A not so 'happy' recall notice

Last spring when the movie Shrek Forever After was in the theatres McDonald's helped cross-promote it with glasses depicting Shrek, Donkey, Puss in Boots and Princess Fiona. I remember it well because Shrek and his pals were advertised everywhere around the restaurant not to mention in television commercials broadcast across North America. So when the kids asked for one we said yes.

A few days ago as I sat in a booth eating a spicy Thai salad while the kids indulged in their Happy Meals I glanced up at a small glass encased bulletin board when something caught my eye -- a recall notice. There, in black and white, the notice told customers who had purchased those colourful Shrek glasses to return them to the restaurant for a full refund. Nowhere did it say why the glasses were being recalled. For more information it told you to call a customer service number. But here's the best part, the recall notice was dated June, 2010.

A quick check on Google soon gave me the reason why McDonald's recalled the Shrek glasses -- pigment in paint on the glasses contained cadmium and that long term exposure to this substance "could cause adverse health effects."

I couldn't help but think how often my family's used the Shrek glass since last spring. It would have been nice if we'd known about its recall in June when it was first announced. I realize now, almost four months after the fact, that the recall was published in a few daily newspapers. It's too bad I did not see those stories. Now if McDonald's had put even a fraction of the effort into promoting the recall as they did the original movie I may have discovered the recall earlier and taken the damn glass out of the cupboard. It was just plain dumb luck I saw the notice when I did. Better late than never.

The cadmium in the paint on the Shrek glasses will not kill anyone and there have been no reported sicknesses since McDonald's became aware of the problem. That's the good news.

What irks me though is the lack of play the recall got despite the fact that 7 of 12 million of the glasses were sold across North America. Good news gets big play while bad news is downplayed despite the fact it deals with the health and safety issues of customers. It's just not right.