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Author Topic: World's Worst Products
jrose
babble intern
Babbler # 13401

posted 31 October 2007 07:31 AM      Profile for jrose     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Sleeping pills for kids top global list of bad products

quote:
SYDNEY (AFP) - Sleeping pills advertised for children, dangerous toys and bottled water taken from local reservoirs are among the world's worst products, a global consumer group said Monday.

In announcing its bad products awards for 2007, Consumers International said the top prize went to the US subsidiary of Japanese firm Takeda Pharmaceuticals for promoting a sleeping drug for children.

The company ran a television advertisement in the United States which used images of children, chalk boards and a school bus to sell its drug Rozerem.



From: Ottawa | Registered: Oct 2006  |  IP: Logged
Toby Fourre
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 13409

posted 31 October 2007 08:21 AM      Profile for Toby Fourre        Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
It is curious that military weapons are not on their list. I would have topped the list with land mines, a-bombs, cruise missles and the like.
From: Death Valley, BC | Registered: Oct 2006  |  IP: Logged
arborman
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Babbler # 4372

posted 31 October 2007 10:52 AM      Profile for arborman     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Obviously they are focusing on consumer products, being a consumer advocacy group. I suspect the consumers of nuclear weapons, fighter jets and the like have few complaints.

[ 31 October 2007: Message edited by: arborman ]


From: I'm a solipsist - isn't everyone? | Registered: Aug 2003  |  IP: Logged
Noise
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Babbler # 12603

posted 31 October 2007 11:03 AM      Profile for Noise     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
The A-bomb producers have yet to market their product to children, so all is good.
From: Protest is Patriotism | Registered: May 2006  |  IP: Logged
kropotkin1951
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Babbler # 2732

posted 31 October 2007 11:27 AM      Profile for kropotkin1951   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Unfortuanately it is the free gifts to children of cluster bombs amd mines that is the real concern. A-Bomb are too costly to use as lose leaders but not other ordinances designed to target civilians.
From: North of Manifest Destiny | Registered: Jun 2002  |  IP: Logged
Doug
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Babbler # 44

posted 06 November 2007 12:13 AM      Profile for Doug   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
This one is sort of odd. Chinese toy again, but not lead this time.

quote:
Chinese-made Bindeez, which won the 2007 Australian Toy of the Year award at the Melbourne Toy and Hobby fair, contains hundreds of beads which can induce seizures, drowsiness or a coma if eaten.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22712064-2,00.html

The beads contain a chemical which is metabolized in the body to the drug GHB.


From: Toronto, Canada | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
Jet
recent-rabble-rouser
Babbler # 14462

posted 11 November 2007 01:22 PM      Profile for Jet     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
For those who are unaware, GHB is also sold in liquid form as a highly addictive street drug.
From: Toronto | Registered: Aug 2007  |  IP: Logged
Boom Boom
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Babbler # 7791

posted 11 November 2007 01:35 PM      Profile for Boom Boom     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
The world's stupidest product is probablt the Q-Ray "ionized" bracelet, brought by millions of dummies sucked in by TV advertizing.
From: Make the rich pay! | Registered: Dec 2004  |  IP: Logged
M. Spector
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 8273

posted 11 November 2007 02:44 PM      Profile for M. Spector   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Boom Boom:
The world's stupidest product is probablt the Q-Ray "ionized" bracelet, brought by millions of dummies sucked in by TV advertizing.
This little piece of fraudulent quackery will be the subject of CBC-TV Marketplace on Wednesday November 14.

ETA: Now available to watch online.

ETA: cross-link to another thread.

[ 04 January 2008: Message edited by: M. Spector ]


From: One millihelen: The amount of beauty required to launch one ship. | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged
Boom Boom
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posted 11 November 2007 02:56 PM      Profile for Boom Boom     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Thanks for the tip!
From: Make the rich pay! | Registered: Dec 2004  |  IP: Logged
a lonely worker
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Babbler # 9893

posted 11 November 2007 08:48 PM      Profile for a lonely worker     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Meanwhile Megabrands as a result of losing money in one of their tainted toy scares did the only thing reasonable for a capitalist to return to profitability:

They closed their plant in New Jersey and shipped its production to China.

Mega Brands losses

quote:
Mega Brands Inc. shares fell to an all-time low today after the company said it was closing a New Jersey factory and shifting more work to China after losing US$11 million in the third quarter.

Mega Brands (TSX:MB) announced it will shut down the Woodridge, N.J., plant next month and transfer work to Montreal; consolidate the Woodridge and California-based Board Dudes distribution centres at its operations in Seattle, and reorganize its supplier base in China.

The workforce impact was not disclosed. It employed about 3,000 people at the end of 2005.

The company, hit by recalls of its Magnetix construction product, said the new moves would produce “material cost savings and manufacturing efficiencies,” and rebuild consumer confidence.

The company said its sales drop was primarily due to production delays in Asia that resulted in at least $15 million of orders not shipped, as well as lower shipments of Magnetix products, recalled earlier this year over safety concerns.

One child died and four were seriously injured when they swallowed tiny magnets from the Magnetix building sets. The company was forced to recall more than seven million sets.


Who cares if children die when there's money to be made?

[ 11 November 2007: Message edited by: a lonely worker ]


From: Anywhere that annoys neo-lib tools | Registered: Jul 2005  |  IP: Logged
Left Turn
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Babbler # 8662

posted 11 November 2007 08:54 PM      Profile for Left Turn     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Where would a thread on world's worst products be without the mention of cigarettes. The only legal product that, if used as intended, will kill you.
From: Burnaby, BC | Registered: Mar 2005  |  IP: Logged
M. Spector
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Babbler # 8273

posted 12 November 2007 04:09 PM      Profile for M. Spector   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Breathe Right Nasal Strips.

They don't work.


From: One millihelen: The amount of beauty required to launch one ship. | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged
Tommy_Paine
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Babbler # 214

posted 12 November 2007 04:21 PM      Profile for Tommy_Paine     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
All this stuff about kid's toys reminded me of the Dan Akroyd character from "Saturday Night Live" that defended the sale of obviously dangerous toys.

...who'd a thought.....


From: The Alley, Behind Montgomery's Tavern | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
M. Spector
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Babbler # 8273

posted 12 November 2007 04:29 PM      Profile for M. Spector   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Consumer probe

Toy maker Irwin Mainway (Dan Aykroyd) would appear on this talk show and hopelessly defend his company's extremely dangerous products such as "Bag O' Glass", "Bag O' Vipers", "Bag O' Sulfuric Acid", "Mr. Skin Grafter", "Pretty Peggy's Ear Piercing Kit", "Doggy Dentist", "Chancellor Tron's Secret Police Confession Kit", "Johnny Switchblade Adventure Punk", and "Chainsaw Teddybear". A sketch frequently aired by SNL on their Halloween retrospective special had Mainway defending Halloween costumes such as a military outfit that included an actual working rifle, an entirely black and non-reflective uniform called "Invisible Pedestrian" (which had a warning on the package that read "NOT FOR BLIND KIDS"), an airtight plastic bag that was to be affixed over the head with a rubber band called "Johnny Space Commander Mask," and an oil-soaked costume called "Johnny Human Torch", which came complete with an oversized lighter. Each sketch would end with the host (Jane Curtin) condemning Mainway's products, while Mainway would make pathetic attempts to show how more commonplace toys/clothing were equally harmful.


wikipedia

From: One millihelen: The amount of beauty required to launch one ship. | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged

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