Imagine my surprise when I bought a little Craftlace lanyard kit for my son and found it has something extra special inside the box. LEAD.
You know Craftlace, those little plastic weaving kits for making lanyards, keychains, backpack accessories and so on? You’ve probably seen them in the craft department at your local WalMart. (I guess that should have been my first clue.)
Well, I bought one. I get it home and my son is playing with it and he’s making little lanyards and a day or two later, his mother brings this little sticker on the side of the package to my attention.
Warning: Contains Lead. May be harmful if eaten or chewed.
May generate dust containing lead.
Okay, so let me say first that perhaps this sticker is some kind of mistake. Like, maybe they meant to say, “Warning: tornadoes are bad for you.” Or Warning: Don’t slam the car door on your head”, because SURELY there isn’t really a company knowingly selling craft products to children that contain lead, right? I mean, that’s just not possible right? So, I’m open to that possibility that this entire warning sticker is some kind of massive typo. Or a prank. Or whatever.
But in the event that its not. I have a question…
Now I don’t want to indulge in vulgarity for shock value, and I don’t want to contribute to the rampant callousness that is chipping away at civility in our public discourse, but, in the event that is warning label is on the up and up, I have to ask:
WHAT ARE F**K ARE YOU CRAFTLACE PEOPLE THINKING?!!!??
What kind of money grubbing, drunken, animal house of a business school do you have to go to, to decide that its okay to market a product containing LEAD and LEAD DUST to young children? “May be harmful if eaten or chewed?” ARE YOU KIDDING ME? How is this in any way, shape or form, a viable business model?!!? Do you think people will not notice? Is that the game? Cause, my son’s mother noticed and now I’m going to help others notice.
@craftlacecrafts This #Craftlace children’s craft product has a shocking lead dust warning printed on it. LEAD?!! twitter.com/megaSAHD/statu…
— Mark Greene (@megaSAHD) April 13, 2013
This lead warning is not printed as part of the colorful child-attracting packaging. Its an after thought, printed on a little laser printed label that seems to have been stuck on the side after some regulatory problem arose.
The text is tiny. The warning is scary and the idea that this is in every craft aisle across the country is so deeply offensive as to warrant a CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT.
(I love that phrase. It always gets product manager’s ears to prick right up.)
A NOTE TO CRAFTLACE: But seriously, CRAFTLACE, how about we do the right thing and recall any and all craft kits you are marketing to children that contain lead?
A NOTE TO PARENTS: I you find this as appalling as I do, won’t you retweet some of the twitter messages here? Here’s a few options you might like. Or better yet, how about creating some new ones? Let’s just hashtag them #craftlacecrafts…
Hey all you #attorneys out there! How about a #classactionlawsuit regarding #LEAD in @craftlacecrafts lanyard making kits for kids? #crafts
— Mark Greene (@megaSAHD) April 13, 2013
Hey #craftlacecrafts is this LEAD WARNING on your children’s craft kit for real? If so, do your kids play with this? twitter.com/megaSAHD/statu…
— Mark Greene (@megaSAHD) April 13, 2013