Picture it... marketing material, packaging material, advertising that essentially says, "Don't eat too much of our product". Strange? You bet - but a British bakery has done just that... for as proud as they are of their baked goodies, they appreciate that they, the goodies, are an indulgence and too much of a good thing could see customers ballooning into all sorts of different shapes and having to go on diets. You'll see the story here. Now we know that cigarettes, for example, come with health warning labels, but the industry, as I recall, didn't exactly leap on board with that one. So wouldn't it be nice to dream and see companies placing warnings in their material... Here some suggestions (and they're free, guys): "Don't drink too much of our product... you may find you will tend to drive through garden walls"; "Feeling arrogant and better than the next driver? Our XP Yukkamoto will give you that (entirely unjustified) feeling, so buy one only if you are mature enough to handle it." And what about "No, you will not become irresistible to the opposite sex if you use our deodorant. You will still have pimples, a big butt and look like the back end of a bus. You will not find true love!" Or... "If you have about as much money sense as a dormouse, do not apply for our credit card. You will fall into debt, lose your car, your home, your job and end up selling large inflatable mallets door to door." How's that for a fresh look at advertising?

Rod Baker, guest columnist All retail news to: retailnews@bizcommunity.com Responses to this column welcomed in our new online editor's column archive.