Herb’s Blog, Herbdate 22926 – 1013
Here’s the haps:
The bird feeders were empty so I went to the store to buy more bird seed. A simple, straightforward mission easily accomplished. I came home with this:
And then I zoomed in on this:
My initial reaction was to laugh at the silliness of it but then I wondered what in the world its purpose was. I know a lot of these labels are born out of lawsuits. Our coffee cups often say, “Warning: Contents may be hot.” This is because someone got burned by getting coffee spilled in their lap and filed a lawsuit against someone for making and serving a beverage that is supposed to be made and served hot, hot. There are more. I did a post last April about a couple I ran across.
I got to wondering about this particular warning, however, and how it might have come about.
“Your honor, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, look at my poor client. How can you not have compassion for a man who has lost so much? Tens of thousands of dollars, gone! And why, you might well ask. Because this giant, greedy, malevolent, evil corporation purposely misled people. Inappropriately and insufficiently labeling their product. My client went out and spent all of his life’s savings, expecting in return a bumper crop of cardinals and goldfinches but instead wound up with nothing because even though he thought, as the label said, he was buying birdseed and worked all the Spring planting season, he was, in fact, buying bird feed!”
And that’s how the warning label, “For Bird Feeding” came about.
I am still wildly curious about how this one came about, though:
Haha, I am imagining a person chewing the pizza box right now while thinking of planting all the bird seeds
😂🤣
Haha I have seen things similar and wonder the same thing. 🤣🤣
Maybe there is a secret contest amongst manufacturers to see who can come up with the most ‘interesting’ disclaimer of what is the most obvious.
Now that actually makes a lot of sense.
True story: NYT ran a contest for Warning Labels That Should Be There. First prize was about to be rewarded when someone realized it was truly a warning on a product:
On an auto sunshield: Please Remove Before Driving 😂
The winnings went to the next up which was for a MacDonald’s cup of coffee:
“Please allow to cool before applying to groin.”
😂🤣
You have to wonder about all the warnings and directions published on many self explanatory products. Is it all due to the litigious age we live in, the dumbing down of the consumers or is it just poor translation on products made in a foreign country. Likely all three are the reason. There are laughs galore out there Herb. Like this one on a Razor scooter….”This product moves when used”. Allan
It probably is all three. The Razor Scooter one is one I hadn’t seen yet. 😂🤣😂
Hmm planting bird seed
You should try it.
I hadn’t considered planting in the hopes of a Bird O’ Paradise!
Warning labels are my favorite. I photograph quite a few and wonder at their story every time.
I know. Did someone get sued or did the legal department just come up with that, “just in case?”
I am always hopeful that someone was an idiot.
It makes for a more interesting story sometimes.
Opening the box before eating the pizza? What a revelation!
Who knew?
Edible boxes could be a good idea, though.
You, sir, are a marketing genius! Or something.
So THAT’S why I have never had luck growing birds!
Sorry I had to be the one to inform you.😁