MetaFilter posts tagged with products

Mother's Little Helper was only in trouble if it was mislabeled

Asparagirl — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 13:26:18 -0800

The US Food and Drug Administration started regulating the labeling of food, beverages, and medicines after the passage of the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act, and added food coloring and cosmetics with the 1938 Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. They have just released a new website, the FDA Notices of Judgment Collection, 1906-1963, containing data from thousands of cases of mislabeled or misadvertised products and drugs, available in multiple forms (text, PDF, metadata XML, .TIF image, etc.), with searchable archives. Poking around in the data will yield information on cases ranging from misbranding methamphetamine tablets, to quack "Film-O-Sonic" devices, to bacteria-laden unproven abortifacients sold over the counter, to purported "4-way" cures for baldness, to hunks of radium sold for putting in your drinking water to "stimulate the sex organs" (judged against for stating an unproven use, not for actual danger of product). Organized by the FDA's history office, the new database is a fascinating resource for historians, public safety advocates, researchers, and librarians.

Impracticality is the new practicality

Fuzzy Skinner — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 15:53:43 -0800

Get your creative juices flowing and challenge your thinking with a visit to trucdesign.com, a showcase of innovative, incredible, and often impractical products and concepts. Just a few direct links: Cardboard furniture for kids, CoffeeTime seating, Paper Airplane coffee table, Double-O cooking system, Carpet-lounge.

Irritated and Indifferent

tkolar — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 11:27:08 -0800

Irritated and indifferent -- consumers in the Expectation Economy. [warning -- article is way too enthusiastic and engages in capslock abuse] The proliferation of online product review sites is making Consumer Reports look positively antiquated. This is particularly true for high-end products, where discovering "best of class" items is now just a few mouse-clicks (or one AskMe) away. How do you stay ahead of the curve when consumers regularly know more about your market than you do?

Equine nasal strips

joeclark — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 19:12:41 -0800

Nasal strips for horses. I thought it was a parody when I saw it on Cardhouse, but no, they exist. Now your steed can nicker and snort as if with nostrils of Teflon.

Smell Like Alan Moore's Swamp Thing

jonson — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 19:10:01 -0800

Are you tired of NOT smelling like characters in Neil Gaiman books?? Well thank Morpheus, just like Alex Burgess in The Wake, your long nightmare is at an end thanks to this collection of Gaiman-inspired perfumes & colognes.

That's got to be a joke... right?

Fofer — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 10:00:28 -0800

On Sunday, April 1, ThinkGeek.com jokingly introduced the 8-bit Tie, and due to customer demand, claims that now it'll be a real product. On Friday, April 13, apparently due to customer demand, hard drive manufacturer WiebeTech has now introduced the MouseJiggler, and claims it's not a joke.

"Your daily source for wonderful stuff."

dobbs — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 11:07:06 -0800

Grandma's Kitchen (youtube), the Roller Toaster, the water-less washing machine, the sculptures of Gwon Osong, a crucifix-shaped mp3 player... some of the people and things found on CubeMe, a blog about "wonderful stuff".

Umdenken

BuddhaInABucket — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 19:51:10 -0800

Useful German Products

Products of slave labor

homunculus — Sat, 25 Feb 2006 00:08:45 -0800

From the Hands of Slaves: Common products of forced labor. [Via MoFi.]

even posting "Pepsi Blue" would make us liable.

amberglow — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 22:08:45 -0800

"Drove my Chevy to the levee..."? That's a lawsuit. "Pass the Courvoisier"? Yup. Lawsuit too. Artwork using Barbie Dolls? Lawsuit again... It's all part of the Trademark Dilution Revision Act, which would eliminate the non-commercial "fair use" protections of trademarks in art, literature, and speech-- To amend the Trademark Act of 1946 with respect to dilution by blurring or tarnishment. It goes to the Senate Judiciary Committee on the 16th, and there's a large roster of groups fighting it, including the American Library Association, EFF, and more, saying that consumers as well as artists would be preventing from exercising their free speech rights unless it's amended.

