Political correctness gone mad has reached Australia
I saw an advert on TV tonight that made me sad. It was for a harmless product and yet the small text across the bottom of the screen read : "Incorrect usage may cause harm"
No shit.
What, used incorrectly, does not have the potential to cause harm? If I bought a bag of marshmallows, sewed them together and used them as a safety helmet it probably wouldn't work.
If I made a helmet from marshamallow, and I was walking along the street only to get landed upon by an ACME 10 Ton anvil, see birdies circling my head with annoying tweety sounds, one thing would be the last on my mind: "Go chasing that damn marshmallow company for failing to warn me that this wouldn't work!"
Challenge: Can you think of anything that couldn't cause harm if used incorrectly?
posted by Only me @ 9:40 pm
8 Comments:
An apostrophe??
anon: I'm impressed. Well done! I'm going to consider how an apostrophe can cause harm now. I'm sure it can. I'm struggling not to get surreal about it now....
Seeing it's instead of its nearly sends me into fits. Would that count as causing harm?
it is a sad thing that people are so sue happy that such labels have to exist. my favourite caution label comes on hairdryers warning people not to use the dryer in the shower. (notice how deftly i avoided using the apostrophe)
Mr Vuboq: I beat ya to it fella! I honestly went to bed thinking about the apostrophe thing. I'm sure I remember someone telling me that it was their pet hate and that they want to cause damage when they see it. I'm wondering if perhaps that someone was you!
Dykewife: That's why I'm so sad to see it in Australia. One of the many things I love about this country is the easy-going attitude. I like to hope the advert was simply written by a cautious US company and not editted for use in Aus. We don't usually have those warnings.
We're still proud that we dont need to warn our citizens that the contents of a Maccers Hot Apple Pie "May be hot" or that a packet of peanuts "May contain traces of nuts"
OMG - I'm talking about "we" and "us" as though I'm aussie. Please forgive: "This person may be a pom"
Why thank you sir. I guess a Ph.D. from the emerald isle is useful for something then, if only to come up with something that's harmless. I'm gonna have to think even more now whether I was right to suggest it.
p.s. Check out the Apostrophe Protection Society at http://www.apostrophe.fsnet.co.uk/ for examples of incorrect usage.
anon: I should have known it was you. Didn't you fail English horribly at our school? Oh no, wait, it was just that the bald teacher (no names!) hated you....
Post a Comment
<< Home