When Clear Writing Loses Out to Weird Jury Decisions

This link was posted to a tech writing mailing list I lurk on: Toilet Brush Warning Wins Consumer Award:

DETROIT - The sign on the toilet brush says it best: "Do not use for personal hygiene."

That admonition was the winner of an anti-lawsuit group's contest for the wackiest consumer warning label of the year.

The sponsor, Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch, says the goal is "to reveal how lawsuits, and concern about lawsuits, have created a need for common sense warnings on products."

The $500 first prize went to Ed Gyetvai, of Oldcastle, Ontario, who submitted the toilet-brush label. A $250 second prize went to Matt Johnson, of Naperville, Ill., for a label on a children's scooter that said, "This product moves when used."

Further comments, I'm sure, would only add to the mountain of evidence that juries in certain jurisdictions are packed with the only people who couldn't come up with a way to convince the judge to let them escape jury duty. And that most judges would consider an IQ above room temperature to be adequate reason.