An activist group is pushing for the resignation of a top Consumer Product Safety Commission official for failing to take a stronger stance on toy safety and has created a YouTube video to get its message across.
The Campaign for America’s Future is calling on Nancy Nord to step down as the CPSC’s acting director, largely for her opposition to legislation to strengthen the commission’s oversight on toy safety.
Millions of Chinese-made toys containing excessive levels of lead have been recalled in recent months from a number of toy manufacturers, including Mattel.
The group, which challenges “the big money corporate agenda” by encouraging people to speak up, says the commission is failing to protect children from dangerous toys.
To garner support, the organization created an online video that shows a “toxic” encounter between Mattel-made dolls Barbie and Ken.
“We’re trying to call attention to this,” says Eric Lotke, research director for Campaign for America’s Future. “The message is these toys are unsafe and the government authority, which is duty bound to keep us safe, is failing.”
In the video, Barbie and Ken run into each other at a bar. Their post break-up reunion ends the next morning at the Barbie Dream House. A week later, Barbie begins to complain to Ken that she is “having some symptoms.” When Ken asks what’s wrong, Barbie answers, “It’s…it’s lead poisoning.”
The video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=cChD9K-5QKI prompts viewers to sign an online petition calling for Nord’s resignation at http://www.ourfuture.org. It also reminds people that accessories for Barbie dolls were among the millions of imported toys recalled this year because of toxic levels of lead paint or other safety problems.
The group is relying on people to spread word of the video virally. Since its launch last week, the video has been viewed more than 56,000 times. And so far, about 7,000 people have signed the petition.
Reps from the organization plan to deliver the petition to Nord at the end of the week, Lotke said.
This month the Campaign for America’s Future released a report detailing how the federal government has shrugged its responsible for consumer protection. The CPSC’s budget and staff is less than half the level it was when the commission began in 1974, it said.
“The budget of the Consumer Product Safety Commission is falling off every year and “we end up with toxic toys,” Lotke said.
The group isn’t the only one voicing its opinion. Several lawmakers, including Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., have called for Nord’s resignation, the organization said.
Last week, California Attorney General Jerry Brown sued 20 companies in state court, including Mattel Inc. and Toys “R” Us, claiming they sold toys containing “unlawful quantities of lead” and failed to caution consumers. The lawsuit claims the companies violated the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986.
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