Bitch-Slapping with the Invisible Hand

digaman — Wed, 07 Dec 2005 08:38:57 -0800

Zombied-out customer-service reps beware: the Consumerist, the newest edition to Nick Denton's Gawker "nanopublishing" empire, is watching you. Gizmodo's Joel Johnson (who recently spent a month in New Orleans) serves up sassy shopping tips and customer-service-tests-from-Hell. More hip-product-pr0n-with-an-attitude, just in time for ~~Christmas~~ the happy holidays^TM.

Chillow Pillow

allkindsoftime — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 06:21:43 -0800

Ever spent your precious morning minutes in bed turning your pillow over repeatedly, seeking in vain for the coveted cool spot? Search no more.

iPhone is here

tommyc — Wed, 07 Sep 2005 10:58:06 -0800

iPhone is here (nearly!) ...Apple reveals the iPhone! And the iPod nano?

Bubblewrap

pivotal — Tue, 23 Aug 2005 19:35:58 -0800

Thudguard: proudly creating a generation of children who randomly slam their heads into the ground after not learning the do-not-hurt-head part of growing up.

Spray-on Mud

The Ultimate Olympian — Tue, 14 Jun 2005 09:15:43 -0800

Spray-on Mud - So you own a big 4x4, and you feel a bit stupid that you only use it to take the children to school. You want people to think you're a bit country - that you need 6 tonnes of car to get you from A to B because you like to take it off-road every so often. You need Spray-on Mud apparently.

Mattingly! Shave those sideburns!

Robot Johnny — Sat, 14 May 2005 18:52:45 -0800

The Perfect Sideburns in just five minutes? Can it really be that easy? Why, this is a product fit for a king!

Of Superheroes, Product Placements, and PSAs.

Sully — Wed, 16 Mar 2005 14:44:26 -0800

Of Superheroes, Product Placements, and PSAs. A nostagia-filled gallery of comic book covers with all your favourite (and no so favourite) spandex-clad superheroes shilling everything from Hostess cream-filled Twinkies to saying no to crack.

Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific

Ogre Lawless — Tue, 31 Aug 2004 14:32:04 -0800

Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific! Yes, back in the 70s it was all right to say this to unsuspecting strangers here in the US. We live in different times now, but the product is once again available, imported from the Phillipines by The Vermont Country Store, also selling all manner of odd products from yesteryear. (Midget joke not included)

Human Beans

ronsens — Thu, 12 Aug 2004 23:05:49 -0800

Human Beans Fictional Products. The Karmaphone, the Live Cigarettes and more

Beeman's, Brillo, and Cream of Wheat in 3-D

putzface_dickman — Wed, 01 Oct 2003 10:28:56 -0800

Beeman's
Brillo
Cream of Wheat
Classic American consumer products in 3-D

mathowie — Wed, 28 Aug 2002 19:48:06 -0800

Spirit Foam: cheerleading has finally been reduced to a spray can.

Spoon — Fri, 10 May 2002 06:36:42 -0800

I thought I'd heard every crazy idea in the world. And now I have.

me3dia — Mon, 29 Apr 2002 08:32:56 -0800

Introducing eMac, a new version of the iMac aimed solely at the education market. Rather than getting all slashdotty, let's discuss the looks of it, rather than the guts, and debate the wiseness of this new strategy. Oh, Apple also released a new 800MHz TiBook.

fleener — Sun, 27 Jan 2002 16:21:08 -0800

Niches of Trust is an Online Journalism Review article about three 'consumer journalism' sites run by individuals who come from journalism backgrounds. They do something now rare in corporate media - provide honest information separate from advertiser influence and, when necessary, are critical of the business or product being reviewed. The sites are The Car Place, Theme Park Insider and Consumer World. What are your favorite run-by-one-person sites that provide critical analysis of products?

skallas — Wed, 21 Nov 2001 09:07:32 -0800

Time's 2001 inventions of the year awards. Why do all of these have that cheesy "Sharper Image" feel to them? Aren't there inventions out there slightly more important than a potato masher or a remote control smoke alarm? Naww, everything else would go over the heads of the readers. Keep that gravy comin' ma!