CPSC Promotes Britax Campaign; Website Forces Video Watching

CPSC February 4 promoted Britax's launch of a campaign for Bob jogging strollers. The agency pointed to the firm's website (bit.ly/2t8sPzs), which features a roughly 9½ minute video.

The first two-thirds cover instructions for operating the wheel quick-release device. The last third involves the two "paths" of the campaign. Consumers choose a path based on their comfort using the quick-release.

• If uncomfortable, a link takes them to a page with six options. Four involve buying new strollers at 20% off ($72-$128 discount minus $20 shipping). The other two are replacement axles; one is quick-release, and the other is not.

 

• If comfortable, a link takes them to seven discount offers: four strollers, a car seat adapter, a handlebar console, and a sun shield for strollers. The last three are subject to $10 shipping rather than the $20 for strollers.

The webpage actually launched in mid-January during the government shutdown. At that time, Kids in Danger voiced concerns (bit.ly/2W2oGdB) with the website, including difficulty in seeing both paths without viewing the video twice.

The following bullet points represent the experience of PSL prior to reading KID's blog post, but they are similar.

• The video must run before the path links work. Choosing a path early triggers a notice to watch the video.

 

• There are no fast forward or rewind functions. The latter makes it hard to review safety steps if not understood on first view. (A separate YouTube version can be rewound, but watching it does not open the paths.)

 

• Once choosing a path, consumers cannot easily look at the other. If they click back to the main page, it does not recognize that they already watched the video, so they must let it run again. (KID noticed that right-clicking allows the pages to be opened simultaneously in tabs. Another workaround could be consumers sharing the option page URLs with each other. Those work if accessed directly.)

PSL reached out to Britax about these observations but had not heard back as of its deadline. However, the time for replying was short. Regardless, PSL will run any comments.

The two main options were specified by the November settlement with CPSC (PSL, 11/26/18). Commissioners approved it 3-2 on party lines. The Democratic members dissented over issues like it not using the word recall, the manufacture-date limit on eligible strollers, and precedent setting. Consumer groups also complained (PSL, 12/3/18) about the lack of the term recall and the timespan limits.

CPSC's sued to force a recall (PSL, 1/19/18), citing 97 injuries in about 200 incidents. The suit targeted units made 1997-2015; the settlement covered only those made since 2009. The offer is available for a year. Britax disputed that the problem was a defect, asserting the issue was failure to follow instructions and saying it met rules at 16 CFR 1227.