"For Novelty Purposes Only" : what if people don't listen?
June 14, 2008 10:31 PM   Subscribe

I'm planning on making gag gifts to sell at stores that contain dirty items, such as cigarette butts. For demonstrative purposes, let's pretend I was creating a perfume that had used cigarette butts soaking in it. If I put "for novelty purposes only", does that prevent me from being liable if some idiot decides to use the product? Or is this a bad idea to be pursuing?
posted by jsmith77 to Law & Government (9 answers total)
 
IANAL, nor a product safety expert. I don't think you're exposed to too much of a claim if your product clearly labels out that it's a novelty item and not for use. But then again, it depends on what -kind- of liability you're concerned about.

One suggestion: why not glue the perfume bottle shut?
posted by phyrewerx at 10:43 PM on June 14, 2008


Even if "some idiot decides to use the product" what would you be liable for?
posted by amyms at 10:44 PM on June 14, 2008


2nding Dersins.

Free legal advice from strangers on the internet is worth less than what you pay for it.
posted by toomuchpete at 12:01 AM on June 15, 2008


Just from a marketing point of view, the novelty aspect of a product like that is about two seconds long, and is just gonna be something someone might keep for a while because the person who gave it to them is important in their lives, then it goes straight into the garbage. I don't know about the legal aspects, but it just doesnt sound like a sound business plan.
posted by timsteil at 12:18 AM on June 15, 2008


putting that much nicotine into a liquid is extremely dangerous. Do more research about that. I'm on a terrible connection right now or I'd throw some links your way. Also consider if minors would be sold this item and the businesses would have to protect themselves from that.

Little warnings really won't release anyone from liability.
Fake plastic cigarette butts would be a safer bet
posted by idiotfactory at 12:21 AM on June 15, 2008


I second phyrewerx's suggestion of sealing the bottle shut.

Keeping stupid people from injuring themselves isn't just sound legal advice; it's also a good idea ethically.
posted by Mike1024 at 4:48 AM on June 15, 2008


I'd say that things with FAKE dirty things are more interesting than things with real dirty things in them, as well as safer in terms of liability. I figure that's why novelty stores sell fake plastic piles of poop, instead of the real thing. Why would I buy a bottle of perfume that's really just nasty old cigarette water? But if it were actual perfume that smelled pretty okay, but happened to have what appeared to be nasty cigarette butts floating in it, you'd have a more appealing product, since you'd have covered the novelty factor and still created a usable product.
posted by missjenny at 6:43 AM on June 15, 2008


Or is this a bad idea to be pursuing?

It's a bad idea in several ways: 1.) there are the potential legal liabilities which you're just now beginning to explore. And 2.) is there really a market for this sort of thing? Aren't novelty stores already crowded with this type of two-bit junk from China?

It just seems like an odd, legally risky, questionably profitable business to enter into.
posted by wfrgms at 8:52 AM on June 15, 2008


Response by poster: My start-up costs for this is minimal, so it's worth me creating it and seeing what the market is. I already view novelty items as having a limited audience, so I'm not quitting my job and cashing out a 401k to start this up. But thanks for the concern :)

I wish I were actually creating perfume with cigarette butts in it, because sealing the bottle shut is a good idea. But that's not what I'm making. The novelty of the idea is having something that no one would want to use. I guess if I were full of myself, I would call it conceptual art. But I'm not, so I call it a novelty item. Of course, the packaging and marketing of the item turns dirty cigarette water into a gag gift.

And if putting a legal question up on the internets is such a bad idea, why even have a "law and government" section here on mefi? I'm just seeing if someone has had experience with the issue before.
posted by jsmith77 at 4:45 PM on June 15, 2008


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