The Shopper Product Security Fee’s new album options a few of its iconic mascots on the quilt and 7 safety-focused tracks.
U.S. Shopper Product Security Fee
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U.S. Shopper Product Security Fee
The Shopper Product Security Fee’s new album options a few of its iconic mascots on the quilt and 7 safety-focused tracks.
U.S. Shopper Product Security Fee
The federal company liable for selling the security of client merchandise has employed loads of techniques through the years, from remembers to rules to PSAs.
Now, the Shopper Product Security Fee is attempting a brand new — and catchier — method: It is launched an album.
We’re Security Now Have not We packs in six genre-spanning, safety-focused songs (seven when you depend the one which additionally acquired a Spanglish model). There’s an EDM banger about sporting helmets, a Ok-pop quantity about firework security, and even a reggaeton observe about smoke alarms. The artists are formally nameless, however extra on that later.
The album is particularly focused at youngsters and younger adults, Social Media Specialist Joseph Galbo instructed NPR’s Morning Version over Zoom.
He says the CPSC aimed to deal with the merchandise and hazards which might be particularly prevalent amongst individuals ages 13-24 based mostly on its damage knowledge — together with bikes, ATVs, fireworks, cooking home equipment and telephones.
Many individuals do not begin to actually take into consideration product security till they’ve children of their very own, Galbo provides. However excessive school- and college-aged children are making their very own choices on a regular basis, typically with out pondering by means of the potential penalties.
“One of many issues we need to do with this album is simply form of present younger individuals a reminder that, ‘Hey, it is essential to put on a helmet whenever you’re driving a motorcycle. And when you do it, you will be in a greater place to reside a more healthy and safer life,'” Galbo mentioned. “It is essential to keep in mind that whenever you’re strolling along with your telephone to lookup so you do not fall down a manhole cowl or by accident stroll into site visitors or one thing.”
The songs handle a few of the most typical sources of damage amongst younger adults, together with distracted telephone utilization.
U.S. Shopper Product Security Fee
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U.S. Shopper Product Security Fee
The songs handle a few of the most typical sources of damage amongst younger adults, together with distracted telephone utilization.
U.S. Shopper Product Security Fee
The album might be discovered on the CPSC’s web site and YouTube channel as of Wednesday. Galbo says the company finally hopes to get it on Apple Music, Spotify and ideally taking part in on radio stations, too. Plus, the entire songs are within the public area, so individuals can obtain, remix and repost them from there.
Galbo says he is excited to see what individuals do with the music. He hopes listeners will achieve a greater understanding of the easy adjustments that would doubtlessly save their lives — and the company that makes that its mission.
“We hope you take heed to the music and we hope you might have loads of enjoyable with it,” he added. “And once more, simply to let you recognize, we’re all the time right here for you when you ever must report an unsafe product.”
YouTube
An outline of the songs (however it is best to pay attention for your self)
A few of the songs are extra specific of their security messaging than others.
“You gotta put your telephone away, concentrate,” blares a techno tune about distracted telephone utilization, which despatched a mean of 5,100 individuals between 13-24 to the emergency room every year between 2013 and 2022.
“Helmet… goggles… boots… jacket,” intones the EDM observe about ATVs, which had been concerned in some 36,000 such accidents in that age group throughout that very same time interval.
“Helmets are a one-time use product and impacts can lower their effectiveness/Chances are you’ll not even see injury/Cracks within the shell, worn straps, and lacking pads or elements are additionally causes to exchange a helmet,” raps the bridge of hip-hop observe “Shield Ya Noggin,” which the artist additionally recorded in Spanish.
One among two songs stressing the significance of helmets was additionally recorded in “Spanglish.”
U.S. Shopper Product Security Fee
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U.S. Shopper Product Security Fee
One among two songs stressing the significance of helmets was additionally recorded in “Spanglish.”
U.S. Shopper Product Security Fee
It is no coincidence that two of the songs are about sporting helmets. A median of 212,000 younger individuals had been injured in incidents associated to bikes, scooters, e-bikes, skateboards and different such micro mobility gadgets between 2013 and 2022, per the CPSC, with head accidents among the many most typical.
A few of the extra refined tracks embrace “Going Off Like Fireworks” and “Se Pon Caliente,” which may nearly be mistaken to your run-of-the-mill, love-struck pop songs.
“I do know I am messing with a deadly warmth/And I ought to stroll away and let it’s/However we lightin’ sparks with our power,” sings the Ok-Pop group about fireworks, which injured some 3,170 younger individuals between 2013 and 2022.
“And I can not get sufficient/I imply it after I say/I am cautious of your love/As a result of our love is a flame,” a reggaeton artist sings of unattended cooking, the primary supply of house fires.
There’s additionally a lofi observe referred to as “Beats To Chill out/Be Protected To” — presumably a play on this common stream. It is interspersed with samples of a kid saying “what’s that?” and “higher,” and a person’s voice asking “Nicely, how a few marshmallow?”
That comes from an outdated PSA from the company’s early years within the Nineteen Seventies, Galbo explains. In it, character actor Louis Nye creates a comically unsafe toy for his nephew — an armadillo made out of razor blades and cutlery. When the nephew expresses concern, Nye suggests a surprisingly prescient different.
