Label to Die for: 'Danger— Avoid Death'

Bizarre caution nails wacky warning contest

By Colleen Barry, Newser Staff

Posted Dec 13, 2007 1:35 PM CST

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Label to Die for: 'Danger— Avoid Death' — In an undated photo provided by the Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch, radio personality, Dick Purtan, displays how to safely open an envelope according to one of the labels in the Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch's 11th annual Wacky Warning Label Contest, in Detroit. The contest is conducted as part of an... (Associated Press)

Turns out creators of the bizarrely macabre warning posted on a tractor—"Danger: Avoid Death"—didn't make such a grave mistake after all. The warning was so peculiar that it won the 11th annual Wacky Warning Label Contest, an event run by a lawsuit abuse group. Second place went to the warning on an iron-on decal that : "Do not iron while wearing shirt." Duh.

Third was a warning on a stroller with a storage pouch reminding parents: "Do not put child in bag." Oh, and owners of a Vanishing Fabric Marker were told not to use it to sign legal documents. M-LAW is an advocacy group pushing for an end to "ridiculous" lawsuits, such as those that inspire these labels. (More label stories.)

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