History Main / NoProductSafetyStandards

* Comes up constantly in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'', but special mention has to go to Nuka-Cola, the soft drink made with ''radioactive elements''. Note that [[AluminumChristmasTrees this is based on a real product]] (see the Real Life section below).

[[folder:Film - Animated]]

** It's been suggested that this might be unique to deep-space vessels like the ''Ishimura'' as a way to give the crew some means of self-defence against SpacePirates without the legal complications of shipping out with a rack of assault rifles or something.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': In season 6, Buffy takes a job at the Magic Box. Just what *is* proper procedure for handling animated mummy hands anyway?

* Inadequate drug testing regimes led to the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalidomide_scandal Thalidomide Scandal]], subsequently dubbed the "biggest man‐made medical disaster ever" with over ten thousand babies being born with severe birth defects and thousands of miscarriages occurring due to the drug after it was prescribed to curb morning sickness due to its anti-nausea effects.

** Similar to the Radium Girls was Radithor, a tonic sold to the public that was literally just ''radioactive water''. One American industrialist, Eben Byers, downed so much of the stuff that after he died (from, [[SarcasmMode shockingly]], cancer contracted from drinking so much Radithor) ''his corpse was dangerously radioactive'' and had to be buried in a lead-lined coffin. Radithor, and other shoddy products like it, ended dying a swift death once radiation came to be better understood and the FDA got more power behind it.

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* [[TropesAreTools A more positive example]] comes from ''Franchise/DeadSpace'' where medical appliances and mining tools can be [[MacGyvering repurposed]] into weapons on the spot. [[FridgeLogic What this meant for future society]] before the [[ZombieApocalypse outbreak]] is more than a little disturbing.

[[folder: Film ]]

* ''Film/FightClub'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIdmkETuWeM a sequence]] where the protagonist/narrator explains how the automotive company he's employed at does recalls for new cars, averting this trope only when it's cost effective.

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* In the classic ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' sketch "Consumer Probe", Dan Akroyd plays a CorruptCorporateExecutive, Irwin Mainway, who is trying to persuade a TV reporter that his company's toys are fun and safe for children. The products include a teddy bear with a built-in functioning chainsaw and a bag of broken glass. More HilarityEnsues when he then tries to 'prove' that regular, safe toys are actually extremely unsafe.
** He showed up in a later sketch hawking Halloween costumes, including "Johnny Human Torch"[[note]] A bag holding oily rags and a lighter[[/note]], "The Invisible Pedestrian"[[note]] an all-black costume with ski-mask to be worn after dark, but DOES say "Not for blind kids!"[[/note]], and "Johnny Combat Action Costume"[[note]] a set of camouflage clothing with a '''working''' M-1 rifle - bullets not included. Allegedly popular in Texas and Detroit.[[/note]].
** SNL also had Happy Fun Ball, a children's toy which is unsafe for pregnant women, the elderly and children under 10, may suddenly accelerate to dangerous speeds and contains a substance which should not be touched, inhaled or looked at. The [[http://snltranscripts.jt.org/90/90mhappyfunball.phtml sketch]] continues from there, listing increasingly bizarre hazards, including the [[TropeNamer trope-naming]] DoNotTauntHappyFunBall.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'' has [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E3Gridlock an episode]] where a future society nearly collapsed because of drugs that "blissed" you to death.
* So does ''Series/{{Firefly}}'''s BigDamnMovie.

* ''Series/{{Eureka}},'' Oregon is run by {{mad scientist}}s. Guess what happens?
* Bill Moyers' ''[[http://www.pbs.org/tradesecrets/ Trade Secrets]]'' details the chemical industry's lack of medical testing, [[http://www.pbs.org/tradesecrets/accharges.html much to their annoyance.]]

* Buffy, in her sixth season, takes a job at the Magic Box. Just what *is* proper procedure for handling animated mummy hands anyway?

[[folder: Video Games ]]

[[folder: Web Original ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

** One notable incident in the US was the case of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium_Girls the Radium Girls]], who were told that the radioactive material they were painting watch-hands with [[BlatantLies was perfectly harmless]]. They even encouraged employees to ''lick the radium-tipped brushes'' to maintain their points. This incident helped kick-start the movement to ''avert'' NoOSHACompliance.

* The first episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' has Peter falling asleep on the job at the toy factory, allowing for dangerous products to make it into shipping, such as a bottle of pills inside a [[BlandNameProduct "Pound Poochie"]] box, a "silly ball" being a throwing hatchet, and a girl's doll being built in with a flamethrower.

