July 3, 2009

E-Mail This Article Printer-Friendly Version

By Product Safety Letter staff

Oh yawn, another recall. As tragic as the potential consequences can be for failing to respond to a recall, that’s probably the reaction not only of many consumers, but of many news reporters. With CPSC handling over 500 recalls a year, it’s easy to see why. But – in the man-bites-dog news tradition that the unusual is deemed more newsworthy than the usual – what might seem like a liability in a current recall might actually help gain attention to it.

Product Safety Forum is a free service of Product Safety Letter. Its mission is twofold: to promote frank and open airing of product safety issues and to provide advice and guidance from top experts in the field. Do you have an idea or article you think would make a great piece for Product Safety Forum, including commentary or reaction to this one? Then email Publisher Sean Oberle to discuss it. To read more stories, see the archives.

CPSC this week announced another recall of Simplicity cribs. This series of recalls (there were others in 2007 and 2008) has proved problematic for the agency given that not only is the manufacturer not in business, but the company that bought its assets not appears not to be conducting day-to-day business. CPSC is explaining:

”SFCA Inc., the Reading, Pa.-based company that purchased the assets of juvenile product manufacturer Simplicity Inc. after foreclosure, appears to no longer be conducting day to day operations. SFCA Inc. is no longer answering phone calls, responding to e-mails from consumers, or providing repair kits to fix hundreds of thousands of defective cribs. At least 13 children have tragically died in recalled Simplicity cribs and bassinets. CPSC is urging all parents, caregivers, online sellers and purchasers, daycare providers, and thrift store owners to immediately check if they have one of the following Simplicity-made or Simplicity-branded products and dispose of those units where there is no longer a remedy.”

SFCA, of course, is the company that the agency in 2008 alleged would not cooperate in the recall. Luckily for CPSC, the CPSIA – which gave it new powers related to unilateral recalls – was newly signed. The agency explained at the time.

”CPSC is issuing this safety alert because SFCA Inc., the company which purchased all of Simplicity Inc.’s assets at public auction in April 2008, has refused to cooperate with the government and recall the products. SFCA maintains that it is not responsible for products previously manufactured by Simplicity Inc…

…The Commission voted, using its new authorities in the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, to release this warning upon making a finding that the health and safety of the public require immediate notice.”

This isn’t just a problematic recall – it’s a problematic recall with a saga behind it (with retailers to the rescue and the Illinois Attorney General filing suit last year). There’s a story to tell versus the usual recitation of company-product-problem-remedy. It’s not just, yawn, another recall. The problem is getting reporters to notice that. Old habits are hard to break, and, well, it IS another recall, and for the most part, that's the way reporters are treating it.