How Stupid Do They Think We Are?

[carrickharp]

Instructions from real products.

On a bar of Dial bath bar:
Directions: Use like regular soap.

On a frozen dinner package:
Serving suggestion: Defrost.

On a hotel-provided shower cap box:
Fits one head.

On Tesco's Tiramisu dessert:
Do not turn upside down (Printed on the bottom of the box)

On Marks & Spencer Bread Pudding:
Product will be hot after heating.

On packaging from a Rowenta Iron:
Do not iron clothes on body.

On Boot's children's cough medicine:
Do not drive car or operate machinery.

On a bottle of Nytol (a sleeping aid):
Warning: May cause drowsiness.

On a Korean kitchen knife:
Warning: Keep out of children.

On a string of Chinese-made Christmas lights:
For indoor or outdoor use only.

On a Japanese food processor:
Not to be used for the other use.

On Sainsbury's peanuts:
Warning: Contains nuts.

On an American Airlines package of nuts:
Instructions: Open package, eat nuts.

On a Swedish chainsaw:
Do not attempt to stop chain with your hands.

On a package of Sunmaid raisins:
Why not try tossing over your favorite breakfast cereal?

On a bag of Fritos:
You could be a winner! No purchase necessary. Details inside.

[Andyh]

You'd be surprised what people would try and sue over these days, so i'm sure the companies are just covering themselves.

[fosterdollar]

Anyone see that muck program 'How to Bring Your Man to Heel'? I was fuming at it the other night. The most derogatory pile of sh!te produced on tele yet.

[Peadar]

You'd be surprised what people would try and sue over these days

I remember working for a computer manufacturer before and a box of chips used to carry the warning, "Careful, don't fall."
Had to find someone else to sue when I did fall.

[anto eile]

harvest fare mixed nut bar: contains nuts

[dahamsta]

The really sad thing is that most of the warnings were probably prompted by actual stupidity, and not an simple assumption by manufacturers that people may be stupid. People, collectively, are stupid. Someone probably really did try to get a bathcap over two heads, fell over, and sued the manufacturer. Someone probably really sued a retailer for selling nuts without a clear warning that they contained nuts. Or how about the fella that spilled MacDonalds coffee over himself and sued because he... burned himself. It was too hot apparently.

adam

[the 12 th man]

Instructions from real products.



On packaging from a Rowenta Iron:
Do not iron clothes on body.

My own personal favourite from your list.Can you imagine even contemplating the above .

[pineapple stu]

On a bag of Fritos:
You could be a winner! No purchase necessary. Details inside.

That's a legal requirement which is needed to define the type of give-away it is. You can pick up an empty packet on the street and enter. It's the same with scratchies where you have to match three symbols and then answer a (really really simple) question - that technicality means the competition isn't a lottery and is actually a test of skill, which have different legal guidelines.

I'd like to believe some of the others are the manufacturers having a laugh. Unfortunately, personal experience means I have to agree with dahamsta that a lot of people simply are stupid...

[Peadar]

You can pick up an empty packet on the street and enter.

Many competitions allow you to send your name and address into the office and they'll enter you in a draw, without actually having to purchase their product.

[anto1208]

the dumbest one i came across is from america surprise surprise , but i guy bought a camper van and was driving along the road put on the cruse controll and went into the back to make a cup of tea !!! needless to say at the first corner he crashed ...and successfully sued the company now has to haev it in the manual .

[pete]

Many competitions allow you to send your name and address into the office and they'll enter you in a draw, without actually having to purchase their product.

I think by law competitions have to be like that for some strange reason.

The US is the best place for the weird & wonderful.
I remember years ago on those little satchets of sugar substitute - "has been shown to cause cancer in lab rats"

[Jerry The Saint]

Or how about the fella that spilled MacDonalds coffee over himself and sued because he... burned himself. It was too hot apparently.

adam

Yes, but what isn't usually mentioned is that the coffee in McDonald's was dangerously, scaldingly hot - at least 20 degrees hotter than the next hottest coffee-house and around 40 degrees hotter than typical home-brewed coffee. McDonald's knew this for years and had been settling out of court to keep it quiet because consultants advised them that serving coffee at 190 degrees Fahrenheit would help them sell more (even though they knew it was capable of causing third-degree burns in two to seven seconds).

The 79-year-old woman, Stella Liebeck, who brought the lawsuit suffered full thickness burns (third-degree burns) over 6 percent of her body, including her inner thighs, perineum, buttocks, and genital and groin areas. She was hospitalized for eight days, during which time she underwent skin grafting. Liebeck, who also underwent debridement treatments, sought to settle her claim for $20,000, but McDonalds refused.

The jury in that case initially awarded $2.7m in punitive damages but the final settlement was much, much lower.


Incidentally, the cruise control story is a common urban legend and was originally told in America to poke fun at wealthy Arabs during the 70's oil crisis.

[Bald Student]

Two things

1. Whenever coke have a competition like that you can ring a freephone number and the person at the other end will open a can of coke for you and tell you if you won. I find doing this hilarious.

2. How hot can coffee get? When I boil a kettle it boils to 100 degrees. Do McDonalds have magic kettles or am I doing something wrong?

[Jerry The Saint]

2. How hot can coffee get? When I boil a kettle it boils to 100 degrees. Do McDonalds have magic kettles or am I doing something wrong?

Sorry, should have said those figures are Fahrenheit so McD's were handing customers coffee at around 90 degrees Celsius. Ideal coffee-drinking tempreature is reckoned to be around 70C. You don't drink coffee when it's actually boiling! Or at least you shouldn't, maybe this is why they need to put warnings on the cups...

[dahamsta]

I knew that Jerry, I've read the articles. I still think the case was retarded.