Those things drive me nuts! Mostly because they are so well affixed that most of the time, I can’t tell that they are on there.
Inevitably, a few years after owning something (happened most recently with the touchpad on the microwave) I will think that the screen/touchpad is wearing out and that i have to get a new one only to later have the stupid thing come off and reveal what the damn thing was supposed to look like.
I am one of the only people in here that is with you jprokos. If I walk up to someone laptop or stereo and there are a dozen marketing stickers all over it makes me think… maybe not less of them, more like… they are not like me. I feel like they are either too ignorant to know that the sticker is not an integral part of the product, too lazy to peel it off, or too bizarre because they think that having a dozen color stickers in the corner of their 100% black stereo makes sense.
When I see them plastered all over laptops that people are using, I tend to think of the users as falling in the category of “I don’t change anything on this laptop without my son’s permission because I might mess it up.”
Yes, it is a prejudice, and that is wrong. But most of the time in my experience, it is true.
I don’t know what kind of glue furniture manufacturers use (on their labels), but some of them are impossible to remove. I have a table for 1976 that still has one-attempts to remove it (alcohol, acetone, paint thinner) have been futile. I leave the clear plastic on watch displays, PD screens on-provides scratch protection.
What about people who leave the “100% wool” label that is lightly stitched on the cuff of their winter coat? What the hell is wrong with them?
I totally see where the OP is coming from. That’s certainly a character flaw and shows lack of awareness.
I don’t know if it’s related but I make a similar judgement for people who wear t-shirts with some huge logo print or some smart-ass slogan or saying. But, that might be a consequence of me having difficult time buying a t-shirt that has no visible letters or logos.
I’ve been patiently waiting for someone to say that the stickers gradually become invisible but I guess not. I mean, admittedly, I barely notice them to begin with, but I’m extrapolating from a similar phenomenon involving notes that I leave for myself. They just sort of disappear if they’re up for too long.
I wonder if this is one of those ‘need answer fast things.’ Is it still a hallucination if you selectively don’t see things that are there. I can think of some ex’s where that would have come in handy if I could have tuned the ability. 
I have two stories about these from my retail days.
“Call on line 3 for a manager!”
-Hello?
-Yea, I just picked up a washing machine I ordered from you with a truck I rented, drove it 40 miles to my home, opened it, and it’s the wrong damn color! You guys need to come out here right now and bring me the one I ordered!
-Hmm, sorry about that. Which washer did you get?
-Model XXX-1234.
-Hmm, that model only comes in white. What color did you get?
-This one is pink, I don’t want it, and you guys need to come get this thing right now!!!
-yeah um that’s going to be the protective film, you’re going to want to peel that off.
-Hold on a sec… okay thanks bye (click)
-Hi, I’m looking for a replacement remote.
-Is yours not working?
-It works fine. I’ve had it about a year but the surface is peeling and I can’t read the numbers anyomre.
-Can I see it?
-Sure, here.
“zipp!” (hands it back to customer)
-Well don’t I feel stupid.
I peel them off if they are really ugly and come off without too much difficulty. Otherwise, it’s not worth wrecking my nails over. It’s not that I care much about how my nails look (I think Bush I was in the White House the last time I polished them), but my nails are flimsy and weak, and tend to get torn up taking stickers off things.
There are stickers on the bottoms of my Corelle plates that I cannot get off. I would like to wrap the person who invented these stickers up in them and let them see how hard it is to get the stupid things off.
Gotcha, and I can’t say I’ve noticed this on electronics (and it wouldn’t change my opinion of a person if I did) but if you’re talking about the equivalent of getting a top-of-the-windshield sticker or bumper sticker for your vehicle that says CHEVROLET or HEMI then yeah…that is tacky.
Also I have had the dealer emblem removed from a vehicle and paid for the holes to be filled and painted because I didn’t just pay $25,000 to be a rolling advertisment for a car dealer. In fact if I ever buy a brand new vehicle again, that will be a condition of sale: remove your brand name identifier and make this vehicle like new or I won’t buy it.
But again, I don’t think less or even differently of people who are OK with their stickers or Red Bull tee shirts or “Friendly Ford” car emblems…I don’t notice them, and meh.
Some of my friends still have the bright yellow energy star sticker on their fridge. It’s pretty ugly. Can’t imagine why anyone is too lazy to remove it. But it’s their home and fridge. Whatever floats their boat.
There’s many products to remove the glue residue. Paint thinner, rubbing alcohol, goo gone etc. I always remove stickers from any product I buy. Unless its a model number/serial number tag.
I generally remove any promo stickers and such. But I do have one item whose sticker is not going anywhere: an old Beta VCR with a 1984 LA Olympics Special Edition sticker. That’s actually kind of cool.
Informational stickers, e.g., EnergyStar ratings, product info, etc. stay until they rot off. (Assuming they are in reasonable locations.)
Oh, no the worst have to be the men who leave the little sewed-on label on the outside cuff of their suits.
