Overlawyered: Chronicling The High Cost Of Our Legal System

Can’t squeeze the last 20% of toothpaste from the tube? Sue!

“The full volume of toothpaste will not be dispensed, no matter how hard the consumer tries to squeeze,” complains the lawsuit filed against Procter & Gamble by Jonathan Rothstein of Encino, Calif., needless to say as a class action [LA Weekly]

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21 Comments

  • I think I can get down to .00001%, I really do. There are not five things in this life I am better at. Please don’t anyone mention this before I get my settlement check!

  • I would have used a pasta roller for that last little dab of toothpaste. It sort of makes the machine pay for the time when it is idle.

    • By KDP

  • I’m kind of undecided on this one. I understand that some types of packaging results in unusable product, but, if they are label says say 3 ozs you should be able to get 3 ozs out of it.

  • If the label says 3 oz. you should be able to get 3 oz. absolutely. There are many injustices that can only be resolved with a lawsuit which is why people like me have a job. But this is an injustice you resolve by voting with your feet: buy another toothpaste if you don’t like it.

  • I can’t get all of the ketchup out of a bottle of Heinz. Try as I might, there is always a bit left behind. Lawsuit.

    Every time I eat a bag of chips, there are chip fragments left at the bottom of the bag. It is totally impractical if not impossible to get all the fragments out. Lawsuit.

    Crumbs at the bottom of a bag of bread. Lawsuit.

    Ever try to get every bit of sun tan lotion from a squeeze bottle? Lawsuit.

    I just had a cup of gelato and some of it melted before I could eat it. Lawsuit.

    By time I get to the bottom of a tall cup of Starbucks coffee, the coffee is cold. Lawsuit. But it can’t be too hot, of course, because that’s a lawsuit, too.

    • By DEM

  • New and Improved with 20% more trash!

    • By Marty

  • Jim and Ron,
    The labels are clear enough for a simple engineer like me. Net weight is plain language for the contents of the container. It says nothing about usable weight. All consumers over the age of 2 understand that some last bits of toothpaste can be hard to get at, and contents may settle during shipment.

    • By gasman

  • “Every time I eat a bag of chips, there are chip fragments left at the bottom of the bag. It is totally impractical if not impossible to get all the fragments out. Lawsuit.”

    Just do like I do. Split the bag flat and lick it. :>

  • Toothpaste tubes have been that way since before WWII. I’m surprised it took this long.

  • Slice it open with a razor blade and scrape out the dregs, genius.

    • By mojo

  • Scissors.

    Bob

  • @ bob and mojo,

    Exactly what I thought.

    • By Rliyen

  • @mojo, Bob, Rliyen
    Good ideas, That’s better than the toothpick I now use because the high pressure vacuum chamber I used to use is no longer available.

    • By D

  • High pressure vacuum?????

  • Pfft. I have MANY times retrieved 7, 8, and yea verily, sometimes 9 applications of toothpaste after it has been deemed by my wife to be utterly and irretrievably empty. It’s not one of the super powers I would have chosen, but you play the hand you’re dealt.

    • By Griffin3

  • Wusses… use tooth powder. No nasty tubes to deal with in the first place, just a can.

  • @john burgess,

    maybe I haven’t finished my coffee, but I read your statement and my brain gave it the voice of Gollum for some reason…

    We usess tooth powders…. My preciousss. No nasty tubesesessses to deal with…

    • By Rliyen

  • I can barely find time to get to the grocery store, and have frozen hot dogs in my freezer for moments of extreme mealtime desperation. Whose life is so bankrupt that they have time to sue because they didn’t that Cresty goodness to the very last drop? Buy it once, hate on them a little, maybe drop the brand manager a note (fish for a coupon for a freebie or two) and buy something the hell else the next time!

  • Class Ass Suit…

    “Can’t squeeze the last 20% of toothpaste from the tube? Sue!” …

  • Run the toothpaste tube on the corner of a counter or shelf. It’ll force all the toothpaste to the top of the tube.

    • By Xmas

  • Not only that, but when I squeeze too much toothpaste out, I can’t get it back in the tube to use next time.

    • By bernie