Top 10 Products So Bad It Forced Recalls
#10: Peanuts from Peanut Corporation of America
Founded in 1977, the Peanut Corporation of America processed about 2.5% of American peanuts. That was until 2009, when the CDC and FDA linked an enormous outbreak of salmonella to the company. Nine people died in the outbreak and hundreds, likely even thousands, had become sick - the official number was 714, but many cases of salmonella go unreported. With the outbreak affecting the entire country, Peanut Corp. issued the largest food recall in American history. It was also a PR disaster, driving down peanut butter sales by 25% and losing the industry $1 billion. President and CEO Stewart Parnell was sentenced to 28 years in prison for shipping products he knew to be contaminated, and the company quickly went bankrupt.
#9: Infantino Baby Slings
These products are a godsend for new parents, allowing their baby to rest against their chest and freeing their arms for other activities. However, as Infantino’s SlingRider and Wendy Bellissimo models proved, they could also be very dangerous. Beginning in 2010, Infantino recalled over one million baby slings across the United States, as they were posing a risk to babies. Due to the way the sling was designed, the fabric had the potential to push against the child’s face and cover their mouth and nose, thereby making it difficult to breathe.
#8: Ace Bayou Bean Bag Chairs
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Introduced in 1968, bean bag chairs are a favorite of children and adults alike. But in 2015, Ace Bayou began recalling over two million bean bag chairs after a flaw was found in their zippers. Safety standards require that non-refillable bean bag chairs be completely inaccessible. However, a design flaw in these Ace Bayou chairs allowed children to open the zipper and crawl inside, where they could potentially suffocate in the dangerous beads. In response to the recall, Ace Bayou sent out free repair kits that permanently disabled the zipper’s operation.
#7: Ford Pinto
Nothing screams ‘70s quite like the Ford Pinto. Manufactured between 1971 and 1980, the Pinto was a popular car, but it was also - how do we say this? - a horribly designed potential death trap. Owing to the poor placement of the fuel tank, they would sometimes rupture in otherwise unremarkable rear-end collisions and burst into flames. An investigation conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration attributed 27 deaths to these car fires. To “end public concern” amidst the resulting media circus, Ford voluntarily recalled 1.5 million vehicles, which at the time was the largest automotive recall in American history. The Pinto was discontinued not long after.
#6: Graco Harmony High Chairs
Graco Harmony high chairs were manufactured between 2003 and 2009 and contained several disastrous flaws — which is never something you want to hear about a baby product. One flaw was with the plastic brackets on the chairs’ rear legs, which had a penchant for cracking. Another problem was with the screws holding the front legs to the chair, which sometimes came loose or completely unscrewed. Both issues could cause the chair to fall, and resulted in 24 reported injuries, including a broken arm. While the chairs had already been discontinued, a major recall was issued in March 2010 affecting roughly 1.2 million products.
#5: Vioxx
With medications, it’s unfortunately not rare for recalls to be issued. (xref) In 2005, Pfizer was forced to recall Bextra, their brand name for valdecoxib, over potential heart risks and skin reactions. The recall cost the company over $3 billion. But that’s nothing compared to Merck’s Vioxx recall. Vioxx was an enormously popular anti-inflammatory used to treat arthritic pain, but Merck was accused of withholding its potential harmful effects on heart health. Between recalls and legal settlements for many thousands of claimed cardiac events, the drug ended up costing Merck billions. Vioxx was permanently taken off the market in 2004.
#4: Firestone Tires
Throughout the 1990s, Ford Explorers were crashing at an alarming rate. Most of these accidents occurred in the American South and were related to a high failure rate of their Firestone tires, resulting in the deaths of 238 people. Hundreds more were injured. Blame was thrown around, with Ford blaming Firestone and Firestone blaming Ford. Regardless, the damage was mutually disastrous. Millions of tires were recalled, and the PR disaster cost both companies billions of dollars. Even worse, the scandal ended the business relationship between Firestone and Ford, which had been in place since 1906 when Harvey Firestone began supplying Henry Ford with tires.
#3: Samsung Galaxy Note 7
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When it comes to infamous smartphone launches, nothing beats the absolute PR nightmare that was the Galaxy Note 7. Released in August 2016, it didn’t take long for reports of exploding phones to start surfacing. Certain units were overheating and combusting owing to a faulty battery, and a major recall was announced on September 15. However, even the fixed phones had problems and Samsung’s media nightmare continued. In one instance, an entire flight had to be evacuated when a customer’s phone began popping. This was the last straw. The Consumer Product Safety Commission not only recalled every Galaxy Note 7 on the market, they banned the sale of all future units. The phone was officially discontinued less than two months after it debuted.
#2: Easy-Bake Oven
Introduced back in 1963, the Easy-Bake Oven is certainly an iconic toy, but it is not without its controversies. For example, Hasbro released a new model of the Easy-Bake Oven in 2006, but it was quickly recalled over serious safety issues. There were eventually reports of hundreds of children getting their small hands or fingers caught inside the oven’s front-loading door. As the Easy-Bake Oven uses a real heating element, this resulted in a number of serious burns. Hasbro was forced to recall roughly one million units, and they provided buyers with a voucher that could be used to buy another Hasbro product.
#1: Various Toyota Vehicles
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Car recalls, like medication ones, are unfortunately also not uncommon. Toyota is one of the most reliable automakers on the market, but even the giants stumble from time to time. Toyota hit a massive speed bump between late 2009 and early 2011 when they were forced to recall millions of vehicles. The recalls began after reports that some Toyota cars were experiencing unintended acceleration. The reasons for this varied. Some foot pedals became stuck after getting wedged under the floor mat, and some simply became stuck owing to a mechanical issue. A third problem also arose when the 2010 Prius reported braking problems. Toyota shares initially fell by 15%, and the company is estimated to have lost well over $2 billion in revenue.
Did you have any experience with these products? Let us know in the comments below!
