Which is really funny because batman doesn’t fly anyway. Maybe Trench Coats should have a warning in case some dumb kid decided to emulate the Matrix by putting on a trench coat and trying to jump between two buildings that are across the street from each other?
What about the one with the idiot RV driver going to look at some car when his RV is in motion. It says, do not leave the wheel of your RV when in motion. Ah DUH:smack:
Something I always wondered: If the Jesus man could walk on water, does that mean the Jesus fish can swim on land?
There’s an ad for an anti-depressant (I can’t remember which one…it wasn’t Prozac), that has a little animated cartoon demonstrating the concept of the chemical imbalance which causes depression.
At the bottom of the screen…yep…‘Dramatization’.
See, now you all have me in a pickle. I always laugh at the stupid “Professional driver” admonitions when it shows a Jeep climbing vertically up the side of a mountain. Yet this thread has reminded me of a commercial for a pickup (I think…most likely GM). This guy is driving down the road in his (small) pickup or SUV and comes upon a tow truck (one of those huge ones used to tow semis). The tow truck is broken down, and of course, this guy hooks up his (small) pickup to the HUGE tow truck and tows it to safety. As this is happening some small print shows up at the bottom of the screen “Dramatization only. Do not attempt. Product cannot actually tow this truck.”
WTF?? So since you are required to disclaim obvious BS, you now feel free to show us semi-legit BS but still disclaim it? It’s this type of commercial that NEEDS the disclaimer, but in giant letters! I KNOW that a Jeep can’t drive on water, but a truck pulling a tow truck…that’s MAYBE doable, as I destroy the transmission in the process.
As to those drug ads…they only have to disclose the side effects if they actually TELL you what the drug does. Those annoying Axxiom or some such ads…“The Purple Pill”. WTF does it do? I don’t know, and I won’t unless I go ask my doctor. The side effects must be really bad for them to not even tell you what the stupid pill is for!
An apparently-dumb-but-really-smart one: apparently during Prohibition it was possible to buy a brick of compressed grapes. The disclaimer with it said:
“Do not soak this brick in water for a week, and then place resulting mixture in an enclosed container for three months. It would turn into wine, and that would be illegal”.
On the OP’s example, there really are people who get themselves killed in Yellowstone by wandering off the boardwalks in the thermal areas, and there really is a problem with people throwing trash down the throats of geysers. The littering, ironically considering the laxative commercial, is actually one of the reasons that Old Faithful has been getting slower and less predictable of late, and despite the benefits to the gene pool, the park service still considers the suicides-by-stupidity to be bad press. Last time I was down in the Park, I saw three separate people stick their hands into steaming sulfurous water, and one even tasted it. People really are that stupid, and warnings really are necessary (but probably futile).
Some ads, though, I suspect that the fine print is intended to be a joke, as the car companies’ (or whatever) way of making fun of themselves.
Yup, it makes sense if you’re the one trying to sell the phone card. Although there may be exceptions, the phone cards are, on the whole, a great big rip-off. Although it is possible to get the advertised rate, there are so many exceptions and fees tacked on for what most people would consider normal usage, that your card gets used up quickly and averages out as much more expensive.
That commecial is a good example of this: while they never actually say that you get that rate on pay phones, they deliberately give you that impression, then counter it with the small print on the bottom. Most people won’t actually pay attention to the small print, will buy a card, and won’t notice that it doesn’t last as long as it should because very few people time themselves that exactly when they’re on the phone. All the while, the phone card companies are going CA-CHING!
I remember that. Maybe Depression turns you into a sad little onion?
He looked like an Onion, to me, anyway.
Has anyone considered that those disclamers were not done 100% seriously?
I thought it was a sad little rock. It reminds me of a friend of mine, who is not a rock but is rather sad all the time. They should have Eyeore in a commercial for Prozac or something. I’d love to see a happy Eyeore.
And I love the sleep-aid that may cause drowsiness. May? No, it better. And if it does, that’s not a side-effect, it’s just an effect.
I once saw a commercial for a Geo Tracker that had fun with the disclaimer. A guy in a Tracker sees a semi broken down on the side of the road. He stops, throws a chain around the truck’s front bumper, and proceeds to tow the semi (including the trailer) down the road. The disclaimer said “Can a Tracker really tow a semi? Nah.”
I got a good laugh.
Nah, but a Darwin fish can!
DD
Faerie - I always get a kick out of the Sleeping Pill adverts too. It damn well better cause drowsiness. Isn’t that the point?
Not a comercial, but I bought a very nice 26oz. framing hammer at my local Lowes recently. It had one of the little information leaflet thingies zip tied to the handle. History of the company…don’t use this to hit small children…always wear eye protection…Buried in the fine print is this little gem of a sentence: “Do not use this device as a hammer.” WTF!! Don’t use it as a hammer? Then what did I just buy? A 26oz paperweight? A doorstop? Which legal team came up with that one? “Hey, maybe if we tell them not to use this as it is truly intended, then noone can really sue us if something horrible happens.” The world really is a sad, sad place.
Some certainly aren’t. There was a Kia SUV ad a few years ago where these two guys were granting “Uncle Bob” his last wish by driving his ashes up some mountain for the last time. They bounce their way to the top only to find the ashes have dumped out all over the back seat.
The disclaimer? “Don’t drive like this or you’ll wind up like Uncle Bob.”
Another one I saw had a car drive up the side of a building. The disclaimer there read “Please obey all laws of gravity.”
I think it refers to drowsiness beyond the time you want to be drousy - when you wake up the next morning. Sleeping pills often have a lingering effect when you wake up.
I thought it was a Superman costume.
(I always love these threads)
Do not come within 5 miles of this product.*
That label ought to cover it.
- read that somewhere, not mine
[/hijack]
Abortificatients used to be sold this way back when abortion was illegal. At my museum, we have a glass bottle which used to contain “Ladies’ Pills.” The label says, “Pregnant ladies should not take three of these pills, or immediate abortion will result.”
One contraceptive that SHOULD have had a warning lable, but didn’t, was Lysol. (Nothing can kill sperm like Lysol can!) Believe it or not, it was once sold as a post-coital douche. Many women were horribly burned before they stopped suggesting that use on their bottles.
My favorite are all the ads for weightwatchers which includes the caption “Results are not typical.” Well, thanks.