A toy-saftey video that’s actually amusing

Here’s an animated, musical product-safety video from Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, and it’s pretty darn funny. It centers around overworked government inspectors who are losing their noble fight to stop dangerous toys from being imported into the U.S. Some lyrics: “Now, so many products are streaming through the door/Our scientific method is to drop them on the floor.” Especially cute are the names of the testers (“Axel” checks cars, “Elmer” tests glue—by sniffing it!—and a red-headed “Lucy” loves tasting chocolates as they pass on a conveyor belt.) The song resists taking pot-shots at China, though it does show boats ferrying goods across the Pacific from that general direction—and it’s not like recent recalls have been over stuff from Crete. The song concludes: “When all our time is spent, we inspect just 1 percent/And wave the rest on through/And pass the problem onto you.” Maybe Bob Dylan was too busy with Cadillac to contribute some words. Oh wait, Consumers Union is a nonprofit. Bob wouldn’t want any part of that.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

December 4, 2007 | Permalink