Waste of the Day: Urinal Cakes Speak
Topline: Drunk nightclub patrons might think they were hallucinating if a urinal cake suddenly started speaking to them. But in 2012, the phenomenon was a very real use of federal taxpayer money.
The Michigan State Police used a $10,000 grant from the Department of Transportation on the odd campaign to remind men not to drink and drive. The money would be worth $14,473 today.
That’s according to the “Wastebook” reporting published by the late U.S. Senator Dr. Tom Coburn. For years, these reports shined a white-hot spotlight on federal frauds and taxpayer abuses.
Coburn, the legendary U.S. Senator from Oklahoma, earned the nickname "Dr. No" by stopping thousands of pork-barrel projects using the Senate rules. Projects that he couldn't stop, Coburn included in his oversight reports.
Coburn's Wastebook 2012 included 100 examples of outrageous spending worth more than $18 billion, including the pattering potties.
Key facts: Two hundred bars in Michigan each received two Interactive Urinal Communicators with motion sensor technology.
When a urinal was in use, the devices read out in a female voice, “Listen up. That’s right! I’m talking to you. Had a few drinks? Maybe a few too many? Then do yourself and everyone else a favor. Call a sober friend or a cab. Oh, and don’t forget. Wash your hands.”
Black lettering on the devices reminded men to “Call a ride. Get home.”
In response to seeing a prototype of the urinal cake, one man told the Associated Press, “Wow! That is disgusting.”
Coburn pointed out that it would have been only slightly more expensive for local bars to buy breathalyzers instead of the urinal cakes.
The devices were developed by Wizmark, a Maryland-based company founded by former chiropractor Richard Deutsch. They were first released in 2004 as an advertising tool for Country Music Television and the Canadian brewing company Molson. As Deutsch told the New York Times, they were effective because “there’s no place to go. You literally have a captive audience.”
The Detroit Pistons basketball team also put them in their bathrooms to yell “Beat L.A.” at fans during a championship series against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Open the Books has no record of taxpayer money going to Wizmark after 2012.
Search all federal, state and local salaries and vendor spending with the world’s largest government spending database at OpenTheBooks.com.
Summary: Wizmark’s devices might best be used as an inescapable reminder for federal officials to reduce wasteful spending on absurd projects like talking toilets.
The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com
