M-LAW's Wacky Warning Labels

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"DANGER: AVOID DEATH" WARNING WINS TOP PRIZE IN M-LAW'S ELEVENTH
ANNUAL WACKY WARNING LABEL CONTEST

A label on a small tractor that warns, "Danger: Avoid Death," has been chosen as the nation's most obvious warning label in M-LAW's annual Wacky Warning Label Contest.

The Wacky Warning Label Contest, now in its eleventh year, is conducted by Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch, M-LAW, to reveal how lawsuits, and fear of lawsuits, have driven the proliferation of common-sense warnings on U.S. products.

Grand prize winner receives $500 and a copy of the best selling book based on M-LAW's contest

Kevin Soave of Farmington Hills, Michigan won the $500 grand prize for submitting the label to M-LAW. Soave also wins a copy of the best selling book, "Remove Child Before Folding, The 101 Stupidest, Silliest and Wackiest Warning Labels Ever," written by M-LAW president Bob Dorigo Jones.

The tractor label and other winning labels were selected from a list of finalists by listeners of the Dick Purtan show on Detroit radio station, WOMC-FM.

Remove Child Before Folding, The 101 Stupidest, Silliest and Wackiest Warning Labels Everis the hilarious new book based on M-LAW's annual warning label contest. It was released by Grand Central Publishing in 2007 and is a perfect gift for students, new parents, lawyers, and anyone who believes America's legal system could use a good dose of common sense. Click here to order your copy now!

Kevin Soave of Farmington Hills, Michigan won the $500 grand prize for submitting this label to M-LAW.

OTHER WINNERS:

Don't follow this advice and you might just get a little hot under the collar.
The $250 second place award will be split by Carrianne, Jacob and Robby Turin of Greensburg, Pennsylvania for a label they found on an iron-on T-shirt transfer that warns: "Do not iron while wearing shirt."
Baby Strollers have seats for a reason... The $100 third place prize goes to Richard Goodnow of Lancaster, Massachusetts for a label on a baby-stroller featuring a small storage pouch that warns, "Do not put child in bag."
If you are opening bills, you might want to put blinders on, but one manufacturer of letter openers recommends this:
Honorable mention goes to Cyndi LaMonde of Traverse City, Michigan for a warning label on a letter opener that says: "Caution: Safety goggles recommended."
How many of us have thought of this trick to get out of paying a bill?
Another honorable mention goes to Ann Marie Young of Fillmore, New York for a warning she found on Vanishing Fabric Marker which cautions users:
"The Vanishing Fabric Marker should not be used as a writing instrument for signing checks or any legal documents."

Behind these silly labels is a serious public policy concern - America's out-of-whack system of civil justice.

"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. "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. That is why M-LAW urges judges and policy makers to support civil justice reform."

Remove Child Before Folding is available at all bookstores and online at Amazon.com by clicking here.

To enter the Wacky Warning Label Contest, click here.

Click here to see photos of this year's winning warning labels.

Updated: December 12, 2007.

Radio Hall of Fame personality, Dick Purtan, displays how to safely open a letter according to one of the labels in M-LAW's 11th annual Wacky Warning Label Contest.