Exploding Balls
I received an email from Amazon about a product recall for a Valeo fitness ball. Here is a portion of that email:
We have recently learned that EB Brands (Yonkers, NY), in cooperation with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), is voluntarily recalling certain FITNESS BALLS.
…
These sold from May 2000 to February 2009 for between $15 and $30. An overinflated fitness ball can unexpectedly burst while in use, causing the user to fall to the floor.
Consumers should contact EB Brands to receive a copy of the updated instructions on how to safely inflate the ball.
This ranks right up there with “warning: coffee is hot”. The ball is rubber. If you overfill it, it will pop. Is it really that hard to figure out?
I want to see a video of someone falling to the floor when their fitness ball pops. Cue the lawyer comments.
The video would probably look remarkably similar to the infomercials that show someone that doesn’t know how to use a wrench or a screwdriver.
I think that one thing people should make sure to understand — and it’s not being reported — is that EB Brands actually approached the CPSC to find a way to better inform users of overinflation.
The term “product recall” is misleading, as no EB Brand balls will be removed from shelves. Below is the official statement from the company regarding the CPSC announcement:
“Today the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and EB Brands have issued a joint press release announcing a voluntary product recall regarding fitness balls produced by EB Brands. The purpose of this statement is to share some additional details not provided in the press release.
Since 2000, EB Brands has received 47 complaints of burst balls out of its 3 million fitness balls sold in the United States. After conducting research on the product, we concluded that bursting balls are likely caused by the consumer overinflating the ball before use. Even with a complaint rate of only 0.0016%, we voluntarily approached the CPSC in late 2008 to seek their advice and guidance.
The CPSC agreed with our findings and together we worked out a plan to warn consumers about the risk of overinflation and to help consumers inflate fitness balls to the proper size.
No product will be removed from retail shelves or pulled from the marketplace, as the CPSC did not recommend or require EB Brands or our retail partners to do so.
To ensure the safety of EB Brands customers, the following actions have been taken:
*Create and place a new sticker inside the product box and on the pump cautioning consumers about the risk of overinflation
*Revise inflation instructions included in the product package
*Make available a measuring tape for consumers to measure the size of inflated fitness balls – available by calling EB Brands or logging onto http://www.ebbrands.com
*Offer replacement balls or refunds to consumers whose balls have burst
*Distribute a letter and informational poster to each retailer that has carried EB Brand fitness balls
EB Brands takes the safety of our consumers seriously. We anticipate that these changes will further ensure the safe and effective use of inflatable fitness balls.”
*Offer replacement balls or refunds to consumers whose balls have burst
gehehehehe
My coworker had a fitness ball in his office. One day I was in his office and was bouncing on the ball while talking to him. It exploded, and I fell on my ass. It was pretty funny.
I was sitting in my boss’office and he was chewing my ass over a late deliverable. He doesn’t have a fitness ball. If he did I’m sure it would have burst and my ass would have been even more sore… Isn’t this story just as funny?
This ranks right up there with “warning: coffee is hot”.
Not if the coffee is from McDonald’s. Check out the picture of Stella Liebeck’s thighs after that coffee spilled on it.
http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu236/iceshaved/mcdonalds-burn.jpg
What a whiner, eh, over “hot” coffee?