17 August 2005

Pet Peeve: "Product Will Be Hot"

I eat lots of frozen dinners. I work in an office park and we have microwave ovens, but few other cooking facilities, and going out to lunch is both expensive and eats up 20 minutes of your lunch time driving. So, frozen dinners for lunch it is. Invariably the packages contain the warning: "Product will be hot" at the end of the directions.

It is a classic example of lawyer disease prevailing over marketing and common sense. Designers are investing considerable effort into designing each particular dinner's box. Several hours of work are involved. Yet, ignorantly, they can call what is inside "product" as if they hadn't even looked at the box. If they wanted to be mealy mouthed they could at least say "Food Will Be Hot" or "Container Will Be Hot", but no, they have to say "product".

Grrr....

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