What kind of fucking rube does that? Seriously! You don’t have to live in a vacuum to realize that the President, all 535 members of Congress, and ANYONE ON TELEVISION WEARING A SUIT EVER IN THE LAST 100 YEARS has that stupid little sewed on label on their suit coats.
Unless, their name is Jethro Bodine, I suppose.
Have you people never heard of Goo-Gone?
Unless a sticker was on the tv screen, oven window, or somehow otherwise interfered with it’s function, I doubt I would even notice. Looking around my house right now I see that many of my appliances have stickers or metal plates with mfr name. Never occurred to me to take the time to remove them. Besides, I’ve had to troubleshoot durable goods before and it’s really easy to look at the malfunctioning appliance, see the brand name and google for answers.
There’s a big difference between the metal plate with the brand name or product name on it, and the cheap sticker with garish colors plastered over half the housing that says “5 Year Guarantee / 5 años de garantía / Free 1-Year Supply of Dish Detergent With Purchase / Now 95% Cleanier! / Try me!”
These stickers are intended to catch the eye of people in the store. They are not intended to be left on the machine. I agree with the OP. There is something wrong with people who leave these things on their appliances. They are oblivious slobs. They are the kind of people who I imagine might leave the house with half a cheesecake stuck to their shirt without noticing or caring.
I’m not talking about the subtle, blue postage-stamp-sized “Intel Inside” sticker on the laptop. I’m talking about the large shiny purple starbust covering the palmrest that says “BIG AND POWERFUL! MORE GAMING POWER! HPOMPAQ TOUCHSMART ENVY LUSTFUL POWERCOMPUTEBOOK 2000 NOW ENBIGGENED WITH WINDOWS 8! FREE TRUE-DISPLAY SCREEN DISPLAY”
Thank you. I am vindicated.
You call them slobs but there is more to it than that. Here’s an example that is related to advertising and the sheep that advertising targets. Warning this is a tangent.
Years ago a friend of mine was watching TV and a commercial came on for Taco Bell then abruptly disappeared to make room for another spot, and another. After the fourth commercial had finished and the original program continued my friend says in a droll voice, ‘I wanna get a taco, let’s get some tacos’. I turned to him and in a scolding voice said, “you’re weak”.:smack:
This is the invasion of our lives. You can’t get away from it if you are “plugged in.” Apparently some people are oblivious, like sheep; mere cogs in our “work and spend” society. At least make an effort to remove marketing from inside your own home. Create a haven from the incessant attack on your mind and earnings. I don’t intend to let them turn my home into another zone for market penetration.
The second reason is they are just plain hideous. Anyone who has an appreciation for not just the function but the appearance of what they bring into their home would want to remove these obnoxious things.
Regarding the difficulty of removing marketing stickers. I won’t buy something if it has a huge paper thin sticker on it. I know it’s going to be a pain to remove. Or, if my hand is forced I will have the store remove it before I buy it. Let them deal with it, take the time and spend their money to remove it. If they damage it, it’s their responsibility not mine. If everyone did this I am sure there would be fewer or more easily removed stickers.
Man, and I thought the things I judged people for were stupid. Like if you wear those toe sneakers, for example, I will not fuck you. There is nothing you can do to talk me out of this. You can be funnier than Louis CK and – okay, I totally would if you were funnier than Louis CK. But anything short of that, no dice. Anyway…
The hell are you talking about? Some people couldn’t give a crap and a half if they tried about the corporate advertising, and just don’t remove stickers because they don’t feel like it. Hell, my credit card still has the “Call This Number to Activate” sticker on it. Why haven’t I removed it? Because who gives a shit, and the card still works when you swipe it. I know you’re specifically miffed by advertising stickers, but I don’t care about those either. The way I see it, stickers make no difference either way unless they’re distracting. If a sticker is annoyingly bright or covers the product in an intrusive fashion, that is, one that hinders usage, I’ll take it off. Otherwise, I just honestly don’t care. Fortunately for you and your delicate sensibilities, I seldom come across stickers on the actual item itself as opposed to the packaging.
I kept the clear film on my cell phone screen for over a year. I guess you win. The closest I got is I’ve had my bike for seven years. The only reason it still doesn’t have L and R stickers on the pedals is because I got new pedals last year.
MeanOldLady: I just realized something that is just . . . oh so delightfully symmetrical. The OP has quite literally taken the concept of superficiality to it’s absolute physical limit.
You can probably argue that cosmetics provide a finer, thinner veneer than a plastic sticker, but it in terms of the symmetry, it’s not even close.
I don’t think you understand what this thread is about. It’s not about “L and R stickers”. It’s about marketing stickers as has been stated by me and others who have posted. I can understand your desire to strike back if you feel insulted but at least read through the posts to be sure you understand before you strike. In any case we all know now that you have stickers.
In re-reading my post I realized it might be ambiguous especially since I could have either been talking about the superficiality of someone paying so much attention to this heretofore unknown phenomenon.
Or . . . it could have been referencing the same type you’d been talking about since the beginning.
I suppose it could also be both as well even if technically a contradiction, but my intent was to cast my lot with MOL, just to be clear rather than just persnickety. 