“We wished to form of dig again into our personal historical past a little bit bit for that observe,” Galbo mentioned. “It was form of humorous taking a look at a PSA that was made 50 years in the past the place the protagonist is suggesting making a marshmallow as a toy. And right here at present, these varieties of ‘mallow’ toys are one of the common you’ll find.”
The album title and canopy are themselves a wealthy textual content
There are a number of different clues that this is not your common musical album. This contains the “warning” label on the quilt and the truth that each tune begins with a person’s voice saying “due to the individuals at CPSC.”
Galbo explains that the entire company’s public messaging should be labeled as such, even in audio type. And it determined to do this with a pattern of narration from an outdated educational video.
Even the identify of the album, We’re Security Now Have not We, goals to acknowledge the company’s previous — in addition to its future.
The songs span quite a lot of genres, from EDM to reggaetón.
U.S. Shopper Product Security Fee
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U.S. Shopper Product Security Fee
The songs span quite a lot of genres, from EDM to reggaetón.
U.S. Shopper Product Security Fee
Galbo says the workforce wished to create one thing that “speaks to the perpetually nature of speaking about security.”
“It is form of a enjoyable play on the previous and in addition having to look ahead, and … the accountability that all of us must make protected decisions in our lives, whereas CPSC tries to guarantee that corporations are making protected decisions with their merchandise,” he added.
Security messaging appears very totally different in 2023 than in 1973, and the album is only one instance. The CPSC has gained a substantial following on X (the platform previously referred to as Twitter) for its informative memes, starring a forged of quirky animal mascots.
A few of them are featured prominently on the album cowl. Potato the canine stands on an ATV, Good-looking Ron is the chicken flying on a smoke alarm, the cat Copernicus Jackson holds a cellphone and Quinn the quarantine fox is sporting a motorcycle helmet.
“These are form of the large characters that we expect individuals have come to acknowledge on our social media platforms, and so we wished to guarantee that they had been entrance and heart on this album,” Galbo mentioned. “We may have simply slapped our emblem on there actually massive, however we thought this might be much more enjoyable.”
It took lower than a yr to create what they’re calling ‘Quantity 1’
The CPSC has dabbled in music earlier than. As an illustration, its children’ “Pool Safely” marketing campaign has a tune, which Galbo describes as extra of a jingle.
He says the company determined earlier this yr it was a very good time to put money into one thing extra longform, given how efficient audio is at spreading messages, particularly on social media.
“As we began diving into the information and seeing what was hurting children in highschool and faculty, we form of walked away like, ‘As a substitute of doing one tune or attempting to do two songs, let’s simply do six,'” he defined. “I [thought] that may broaden the attitude and open us as much as simply reaching children in so many alternative methods.”
From there, the workforce went about matching topics with genres and reaching out to musicians from these communities, to make the songs as genuine as potential.
Galbo says the artists are from all around the nation and totally different cultural backgrounds. The artists are staying nameless with a purpose to preserve the main target solely on the music and messaging. He describes a lot of them as having a small following however an outsized impression, and says one or two are “pretty well-known.”
Lots of the artists featured on the mission labored with main shoppers earlier than, he provides, however that is the primary time any had been approached by a authorities company. They began by speaking by means of what a very good security tune appears like, seeking to examples of instructional music like Schoolhouse Rock!.
The lofi observe “Beats to Chill out/Be Protected to” seems based mostly off common learning music and incorporates a PSA from the company’s early years.
U.S. Shopper Product Security Fee
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U.S. Shopper Product Security Fee
The lofi observe “Beats to Chill out/Be Protected to” seems based mostly off common learning music and incorporates a PSA from the company’s early years.
U.S. Shopper Product Security Fee
“Creating the lyrics was a extremely enjoyable collaboration the place we despatched them a few of our driest security supplies you possibly can think about … after which form of [let] them take it and determine, okay, effectively can this be a tune with literal security ideas or ought to it’s one thing a little bit bit extra conceptual?” Galbo defined.
The starting stage lasted from February to June, and manufacturing occurred in July and August. Galbo says a giant turning level was when the workforce acquired the primary model of the primary tune “Shield Your Noggin” — which set the bar so excessive that they really despatched it round to different artists for inspiration.
“I feel for the workforce, it grew to become an actual second of, ‘Oh this may work,'” he mentioned. “And never solely can this work, however this could possibly be really nice if we put our nostril to the grindstone and actually, actually proceed to work exhausting on it. And the truth that we walked away with six songs that I feel are all equally unbelievable is simply so superior.”
Galbo hopes there shall be much more to return, funding allowing. He is already brainstorming the following quantity — like what an important security album would sound like if it is meant for gaming, or carried out reside with a symphony, for instance.
“Including ‘Quantity 1’ [on the cover] was our playful guess that perhaps if this goes effectively, we’ll get an opportunity to make extra albums sometime,” Galbo added. “And I feel so long as audio continues to be a extremely nice method to attain younger individuals, we must always preserve our choices open.”
