Entertainment giant The Wiggles will devote an episode of their popular podcast to discussing the dangers of button batteries, after the company admitted it likely breached Australian consumer law, the national watchdog says.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said The Wiggles Holdings had sold Emma Bow headbands without the mandatory safety warnings required for products containing button batteries.
The ACCC said the headband, coloured yellow and black and bearing four flashing lights, was sold without the mandatory warnings between June 2022 and March 2024.
The Emma Bow has been recalled. (Supplied)It has since been recalled by The Wiggles and by importer and distributor CA Australia.
“The Emma Bow was aimed for children’s use and was available at The Wiggles’ live concerts. It was also sold by other suppliers on The Wiggles online store and through various physical retail stores” ACCC deputy chair Catriona Lowe said.
“Without a warning on the product, parents may not have known it contained button batteries and not understood the severity of the risk.
The Wiggles. (Supplied: The Wiggles)
“If swallowed, a button battery can become stuck in a child’s throat and result in catastrophic injuries, and even death, in as little as two hours.”
The Wiggles has provided the ACCC with a court-enforceable undertaking in which it admitted it likely breached the law and has committed to implementing a consumer law compliance program within its organisation.
CA Australia has also provided a written commitment to the ACCC to improve its consumer law compliance.
As part of its cooperation with the ACCC, The Wiggles will also produce an episode of its podcast, “Wiggle Talk – A Podcast For Parents”, which will refer to the recall and will discuss safety issues relating to button batteries and children’s toys to help raise awareness.
“At The Wiggles, the safety and wellbeing of children and families is always our highest priority,” Wiggles HQ said in a statement.
“We want every parent and carer to feel complete confidence in any product bearing The Wiggles name.”
The statement said that the Emma headbands, which were supplied by a licensee, had been manufactured before the current information standard was introduced in 2020 and came into force in 2022.
“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic cancellations, the licensee had a surplus of stock produced prior to 2020 and regrettably it was not identified that these products no longer complied with updated labelling regulations,” the statement read.
“The Wiggles have worked with the ACCC to address this issue as fully and transparently as possible, initiating a joint recall with the licensee for this product in August 2024.
“We have now mutually agreed with the ACCC on a range of actions including promoting safety information on an upcoming episode of ‘Wiggle Talk – A Podcast for Parents’.
“The Wiggles are committed to ensuring that every product associated with our brand meets the highest standards of safety, quality and reliability.
“We will continue to take proactive steps to protect children and support Australian families in every way we can.”
