It's No Accident : How Corporations Sell Dangerous Baby Products [Paperback]

E Marla Felcher (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1567512046 | ISBN-13: 978-1567512045 | Publication Date: February 1, 2001

Last year consumers spent $4.9 billion on infant products such as portable cribs, cradles, infant carriers and car seats. Today's parents, many of them older, dual income, and mobile, demand product features that fifteen years ago were unheard of: portable cribs that weigh only a few pounds and easily collapse for storage, car seats that double as infant carriers, tandem strollers for parents who jog. Products, it turns out, that are too often inadequately tested and ultimately unsafe. Marla Felcher's year long investigation has revealed case after case of infants and toddlers being seriously injured and killed by these products and case after case of manufacturers going to great lengths to cover this up. It's Not an Accident will expose the inner-workings of the infant products industry, highlighting the tactics used by corporate giants such as Hasboro (Playskool), Evenflo, Kolcraft, Cosco, Graco and Century Products to keep consumers in the dark about their safety records.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

In this powerfully documented book E. Marla Felcher peels back the rhetoric of safety to expose a shocking story: The companies we have trusted with our most precious gifts have frequently ignored child safety in pursuit of the almighty dollar.

About the Author

Marla Felcher is a free-lance writer living in Cambridge Massachusetts. She has published articles in Wildlife Conservation, Mother Jones and Child magazines and add The Atlantic Monthly.* Before turning her writing hobby into a career, Ms. Felcher worked in marketing for Gillette, The Talbots clothing chain, and as a consultant for M & M Mars, and Ben & Jerry’s. She earned a Ph.D. in Marketing from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois (1992), where she subsequently taught at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management and the Medill School of Journalism.

Product Details

• Paperback: 281 pages
• Publisher: Common Courage Press (February 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1567512046
• ISBN-13: 978-1567512045
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,137,476 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Next Consumer Movement, April 22, 2001

By 

Linda Ginzel and Boaz Keysar (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: It's No Accident : How Corporations Sell Dangerous Baby Products (Paperback)

American families trust that the products our babies use, from strollers to cribs to swings, will keep them safe. Unfortunately, we found out the truth in the most terrible way. Our beloved son Danny was the fifth baby to die in the Playskool Travel-Lite Portable Crib. When we discovered that it had been recalled five years earlier, our friend Marla Felcher embarked on a groundbreaking investigation of the juvenile product industry that led to this book.

Read "It's No Accident" and ask yourself, why aren't American manufacturers required to safety test most baby products before marketing them? How can they be allowed to set their own voluntary safety standards? Why don't most parents hear about the tens of millions of unsafe children's products recalled every year? What is the CPSC and why can't it effectively protect our children from disabling injuries and death?

"It's No Accident", which Marla dedicated to Danny's memory, shows that his death was a symptom of a fundamentally-flawed system. Read this book and warn your friends. Nothing will bring Danny back to life, but "It's No Accident" will prevent other, needless tragedies. It is the cornerstone of the next big consumer movement.

Linda Ginzel and Boaz Keysar Chicago, IL

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MUST READ FOR PARENTS/GUARDIANS OF YOUNG CHILDREN, April 12, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: It's No Accident : How Corporations Sell Dangerous Baby Products (Paperback)

Do you think the government is protecting your children from unsafe products? If you believe this is so, THEN THINK AGAIN. Felcher does an admirable job pointing out the numerous flaws in the juvenile products industry and showing how your own young children could be at serious risk. For example, did you know that those popular bath seat rings actually contribute to bathtub drownings and that many, many popular juvenile products are recalled because they are dangerous without your knowing? You will be outraged after reading this book once you discover how little is being done to protect young children from dangerous products at the expense of corporate profit. This book is a must read for all parents of young children and would make a terrific baby shower gift.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for Grandparents, April 17, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: It's No Accident : How Corporations Sell Dangerous Baby Products (Paperback)

Grandparents buy a large percentage of infant products. This book clearly outlines the products that could prove dangerous. I recommend this book as a must for all prospective grandparents before they take that trip to buy what they believe to be safe for their granchildren.