington Hills, MI, won the $500 top prize for submitting the label, which is applied to tractors, to apparently stop people from being crushed by the scoop.
Second prize of $250 went to a family in Greensburg, PA, for a label they found on an iron-on T-shirt transfer that warns "Do not iron while wearing shirt." I know, in an effort to save time in the morning, I often need to be reminded not to iron my shirt while wearing it.

 The winning "Danger: Avoid Death" label

M-LAW says behind these silly labels is a serious public policy issue. "Predatory lawyers know they can file ridiculous lawsuits against innocent product makers and blackmail them into cash settlements--even in cases in which a user has ignored common sense," said Dorigo Jones of M-LAW. "The real issue is not the obvious warning labels, but the billions of dollars in litigation costs passed on to consumers--a kind of a lawsuit tax we all pay."
What I want to know is...has your company ever printed something that might qualify as an entrant in the Wacky Warning Label Contest? I don't mean those scary iconic labels of somebody losing fingers to a slitter blade or getting their hand mushed between two gears. I mean a warning label clearly intended for those with no common sense. Have you ever turned down an order for such a "hyper fear of lawsuits" label out of sheer principle?
Send me a comment or better yet, e-mail me a picture of the label to mspaulding@reedbusiness.com We'll look them over and post our own winners.

Posted by Mark Spaulding on December 14, 2007 | Comments (0)