* In the back story of ''[[VideoGame/ZeroxOneZeroC 0x10c]]'', the human race wakes up trillions of years in the future because of a byte order error in the software used to operate cryogenic sleep capsules.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks'', Huey creates a highly explosive gel solution, but doesn't tell Granddad that until after he discovers that it instantly grows out your hair overnight. They decide to sell the product to a distributor of hair care products. Huey has to object and insist on mentioning how a single spark would set off the explosive. The businesswoman laughs it off, pulling out a few of the products she already sells, one of which contains plutonium, and one of which is literally just acid. Slap a warning label on the jar and you're good to go.

* ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'', the SVU team investigates a butchery that is linked to the murder of the victim, they discovered that it's work place is infested with roaches, they simply pick up meat that fell from the ground like it was nothing, and the kitchen is dirty and poorly cleaned.

* In a classic ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' sketch Dan Akroyd plays a CorruptCorporateExecutive, Irwin Mainway, who is trying to persuade a TV reporter that his company's toys are fun and safe for children. The products include a teddy bear with a built-in functioning chainsaw and a bag of broken glass. More HilarityEnsues when he then tries to 'prove' that regular, safe toys are actually extremely unsafe.
** He showed up in a later sketch hawking Halloween costumes, including "Johnny Human Torch"[[note]] A bag holding oily rags and a lighter[[/note]], "Invisible Pedestrian"[[note]] an all-black costume with ski-mask to be worn after dark, but DOES say "Not for blind kids!"[[/note]], and "Johnny Combat Action Costume"[[note]] a set of camouflage clothing with a WORKING M-1 rifle - bullets not included[[/note]].

* ''Website/TheOnion'' has a few parodies of this, such as one video where [[http://www.theonion.com/video/manufacturer-recalls-hollow-point-bullets-that-fai,14319/ a munitions manufacturer apologized for hollow-point rounds not exploding properly]] with animations showing the problem. Then there's the fact that [[AccidentallyAccurate early hollow-point designs were notorious for not expanding properly]] which is a problem if you're a cop and you don't want the bullet to kill innocent people behind the target.

* ''Website/TheOnion'' has a few parodies of this, such as one video where [[http://www.theonion.com/video/manufacturer-recalls-hollow-point-bullets-that-fai,14319/ a munitions manufacturer apologized for hollow-point rounds not exploding properly]] with [[CrossesTheLineTwice animations showing the problem]].
** Even funnier if you're aware that [[AccidentallyAccurate early hollow-point designs were notorious for not expanding properly]] which is a problem if you're a cop and you don't want the bullet to kill innocent people behind the target.

* Franchise/{{Starcraft}} does this trope proud. Many of the Terrans' combat machines are out to passively or actively kill them. Most notable is the [[TransformingMecha Viking]], a versatile transforming fighter which claims so many of its pilots, that they are known as 'Cherries' until they survive one transformation.

[[folder: Web Original ]]

* ''Website/TheOnion'' has a few parodies of this, such as one video where [[http://www.theonion.com/video/manufacturer-recalls-hollow-point-bullets-that-fai,14319/ a munitions manufacturer apologized for hollow-point rounds not exploding properly]] with [[CrossesTheLineTwice animations showing the problem]].
** Even funnier if you're aware that [[AccidentallyAccurate early hollow-point designs were notorious for not expanding properly]] which is a problem if you're a cop and you don't want the bullet to kill innocent people behind the target.

[[/folder]]

* [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Krusty the Clown]] will endorse any product as long as the price is right. This has made him a favorite among manufacturers who knows that their product is toxic, infected, explosive, higly flammable, unsafe in any other way, or simply not working right. Clearly, it's easier to get an endorsement from Krusty than to make a good (or even mediocre) product.

[[AC: {{Film}}]]

[[AC: LiveActionTV]]

[[AC: {{Video Game}}s]]

[[AC: WesternAnimation]]

[[AC: WebOriginal]]

[[AC: RealLife]]

* ''TheOnion'' has a few parodies of this, such as one video where [[http://www.theonion.com/video/manufacturer-recalls-hollow-point-bullets-that-fai,14319/ a munitions manufacturer apologized for hollow-point rounds not exploding properly]] with [[CrossesTheLineTwice animations showing the problem]].

* In Franchise/{{Halo}}, most Covenant weapons aren't particularly reliable, as some of them tend to overheat, and give the user a painful shock when they do. This is a result of the covies religious dogma: most of their technology are based of Forerunner tech and any attempts to modify it would be heresy.

* In Franchise/{{Halo}}, most Covenant weapons aren't particularly reliable, as some of them tend to overheat, and give the user a painful shock when they do. This is due to the covies religious dogma, in which most of their technology are based of Forerunner tech, any attempts to modify it would be heresy.

* {{PBS}} has done several segments, like [[http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/412/ Toxic Toys]] about this.