Earlier this year, we talked about Apple's direct efforts in the promotional products industry to stop the sale of third-party power cords and chargers meant to be used with Apple products. Apple reached out directly to major distributors asking that they immediately cease selling these popular items. The hammer to convince the distributors to pull the inventory was the threat of a lawsuit for patent infringement. As we pointed out, it wasn't about the money lost on the infringement, rather, it was the loss of brand affinity because Apple's brand was taking the blame for product failures on items it had not manufactured. The broad brush of product failure tainted both OE products AND unlicensed third-party knockoffs.
Because margins are so tight on many popular promo items, it would be understandable if you've occasionally been tempted to source a knock-off on a hot item. If you were thinking about doing that with the hottest item this holiday season, you may wish you had looked elsewhere. It seems that the popular Hoverboards that we're beginning to see everywhere are catching fire – and we don't mean as in "popular seller." They are blowing up right under their users', um, feet.
As is typically the case, the real problem is the rush to knock off the original product to save a couple of bucks. This problem is not confined to just in the U.S. There are reports of instances of fire in the UK and other parts of Europe, as well. The National Fire Marshalls' Association issued a warning last week about the dangers of hoverboards, and the New York Police Department has declared the use of Hoverboards illegal, with a $200 fine attached if you're caught.
The UK's National Trading Standards organization inspected some 17,000 hoverboards, and found an alarming 88 percent of these devices had an increased risk of "overheating, exploding, or catching fire" because of faulty plugs. A Louisiana family lost their home a day after a 12-year-old got a FitTurbo hoverboard for his birthday. Last week, there were reports in Alabama and Florida of hoverboards exploding, with their riders barely escaping injury. If there is one word to take to heart about sourcing knockoffs because the original is expensive: don't.
Staying with holiday safety, last time we mentioned the AnchorIt! campaign initiated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission that QCA is helping to publicize. This time of year lots of new TVs are purchased, and older models are moved to other rooms and placed, often without anchoring, on furniture. The AnchorIt! Campaign is intended to alert parents to the importance of anchoring furniture (like bedroom dressers) to avoid the risk of them toppling over on children. The danger is real – a child is injured every 24 minutes in the U.S. by furniture falling on them. The CPSC asked three moms who lost children in tip-over tragedies to appear in a video to raise awareness. You can see that video here: http://bit.ly/1QkXgYw.
Every two weeks a child dies because of tipped furniture or falling TVs. The CPSC and all of us at QCA want to make sure it doesn't happen to someone in our industry. Please take five minutes to watch the video, and then check to make sure things are anchored in your own homes and those of your loved ones. Help spread the word to your customers and friends as well – let's make sure we don't lose any more children when anchoring furniture is such an easy solution.
Jeff Jacobs has been an expert in building brands and brand stewardship for more than 30 years. He's a staunch advocate of consumer product safety and has a deep passion and belief regarding the issues surrounding compliance and corporate social responsibility. He is the executive director of Quality Certification Alliance, the industry's only non-profit dedicated to helping suppliers provide safe and compliant products. When he's not working, you can find him traveling the world with his lovely wife, working as a volunteer Guardian ad Litem, or sometimes even enjoying a cigar at his favorite local cigar shop. Follow Jeff on Twitter, or reach out to him at jeff@qcalliance.org.