Mr. Yuk
99% Invisible30 Apr 2024

Mr. Yuk

Mr. Yuk is a neon green circular sticker with a cartoon face on it. His face is scrunched up with his eyes squeezed tight and his tongue is sticking out of its mouth. It's the face you make when you taste something disgusting. He's the pictorial embodiment of the sentiment of yuck. Aptly enough: he was designed to be the symbol for hazardous substances, aimed at deterring children from ingesting them. The idea what that if you saw a Mr. Yuk sticker on something around the house, it meant that that something was poison.

Friend of the show, Gillian Jacobs, is a BIG FAN of Mr Yuk, who turns out to be a hometown hero of her beloved Pittsburgh, and talked Roman through the origins of the mean, green face that was meant to save children from their worst impulses.

Plus, we revisit another story about warning symbols from our archive: the quest to find a symbol that would warn future humans of dangerous radiation 10,000 years in the future.

Mr. Yuk

Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99% Invisible ad-free and a whole week early.

Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Avsnitt(789)

Freedom House Ambulance Service

Freedom House Ambulance Service

One night halfway through a graveyard shift at the hospital, orderly John Moon watched as two young men burst through the doors. They were working desperately to save a dying patient. Maybe today he w...

8 Juli 202044min

Return of Oñate's Foot

Return of Oñate's Foot

All across the country, protestors have been tearing down old monuments. These monuments have been falling in the middle of historic protests against police brutality. Sparked by the murder of George ...

30 Juni 202053min

Return of the Yokai

Return of the Yokai

In the US, mascots are used to pump up crowds at sporting events, or for traumatizing generations of children at Chuck E. Cheese, but in Japan it’s different. There are mascots for towns, aquariums, d...

24 Juni 202034min

Instant Gramification

Instant Gramification

If you’re on Instagram, there’s a decent chance you’ve seen a picture of one particular building called the Yardhouse. It was designed by the London-based architecture collective Assemble. The design ...

16 Juni 202033min

Wedding Dresses: Articles of Interest #12

Wedding Dresses: Articles of Interest #12

A wedding was once seen as a start of young adulthood. Now, a wedding has come to represent a crowning achievement -- a symbol that your whole life is together and you have accrued the time and space ...

9 Juni 202028min

Diamonds: Articles of Interest #11

Diamonds: Articles of Interest #11

Diamonds represent value, in all its multiple meanings: values, as in ethics, and value as in actual price. But what are these rocks actually worth? The ethics and costs of diamond rings have shifted ...

29 Maj 202031min

Suits: Articles of Interest #10

Suits: Articles of Interest #10

Menswear can seem boring. If you look at any award show, most of the men are dressed in black pants and black jackets. This uniform design can be traced back to American Revolution, classical statuary...

26 Maj 202032min

Perfume: Articles of Interest #9

Perfume: Articles of Interest #9

The world of high end perfume is surprisingly lucrative, considering that scent is often the most ignored of our senses. But one can't judge a scent solely by the brand and shape of the bottle. With t...

19 Maj 202029min

Populärt inom Business & ekonomi

framgangspodden
varvet
rss-jossan-nina
rss-svart-marknad
rss-borsens-finest
svd-tech-brief
badfluence
avanzapodden
uppgang-och-fall
bathina-en-podcast
fill-or-kill
rss-inga-dumma-fragor-om-pengar
lastbilspodden
rss-dagen-med-di
rss-kort-lang-analyspodden-fran-di
tabberaset
bilar-med-sladd
dynastin
24fragor
borsmorgon