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Fake Fly in Urinal
Status: Strange, but apparently true.
A pair of images showing a urinal with a fake fly etched into the porcelain is doing the rounds. (I'd guess it's been circulating for at least two years.) The images are accompanied by this caption:In Amsterdam, the tile under Schiphol's urinals would pass inspection in an operating room. But nobody notices. What everybody does notice is that each urinal has a fly in it. Look harder, and the fly turns into the black outline of a fly, etched into the porcelain. It improves the aim. If a man sees a fly, he aims at it. Fly-in-urinal research found that etchings reduce spillage by 80%. It gives a guy something to think about. That's the perfect example of process control.
Apparently this is true. Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam does sport fly urinals. (Though I'd be interested in getting first-hand verification of this.) The Straight Dope reports that New York's Kennedy airport is considering using the same fake-fly technology.
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That is sooooo cool....they would keep trying to pee on it.....lol....I can appreciate the humor in that....
Posted by X in McKinney, TX on Tue Sep 20, 2005 at 02:25 PM
I went to college in Liverpool in the 1970s and the Victorian pubs had large stand up urinals with flies glazed under the porcelain. Maybe from about 1880s. Nothing new, huh?
Posted by matthew in UK on Tue Sep 20, 2005 at 03:12 PM
Well, I've been to Schiphol Airport, and I don't recall the tiles being all that clean, or there being flies in the urinals, either. But my last visit there was some years ago. It might have changed.
Posted by Big Gary in Dallas in Dallas, Texas on Tue Sep 20, 2005 at 03:29 PM
in germany, ive experienced urinals in several different places which have tiny goalposts and a football (sigh.... 'soccer ball') suspended from a thread. with careful aim the ball can be directed neatly into the goal. limitless fun...
Posted by Nick in Merrie Olde Englande on Tue Sep 20, 2005 at 03:31 PM
I just have to ask, why do men do these things anyway? I've seen guys do that and I think it's awfully weird.
Posted by Winona in USA on Tue Sep 20, 2005 at 09:08 PM
Heh.. wha'ts next? little ceramic cigarette butts?
Posted by Bobcat on Tue Sep 20, 2005 at 09:52 PM
I was in Schiphol last month, and the flies were there. I thought it was pretty clever...
Posted by Alastair on Tue Sep 20, 2005 at 11:06 PM
Not only in Schiphol: I've seen the same model in several other places in Europe. Nearest to my home: the Woluwe Shopping Center in Brussels.
Posted by Enrique in Brussels on Wed Sep 21, 2005 at 01:27 AM
At least 10 yrs old. Next!
Posted by Jerry S on Wed Sep 21, 2005 at 02:00 AM
Why do men have such a problem getting it into the urinal?
I hear that cheerios does the same job.
Posted by Maegan in Tampa, FL - USA on Wed Sep 21, 2005 at 03:57 AM
I hear that cheerios does the same job.
I
Posted by Beasjt in Earth on Wed Sep 21, 2005 at 04:47 AM
I just mentioned this story to a friend of mine who's just been travelling round the US, and he says JFK already has these fly etchings. And he did indeed automatically aim at it.
Posted by Steevil on Wed Sep 21, 2005 at 06:06 AM
Like a few people said before, this is old news. It's pretty commonly used on public urinals in a number of European countries.
Posted by Nathan on Wed Sep 21, 2005 at 06:12 AM
its true, i live inn amsterdam and go regurlaly through the airport
Posted by jack on Wed Sep 21, 2005 at 08:29 AM
It's definitely true, Schiphol Airport has these, for quite some time actually. As do many pubs here. And it works!
LaMa (the Netherlands)
Posted by LaMa in Europe on Wed Sep 21, 2005 at 09:46 AM
LaMa (the Netherlands)
I can confirm that Terminal 4 at JFK, the international air terminal does indeed have the fly in the urinals and has since it's opening a few years ago.
Posted by WileE in NYC on Wed Sep 21, 2005 at 02:23 PM
I think it
Posted by Tommy dry legs on Thu Sep 22, 2005 at 04:50 AM
Men..lol they never cease to amaze me, they still need something to amuse themselves with when they go to the bathroom. You wanna know what we WO men get? we get to read the writing on the walls, there's not much fly shootin goin on in the women's bathrooms 
Posted by spazEabE on Thu Sep 22, 2005 at 01:03 PM
I've seen plenty such ceramic insects over the years (and I don't make a habit of going into the gents'). More to the point, I once read somewhere, I forget where, that the Victorians liked their cultured little jokes and originally printed bees on their urinals (apis in Latin).
Posted by sue in UK on Fri Sep 23, 2005 at 07:31 AM
Are you telling me this is not a common trick throughout the whole world? These fake flies are everywhere in Dutch toilets. Some are even accompanied by real flies. Haha!
Posted by Scheisse in Amsterdam on Fri Sep 23, 2005 at 06:25 PM
Not flies - bees. It's a pun:
The Latin for bee is apis.
Posted by Gordon Charlton on Sat Sep 24, 2005 at 01:10 AM
The Latin for bee is apis.
What's up with all the man hatin'? So some of us like to practice our penmanship, or create little flowers and circles when we tinkle. So what? I will sometimes clean the toilet of debris when I pee. Big deal. I do think the guy that invented the fly is a real whiz...
Posted by booch on Sat Sep 24, 2005 at 08:53 PM
I read of a similar device used in chamberpots and turn-of-the-last-century urinals. The only difference was they had a tiny bee rather than a fly painted on them. Such bees were known as 'aiming bees.' They were occasionally referred to as 'apis' (pronounced in the French manner). You may draw your own conclusions.
Posted by Xtine in Sunny Subtropical Sarcastic Detroit, MI on Sat Sep 24, 2005 at 10:34 PM
Munich airport has these as well.
Posted by Colin on Mon Sep 26, 2005 at 04:35 AM
I've seen the flies at Schiphol too, and some urinals in the US have Hanoi Jane urinal targets:
Posted by Eivind on Mon Sep 26, 2005 at 05:56 AM
In Spain there are aiming SPIDERS in many public urinals and toilets. No flys or bees.
I got scared almost every time I saw one.
And until now I didn't know exactly why that sticker was there.
Posted by Fred on Mon Sep 26, 2005 at 09:40 PM
I got scared almost every time I saw one.
And until now I didn't know exactly why that sticker was there.
At work we just got some "waterless urinals" in a new bathroom, and they all have little bees in them. Would work just as well with pictures of managers. 
Posted by David on Mon Oct 31, 2005 at 12:42 AM
I used to use urinals like this a lot a few years ago - I was well trained: 96% accuracy. Problem is, now every time I see a fly I have an overwhelming urge to piss on it! Oh the embarrasment! I'll never be invited to a picnic again!
Posted by Anton in Australia on Sat Nov 12, 2005 at 09:57 PM
Waterless Co., Vista CA--the manufactures of the No-Flush waterless urinal also manufactures urinals with a fly etched in the vitreous china urinals
Posted by Jack Koenig in Vista, CA 92081 on Wed Feb 15, 2006 at 08:04 AM
Who manufacture these fake urinal flies. where can I get hold of the company. I was in Schipol Airport June 2005 and took some photographs of these "flies" The men tried to close their fly's as quickly as possible, since they thought I was some sort of pervert. They were very relieved when i told them it was for a research project.
Posted by Deks Dekenah in Cape Town South Africa on Fri Mar 03, 2006 at 11:47 PM