Fun sticker: "Toilet cameras are for research"
I snapped a photo of this sticker in one of the restrooms at Ritual Coffee Roasters in San Francisco's Mission District. There used to be one just like it posted above a small hole in the wall in the other restroom. That sticker was removed though once the hole was patched to, er, block the camera's lens.Link to a bigger image
UPDATE: In the comments, Sean Savage confesses to being the creator of this fine sticker. He writes:
I made it up last year, originally as a prank for the toilets on the (Burning Man) playa (hence the Bureau of Land Management logo).
Print em out yourself w/ the PDF here, or remix w/ the template file: Link
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Holy crap! (Pun reluctantly intended.) That's crazy. If you are one who tends to notice odd signs, perhaps you might be familiar with one of my favorite blogs, The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotes. Always good to have a camera (or camera phone) around!
from the U.S. Department of Your Interior
Research purposes??
I shudder to think..
Hey Sluggo, I like "from the U.S. Department of Your Posterior" better!
Isn't the TSA using that one? :)
Chuck Berry could have used these!
Uh... we're ABSOLUTELY SURE this is a joke... right?
Pretty sure it's a remnant from a burning man prank considering the area.
Um.. Thats one of my fav coffee shops to visit =\
=P
If you are not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to fear from this form surveillance.
"toilet cameras" sounds rather illegal to me actually.
put an actual toilet camera in the Ritual Coffee Roasters bathroom and all you'd see is dude after dude stuffing his skinny jeans, adjusting his fedora, waxing his rollie fingers 'stache, then practicing his "I swear I'm just here to work on my novel, not to check out chicks or surf myspace" face.
@10: You must be kidding.
Fear wasn't the response that came to mind. Outrage, fury, disgust, and an involuntary sue response are more consistent with my feelings.
If this is real - because its so outrageous it mustn't be - and it is state-sponsored, I would be seriously creeped out.
I always find it especially shocking when fellow citizens advocate abuse of authority. I figure, they might be cylons.
Second that: ARE YOU SURE it's a joke? Nowadays I just don't know anymore.
pervs there just trying to make a sequel to 2 girls one cup
yuck
An old classic that has even more implications now than it did when it first surfaced
There is also one in the bathroom of Obscurities (piercing & tattooing) in Dallas, TX
This is actually a sticker from an old issue of either Stuff or Maxim magazine. Seriously. It comes from a page insert of other joke stickers. Very Mad Magazine (or Cracked, depending on how funny you find it).
I won't speak for that specific sticker but stickers using this gag pre-date both Stuff & Maxim magazine. The message itself on stickers goes back to the late 80's / early 90's at least. I first saw one in 1990 and it had been up for a while
I have a version of this sticker in my home bathroom that I got out of Mad magazine years ago. :)
#8 Sure it's a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to go there.
Anybody who hates these stickers hates America.
Cameras in washrooms aren't that far-fetched. I'm a Canadian but when I was in a department store fitting room in New Orleans (pre-Katrina), there were signs saying something like "Notice: This fitting room does not offer complete privacy." And sure enough, there were cameras leering over the stall walls. You had to try on your clothes while hunched over in a corner of the stall in order to avoid revealing your naked self to the cameras.
Dear "Outrage, fury, disgust, and an involuntary sue response are more consistent with my feelings.", Yup, they gave those away in Maxim Magazine a few years ago, along with several other (equally witty) ones. I'm surprised nobody remembered that. Well, maybe I'm not that surprised...
I know what I'd use to block the lens
absolutely, #12, bookyloo. Ritual is crowded with greasy hipness. It's reached some kind of critical mass and jumped the shark. And yet... I'm still compelled to go there from time to time.
These are great!
I've been putting up my own similar stickers for years.
"This is a Camera."
Especially fun above the sensor on automated toilets in airports, etc. Also in places where there could possibly be a camera hidden (outlets, light sockets, smoke detectors).
Gotta keep 'em paranoid!
Flickr: This is a Camera.
The good thing about the preprinted stickers is that they have that extra credibility, they look like they are official. It's more fun the more people fall for the joke.
Wrong folks, this isn't from Maxim. I made it up last year, originally as a prank for the toilets on the playa (hence the Bureau of Land Management logo).
Print em out yourself w/ the PDF here, or remix w/ the template file:
http://www.cheesebikini.com/2007/09/08/bathroom-warning/
Cheers
Sean
PS- I'd love to see the Maxim sign you folks are referring to. Can you post a snapshot?
It cites "U.S.C.A." which should be "U.S.C."
USCA is also correct, if it's citing to the U.S. Code Annotated.
I got lulz from this last time I was at Ritual.
It should be noted however that Maxim did run stickers that did include a "Toilet Cam is for Research" sticker in a set sometime before 2005.
The one that is pictured is not theirs.
They also had stickers that said "all employees must wash genitals before returning to work".
Other stupid toilet related things....
http://www.toilet-tattoos.com/
Thats pretty insane stuff. I know a lot of this is used for voyueristic stuff etc for a quick $.
Pretty disgusting behaviour if you ask me.
Matt
Toilet Stickers