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Wacky Warning Labels 2009 Winners Announced
08.16.2009
For information on the 2010 Wacky Warning Labels Contest, Click Here!
Watch a video with the winner of the 2009 contest!
Are you interested in submitting a label for our 2010 contest? Read below for details on how to submit your entry! You could win $1000!
Read More about Bob Dorigo Jones, and his activities as FFCJ Spokesperson by clicking here.
2009 Winners of the Wacky Warning Label Contest have been announced. Now in its 12th year, the internationally known contest is sponsored by the Foundation for Fair Civil Justice. Millions of people around the world are reading stories or watching television news reports about the contest and laugh at how silly the warning labels are. Bob Dorigo Jones, who developed the contest, explained that behind these silly labels is a serious public policy concern—America’s out-of-whack system of civil justice. The contest reveals how lawsuits and the fear of lawsuits have driven companies to spend millions on common-sense warnings. This year’s winner is a submission from Steve Shiflett of Hampton, Georgia. The label is attached to a portable toilet seat for outdoorsmen called “The Off-Road Commode” because it is designed to attach to a vehicle’s trailer hitch. The warning label reads "Not for use on moving vehicles". Other winners include:
- A wart removal product instruction guide that warns, “Do not use if you cannot see clearly to read the information in the information booklet.”
- A label on the underside of a cereal bowl warns, “Always use this product with adult supervision.”
- A small, 1” x 4” LCD panel warns, “Do not eat the LCD panel.”
- A bag of livestock castration rings warns, “For animal use only.”
“Once a year, millions of people around the world get a collective laugh from our winners,” said Bob Dorigo Jones, contest creator and bestselling author. “The truth is, this is no laughing matter. Outrageous warning labels confirm that the American civil justice system is out of whack! In today’s economy, Wacky Warning Labels demonstrate the tax we all pay for lawsuit abuse.” “Legal reform is urgently needed to help propel America’s economic recovery." says Dorigo Jones. "Companies need to be focusing on developing new products and jobs, not on defending themselves against frivolous lawsuits. But today, the thickest section of any telephone book in the U.S. is the section advertising the services of personal injury lawyers, and that is not a recipe for an economic recovery. For America to thrive, we need to expand the labor market, not the litigation market.”
“According to the Pacific Research Institute” continued Dorigo Jones, “$589 billion would be saved per year for investment in new jobs and consumer spending if U.S. tort-cost levels were comparable in relative size with other industrialized countries. This amount equals an annual "litigation tax" for a family of four of more than $9,000." In its 2007 "Jackpot Justice" study, PRI points out that jobs, earnings, output, tax revenue, and population grow faster in top tort states than bottom, and tax rates are lower too.
Are you interested in submitting a label for our 2010 contest?
FFCJ is awarding cash prizes to the top three wackiest warning labels. If you have a warning label you would like to submit to FFCJ, please send the original label and your name and address to: Wacky Warning Label Contest, 39555 Orchard Hill Place, Suite 600, Novi, MI, 48375. We cannot accept entries via the internet because of the need to verify the authenticity of the labels.
Important Prize Information
The grand prize winner will receive $1000 and a copy of the new bestselling book, Remove Child Before Folding, The 101 Stupidest, Silliest and Wackiest Warning Labels Ever, by Bob Dorigo Jones. The second place winner receives $500 and the third place winner receives $250. Please submit labels to FFCJ by April 15, 2010.
Rules
All individuals entering the FFCJ Wacky Warning Label Contest agree to the following: Labels that are submitted to the contest become the property of FFCJ. Entries may include the actual label, or, if the label cannot be mailed, a photo of the label. If the same label is submitted by more than one person, the first person to submit the label will qualify for the prize. If you have any questions, email FFCJ at bobdj@foundationforfairciviljustice.org.
