This is one of those things that reminds you to always read the label.

Marie Hicks from Chicago had to re-learn that after an unfortunate incident with a self-inflating Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from 'Ghostbusters' this weekend.

Hicks, who told Metro that she was up all night editing her book, said "really needed a break and a bit of fun" but got more than she bargained for when she unleashed the iconic figure into her living room.

For scale, this is what he looks like on display in the shop (a sight that Hicks insists was not available to her when she purchased her Marshmallow Man).

According to Hicks, the blow-up figure, which was powered by a plug-in fan at the base, "kind of just expanded horizontally over everything, knocking stuff over in the process and narrowly missing the ceiling fan" and by the time she realised what was happening, it was already blocking the plug socket.

So of course, she took to Twitter to share her shame by posting the above photos with the caption: "I have made a grave miscalculation".

And that is a contender for understatement of the year.

Via Metro