History Main / MattressTagGag

There is, however, one actual downside to tearing off the mattress tag: doing so voids the warranty.

* When one of the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErbKAWueD3g Serta Mattress sheep]] tears one of these off, they end up in jail, and cover it up when asked WhatAreYouInFor:

These tags seen on mattresses and pillows are the subject of numerous gags. Most commonly they involve a goody two-shoes character who accidentally or intentionally removes one, and then assumes he's in danger of going to jail and ends up on the run. Note that in modern times, that part "except by the consumer" means that it doesn't even apply to those who are so worried about it. Even if it did, it wouldn't be nearly so much of a crime as people say it is. (Even if the authorities didn't have bigger things on their plate, like ArsonMurderAndJaywalking, how would they know?) However, in the past, this phrasing wasn't there, making the worries slightly more legitimate.

* On ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "King Leer", Moe becomes a mattress salesman and gets involved in a war with his siblings and their competing mattress stores. One of the acts of sabotage he commits is removing all the tags off the competition's inventory.

* ''WesternAnimation/MenInBlack'': In "The Worm Guy Guy Syndrome", the Kalifadik are an alien race that's downright obsessive about law and order, complete with an ultra-brutal gulag for housing the many, many lawbreakers they round up. How strict are they? When they confront a suspect, he asks if it's because of a mattress tag he'd pulled off, to which the enforcer said "Confession acknowledged." and immediately teleported him into the gulag.

* ''Film/PeeWeesBigAdventure'': When Pee-wee asks escaped convict Mickey what he did to land in prison, Mickey starts describing how he got really made and took up a knife. But after seeing Pee-wee cringe in fear, Mickey changes his story to say that he used the knife to cut the tag off a mattress. A relieved Pee-wee commiserates with him on what a dumb law that is.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' episode "[[Recap/DarkwingDuckS1E50TimeAndPunishment Time and Punishment]]", which is set in a potential future where Darkwing has [[KnightTemplar gone mad and imprisoned anyone who committed even the most minor crimes]], while going on about the criminals that it's important that he watch out for, he ends with, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking "and people who tear the little tags off of pillows, they always did get me."]]

Can overlap with PokeThePoodle, FelonyMisdemeanor, and SeriousBusiness.

* The ''Series/NightCourt'' episode "Russkie Business" has recurring character Yakov Kovlenko, desperate to return to the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]] to be with his sick mother, confessing to ripping out the tags off all of his furniture thinking it would get him deported.

* The ''Series/NightCourt'' episode "Russkie Business" has recurring character Yakov Kovlenko, desperate to return to the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]] to be with his sick mother, confessing to ripping out the tag off his mattress thinking it would get him deported.

Can also cause [[ValuesDissonance bafflement]] to people from nations where such tags aren't put on mattresses.

* ''Film/PeeWeesBigAdventure'': Mickey, the fugitive who first picks Pee-Wee up, claims to be on the run from the police for that very reason to avoid scaring Pee Wee.
-->'''Pee Wee:''' (seeing his broken handcuffs) What did you do?
-->'''Mickey:''' Well, I lost my temper and I took a knife and I-
-->''[Pee Wee cringes in fear]''
-->'''Mickey:''' ...You know those "do not remove under penalty of law" labels they put on mattresses?
-->'''Pee Wee:''' Yeah.
-->'''Mickey:''' Well, I ''cut one of them off''! Yeah, I've got a real ''bad'' temper.
-->'''Pee Wee:''' Boy, I always thought that was the dumbest law.
-->'''Mickey:''' You said a mouthful.
-->'''Pee Wee:''' Life can be so unfair.
-->'''Mickey:''' You telling ''me?''

* When a man catches reporter Film/{{Fletch}} searching a bedroom, Fletch tries a few bluffs, including, "I'm with the mattress police. There are no tags on these mattresses."

* The ''Series/NightCourt'' episode "Russkie Business" has recurring character Yakov Kovlenko, desperate to return to the [[SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]] to be with his sick mother, confessing to ripping out the tag off his mattress thinking it would get him deported.

* In ''Franchise/{{Batman}} '66'' #25, the Harlequin (the setting's version of Harley Quinn) is shown doing this as part of a montage depicting her one-woman crimewave.

* From Website/BashOrg comes [[http://bash.org/?79825 this quote]]:
-->'''Hiryuu:''' Hey, which is more evil, [[KickTheDog kicking puppies]] or tearing those tags off of mattresses?\\
'''Estelle:''' Puppies heal, matresses don't.

-->'''Mickey:''' You know those "do not remove under penalty of law" labels they put on mattresses?

-->'''Mickey:''' Well I ''cut one of them off''! Yeah, I've got a real bad temper.

-->'''Mickey:''' You telling me?

* In the movie-parody episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'', Timmy is trying to find out who "kidnapped" Wanda, and going through suspects like a detective. His dad, who for some reason desperately wants to be seen as a suspect in Timmy's mind, [[PokeThePoodle and keeps doing harmless crimes]], one of which is ripping off a bunch of mattress tags.

* From [[ImageBoards 4chan]]: [[Film/{{Avatar}} Colonel Quaritch]] [[http://chanarchive.org/content/61_tv/6265787/1261730001693.jpg doesn't give a fuck]].

Can overlap with PokeThePoodle, FelonyMisdemeanor.

* A ''WesternAnimation/{{Bonkers}}'' comic in DisneyAdventures has an especially epic example of this. After a character accidentally tears one mattress tag off -- which reads "Removing this tag is a federal offence. [[TabletopGame/{{Monopoly}} Go directly to jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200]]" -- and promptly goes off on a crime spree trying to ensure he can get away with this. Hiding it under a truckload of cherries, he crosses paths with Bonkers and Fall-Apart Rabbit when Rabbit's nose falls off and seemingly gets mixed in with the cherries. Believing they know about the mattress, he drives off with Fall-Apart Rabbit, moving up to kidnapping in addition to ripping off the tag and later attempting to burn the evidence.

* In 1984, ''Magazine/{{Mad}}'' published a special issue entitled ''Mad 84'', featuring previously-unpublished material. One piece was "The ''Mad'' Reader's Sex Survey", by Larry Siegel, illustrated by Bob Clarke. One multiple-choice question showed an orgy scene from a porno film (which can be seen [[http://images.ha.com/lf?source=url%5bfile%3aimages%2finetpub%2fnewnames%2f300%2f8%2f6%2f0%2f860285.jpg%5d%2ccontinueonerror%5btrue%5d&scale=size%5b450x2000%5d%2coptions%5blimit%5d&source=url%5bfile%3aimages%2finetpub%2fwebuse%2fno_image_available.gif%5d%2cif%5b%28%27global.source.error%27%29%5d&sink=preservemd%5btrue%5d here]], sans text, in the lower right corner of the page) and asked the reader for his reaction, with the joke being that the answer choices were all pedantic, detail-oriented observations having nothing to do with sex (e.g. "'''A.''' Doesn't the man with the whipped cream know it's not kosher to mix dairy with meat?"). One of the answer choices is "That guy in the dress is going to be in big trouble if he rips the tag off that mattress."