Even adults like shiny, character-branded pens
I felt like channeling my inner Walter Olson by doing a short CPSIA commentary post. Granted, Walter doesn’t explain he’s going to comment, he just does it. Oh well.
After talking briefly about writing implements earlier this week, there has been a development that will allow people everywhere (children included) once again to start writing all over their hands in ink to their heart’s content.
A letter was written by the CPSC to the Writing Instruments Manufacturers’ Association (WIMA) which seemed more like a “wink, wink, nudge, nudge, here’s how to read between the lines and work around the CPSIA” than anything we’ve seen thus far. It was a veritable secret handshake that should put many of the WIMA members in the clear.
The highlights:
- Not all pens are considered children’s products.
- If the pen is not primarily marketed to a child, it’s not considered a child’s product.
- Even adults like “novelty pens”
So adults everywhere no longer have to worry about stocking up on their Hello Kitty pens. Hello Kitty, Spongebob, and all of their cohorts should be safe from harm.
November 8th, 2009 at 7:21 am
[...] More: this summer the CPSC issued guidance on the closely related topic of ballpoint pens (the roller balls of which include lead alloy); the upshot was so long as manufacturers don’t primarily market any given pen design to children, they’re in the clear, even if large numbers of children are among the pens’ users. For more on that controversy, see NAM “Shop Floor” and more, Rick Woldenberg and more, and Whimsical Walney. [...]