Police in England have been criticized for posting signs with obvious messages such as “Caution: water on road during rain,” and “All fuel must be paid for,” according to a BBC report.
The Plain English Campaign, a language watchdog group, claims the signs don’t deter criminals and are an insult to everyone else’s intelligence.
A spokeswoman from the campaign blames branding and “the obsession companies have with covering themselves” for the obvious messages.
But obvious signs have been around for quite some time, as proven by this photo sent to us by reader Brenda Rathier. It’s from a Canadian WWII museum and was originally posted near a battlefield trench:
Photo: Brenda RathierHere’s another obvious one from blog reader David Gusaas:
Photo: David GusaasWhat other painfully obvious signs have you come across?
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There is a great website on the subject. See:
http://www.baddesigns.com/
One lesson that can be gleaned from all these signs is that, “The need to add a sign is a sign of a bad design.” This is even true when doors say PUSH or PULL, since the function should be obvious to the user.
In Massachusetts there are many thousands of traffic signs that say, “Right Turn on RED allowed”, then there is a small sign below it that says, “After full stop.” Bet there is a tale to be told about that.
“Warning: Red Bull does not give you wings”
This might be slightly off topic, but this is probably my favorite sign…. a sign warning about the sign itself:
http://flickr.com/photos/lush/52805877/
The Canadian WWII trench sign might not quite so obvious. It depends on the context. It could be a warning about enemy snipers in the immediate vicinity. A stationary target is easier to hit than a moving target and would therefore attract a sniper to someone standing around.
In São Paulo, Brazil, every building is required, by law, to post the following sign in front of every elevator door:
“Do not enter elevator if it is not stationed on this floor”.
I once had a can of cheese-wiz that advised:
For best results remove cap.
Photo of an entrance to one of the parks somewhere in England. “Bill Stickers will be Prosecuted” where someone scrawled “Bill Stickers is Innocent!” ha ha
The smoking sign is only dumb if you haven’t lived and worked with French expatriates. They smoke everywhere and during any activity.