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 protection of shopper merchandise has employed loads of techniques through the years, from remembers to laws to PSAs.
Now, the Shopper Product Security Fee is attempting a brand new — and catchier — strategy: It is launched an album.
We’re Security Now Have not We packs in six genre-spanning, safety-focused songs (seven for those who rely the one which additionally received a Spanglish model). There’s an EDM banger about sporting helmets, a Ok-pop quantity about firework security, and even a reggaeton monitor 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 advised NPR’s Morning Version over Zoom.
He says the CPSC aimed to deal with the merchandise and hazards which can be particularly prevalent amongst individuals ages 13-24 based mostly on its damage information — 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 youngsters of their very own, Galbo provides. However excessive school- and college-aged youngsters are making their very own choices on a regular basis, typically with out considering by way of the potential penalties.
“One of many issues we wish to do with this album is simply sort of present younger individuals a reminder that, ‘Hey, it is vital to put on a helmet if you’re driving a motorcycle. And for those who do it, you will be in a greater place to dwell a more healthy and safer life,'” Galbo stated. “It is vital to do not forget that if you’re strolling along with your telephone to lookup so you do not fall down a manhole cowl or by chance stroll into visitors or one thing.”
The songs handle among the commonest 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 among the commonest sources of damage amongst younger adults, together with distracted telephone utilization.
U.S. Shopper Product Security Fee
The album could 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 enjoying on radio stations, too. Plus, all the 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 modifications that might probably save their lives — and the company that makes that its mission.
“We hope you hearken to the music and we hope you’ve gotten quite a lot of enjoyable with it,” he added. “And once more, simply to let you realize, we’re all the time right here for you for those who ever have to report an unsafe product.”
YouTube
An summary of the songs (however it’s best to hear for your self)
Among the songs are extra specific of their security messaging than others.
“You gotta put your telephone away, listen,” blares a techno music about distracted telephone utilization, which despatched a median of 5,100 individuals between 13-24 to the emergency room annually between 2013 and 2022.
“Helmet… goggles… boots… jacket,” intones the EDM monitor about ATVs, which have 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/You might not even see injury/Cracks within the shell, worn straps, and lacking pads or elements are additionally causes to interchange a helmet,” raps the bridge of hip-hop monitor “Defend Ya Noggin,” which the artist additionally recorded in Spanish.
One in all 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 in all 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 mean of 212,000 younger individuals have been injured in incidents associated to bikes, scooters, e-bikes, skateboards and different such micro mobility units between 2013 and 2022, per the CPSC, with head accidents among the many commonest.
Among the extra delicate tracks embrace “Going Off Like Fireworks” and “Se Pon Caliente,” which may virtually be mistaken on 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 or not it’s/However we lightin’ sparks with our vitality,” 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 monitor referred to as “Beats To Loosen up/Be Secure To” — presumably a play on this fashionable stream. It is interspersed with samples of a kid saying “what’s that?” and “higher,” and a person’s voice asking “Effectively, how a couple of marshmallow?”
That comes from an previous PSA from the company’s early years within the 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 various.
“We wished to sort of dig again into our personal historical past somewhat bit for that monitor,” Galbo stated. “It was sort of humorous 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 right this moment, these forms of ‘mallow’ toys are one of the vital fashionable you will discover.”
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 consists of the “warning” label on the quilt and the truth that each music begins with a person’s voice saying “due to the individuals at CPSC.”
Galbo explains that all the 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 previous 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 staff wished to create one thing that “speaks to the without end nature of speaking about security.”
“It is sort of a enjoyable play on the previous and in addition having to look ahead, and … the duty that all of us must make protected selections in our lives, whereas CPSC tries to be sure that corporations are making protected selections with their merchandise,” he added.
Security messaging seems to be very completely 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 generally known as Twitter) for its informative memes, starring a solid 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 chook flying on a smoke alarm, the cat Copernicus Jackson holds a mobile phone and Quinn the quarantine fox is sporting a motorcycle helmet.
“These are sort of the large characters that we predict individuals have come to acknowledge on our social media platforms, and so we wished to be sure that they have been entrance and heart on this album,” Galbo stated. “We may have simply slapped our emblem on there actually large, 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 example, its youngsters’ “Pool Safely” marketing campaign has a music, 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 youngsters in highschool and school, we sort of walked away like, ‘As a substitute of doing one music or attempting to do two songs, let’s simply do six,'” he defined. “I [thought] that might broaden the attitude and open us as much as simply reaching youngsters in so many alternative methods.”
From there, the staff 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 completely different cultural backgrounds. The artists are staying nameless to be able to preserve the main focus solely on the music and messaging. He describes a lot of them as having a small following however an outsized influence, and says one or two are “pretty well-known.”
Lots of the artists featured on the challenge labored with main purchasers earlier than, he provides, however that is the primary time any had been approached by a authorities company. They began by speaking by way of what a very good security music appears like, trying to examples of instructional music like Schoolhouse Rock!.
The lofi monitor “Beats to Loosen up/Be Secure to” seems based mostly off fashionable finding out 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 monitor “Beats to Loosen up/Be Secure to” seems based mostly off fashionable finding out 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 may think about … after which sort of [let] them take it and work out, okay, nicely can this be a music with literal security suggestions or ought to or not it’s one thing somewhat bit extra conceptual?” Galbo defined.
The strategy planning stage lasted from February to June, and manufacturing occurred in July and August. Galbo says a giant turning level was when the staff received the primary model of the primary music “Defend Your Noggin” — which set the bar so excessive that they really despatched it round to different artists for inspiration.
“I feel for the staff, it grew to become an actual second of, ‘Oh this will work,'” he stated. “And never solely can this work, however this could possibly be truly nice if we put our nostril to the grindstone and actually, actually proceed to work onerous on it. And the truth that we walked away with six songs that I feel are all equally unimaginable is simply so superior.”
Galbo hopes there shall be much more to return, funding allowing. He is already brainstorming the following quantity — like what a terrific security album would sound like if it is meant for gaming, or carried out dwell with a symphony, for instance.
“Including ‘Quantity 1’ [on the cover] was our playful wager that perhaps if this goes nicely, 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 solution to attain younger individuals, we must always preserve our choices open.”
