Professional Driver / Closed Course / Blah, Blah,Blah

[kompressornsc]

The disclaimers on car commercials are really starting to get to me! Seems like they're getting larger and more detailed, and more ridiculous. And now they're showing crash test videos and a big 'Dramatization' at the bottom. Why show it then? Are you lying to me that the car won't hold up that well? And what's the worst one, the MB commercial where the ML destroys the sled? C'mon...



Okay...rant off...do those lawyer inserted comments bug anyone else? I think fools should be left to be fools and if they think they can drive off a cliff and land on a car carrier on the road 100 feet below, let them do it... :chuckle:

 

[TigerMike]

I agree, it bothers me as well. There's nothing like exaggerating a product's capabilities...but, it's all over the place, not just in car commercials. I also like those utterly annoying infomercials on the latest "lose weight fast" pills that show a person dropping 50 or 60 pounds in say 8 weeks, but then at the bottom it says, "results not typical" or "actual average weight loss reported is around 2 pounds over the same 8 wk period." I always think, then why show the crap if it's not the typical results we should expect!! Heck, I could lose 5 pounds in 1 week, without their stupid pills!



Then again, in their defense, I guess it just wouldn't sell too much product if they showed a person that lost 2 pounds (obviously no visual change) versus 60. lol



IMO, it is pushing the boundaries of false advertising, but like you said, those lawyers always have them put in those lame disclaimers. Kinda reminds me of the McDonald's case where the person sued over hot coffee, and now MCD has the disclaimer. Well, duh! Your coffee is going to be hot, maam! I guess disclaimers are there to keep stupid people from doing stupid things.

 

[Accumulator]

Heh heh, around my house we say "serving suggestion" about all this goofiness



What really bugs me is that stupid people have to be saved from themselves and will sue sombody if allowed to do something idiotic instead of just taking their lumps (or worse yet, will try to make a career out of such stuff).



Oh, and I wouldn't necessarily lump all this weirdness together...I read that the lady in the "hot McDonald's coffee case" actually suffered some pretty horrible burns, requiring major medical attention to some rather sensitive areas of her body. That's the part you don't hear about, that it really *was* a serious matter involving boiling hot coffee (some mechanical problem with the coffee maker). Imagine how *you* would feel if handed a cup of coffee that was so hot that you reflexively dropped it...in your lap

 

[eyeguy]

Heh heh, around my house we say "serving suggestion" about all this goofiness



What really bugs me is that stupid people have to be saved from themselves and will sue sombody if allowed to do something idiotic instead of just taking their lumps (or worse yet, will try to make a career out of such stuff).



Oh, and I wouldn't necessarily lump all this weirdness together...I read that the lady in the "hot McDonald's coffee case" actually suffered some pretty horrible burns, requiring major medical attention to some rather sensitive areas of her body. That's the part you don't hear about, that it really *was* a serious matter involving boiling hot coffee (some mechanical problem with the coffee maker). Imagine how *you* would feel if handed a cup of coffee that was so hot that you reflexively dropped it...in your lap

Now Accumulator, if the coffee is so hot you'd reflexively drop it, how would the person giving you the coffee be able to give it to you. :chuckle:

 

[imported_hooked]

The Toyota truck commercials showing the truck getting washed around by hightide and having tons of stuff dumped on it without a scratch are pretty lame.

 

[topnotchtouch]

I don't think you can blame the manufacturer's for the disclaimers, blame your fellow Americans. We as a society will sue someone at the drop of a hat if there is money to be made. I seriously doubt the manufacturer's expect anyone to believe these adds, they have succeeded though as it would appear they have caught your attention and after all, that is their purpose.

 

[topnotchtouch]

Now Accumulator, if the coffee is so hot you'd reflexively drop it, how would the person giving you the coffee be able to give it to you. :chuckle:

If the server is holding the cup at the very top they wouldn't necessarily feel the heat but, the person receiving the cup would have to grab it around the middle where the heat would be concentrated. :nixweiss

 

[eyeguy]

If the server is holding the cup at the very top they wouldn't necessarily feel the heat but, the person receiving the cup would have to grab it around the middle where the heat would be concentrated. :nixweiss

Hmmm, I never thought of that! I had visions of leather welding gloves handing off a cup of coffee to some shaky blue hair.

 

[imported_themightytimmah]

The Toyota truck commercials showing the truck getting washed around by hightide and having tons of stuff dumped on it without a scratch are pretty lame.

I like the one with the jilted girlfriend who pushes it off a cliff with no apparant damage . I think the disclaimer says "Your Mileage May Vary".

 

[TigerMike]

I don't think you can blame the manufacturer's for the disclaimers, blame your fellow Americans. We as a society will sue someone at the drop of a hat if there is money to be made.

Bingo. This is the root of the problem. Everyone is looking to make a quick easy buck off a lawsuit. It's the American way!

 

[imported_KevinA]

I saw a Dodge Charger commercial that said something to the effect of "closed course, professional drivers, do not attempt". The only "stunt" I could see was some chopper dude driving off a curb to follow the car. When the guy parks his car it turns out they were kids on their bicycles following him.

 

[Accumulator]

eyeguy1- Yeah, I figured it was something like what rjstaaf posted, plus I suppose it takes a moment for the heat to get through the cup. I didn't mean to sound all :nono or anything, I too poked fun at the whole thing until somebody showed me a writeup about what really happened.

 

[velobard]

I read that the lady in the "hot McDonald's coffee case" actually suffered some pretty horrible burns, requiring major medical attention to some rather sensitive areas of her body. That's the part you don't hear about, that it really *was* a serious matter involving boiling hot coffee (some mechanical problem with the coffee maker).

Yeah, it really was a serious issue and it wasn't due to some mechanical malfunction, either. It was a company policy to have it that hot and had been the basis for many previous claims against McDonalds.



http://www.vanfirm.com/mcdonalds-coffee-lawsuit.htm



A couple quotes:

hired a law student to take temperatures at other local restaurants for comparison. After dutifully slipping a thermometer into steaming cups and mugs all over the city, Danny Jarrett found that none came closer than about 20 degrees to the temperature at which McDonald's coffee is poured, about 180 degrees....Before trial, McDonald's gave the opposing lawyer its operations and training manual, which says its coffee must be brewed at 195 to 205 degrees and held at 180 to 190 degrees for optimal taste.

What the jury didn't realize initially was the severity of her burns. Told during the trial of Mrs. Liebeck's seven days in the hospital and her skin grafts, and shown gruesome photographs, jurors began taking the matter more seriously.

Even more eye-opening was the revelation that McDonald's had seen such injuries many times before. Company documents showed that in the past decade McDonald's had received at least 700 reports of coffee burns ranging from mild to third degree, and had settled claims arising from scalding injuries for more than $500,000.

There's lots more good stuff in the full article.

 

[eyeguy]

eyeguy1- Yeah, I figured it was something like what rjstaaf posted, plus I suppose it takes a moment for the heat to get through the cup. I didn't mean to sound all :nono or anything, I too poked fun at the whole thing until somebody showed me a writeup about what really happened.

Don't worry, I didn't take it seriously at all. I was trying to give you a little ribbing and it kind of backfired. Just me being a little bit of a smarta$$.



Kinda feel sorry for the lady after hearing about the severity of the burns. I've worked in a burn unit before, so I know at those temps it can do wicked damage to "sensitive" areas.