From exploding cars and poisonous candy to meatballs made with mystery meat, product recalls have ranged from the absurd to the downright dangerous. In this second installment, we dig even deeper into some of the most bizarre, controversial, and overlooked recalls in recent history. Whether due to corporate negligence, design flaws, or unbelievable oversights, these 40 incidents serve as unforgettable reminders that even trusted brands can get it shockingly wrong.
1 Maple Leaf Foods’ 2008 Listeria Apology
In 2008, Maple Leaf Foods, a major Canadian meat company, recalled $20 million worth of deli meats after a Listeria outbreak traced to its Toronto plant caused 23 deaths and multiple illnesses across Canada. The contamination was confirmed through lab testing, prompting public health alerts and widespread concern. CEO Michael McCain publicly accepted responsibility in a televised apology.
2 1993 Gay Ken Doll Recall
In 1993, Mattel released the Earring Magic Ken, unintentionally styled after gay club fashion trends of the time-complete with a mesh shirt, lavender vest, and a chrome ring necklace resembling a sex toy-which led to it being dubbed the “Gay Ken” by the media and LGBTQ+ community. Though Mattel quickly pulled it from shelves due to the backlash, the doll became a cultural icon and remains the best-selling Ken of all time.
3 Canadian Universities’ Condom Staple Mistake
In 2013, the University of New Brunswick and St. Thomas University distributed condoms during orientation (“Frosh”) week with stapled consent messages, which punctured the wrappers and potentially rendered them useless. After realizing the mistake, the schools launched a social media and email blitz to warn students, facing ridicule and backlash over what was called a “Titanic-level” public health blunder.
4 Toyota Recall Frees Wrongly Imprisoned Man
In 2006, Koua Fong Lee was driving a 1996 Toyota Camry when its accelerator allegedly stuck, causing a crash that killed three people and led to his 2008 conviction and eight-year sentence. Following Toyota’s 2009-10 recall addressing stuck accelerator pedals, new evidence of pedal defects prompted a Minnesota judge in 2010 to free Lee after almost 2½ years behind bars. Toyota later paid him $750,000 as part of an $11 million settlement.
5 WWI German Sawback Bayonet Recall
In 1915, the German military issued the Sawback blade bayonet, a substantial 18-inch serrated steel blade designed to saw through wood and underbrush for field fortifications. However, British and French troops viewed it as excessively brutal-often torturing and killing captured German soldiers found with one-prompting a military recall, and while no exact numbers are known, many German soldiers were reportedly executed after being discovered carrying the weapon.
6 Powerpuff Girls DVD Virus Recall 2001
In 2001, Warner Bros. released the “Powerpuff Girls: Meet the Beat Alls” DVD-which included three DVD-ROM computer programs-to promote the popular animated series, but unbeknownst to them, the master disc was infected with the FunLove virus, which automatically launched upon insertion and could spread across computers. The company immediately recalled all copies distributed in North America, though the extent of infections wasn’t publicly quantified, and Warner Bros. said the discs were destroyed to halt further spread.
7 Great Michigan Pizza Funeral 1971
In 1973, Ilario “Mario” Fabbrini’s Papa Fabbrini Family Foods voluntarily recalled and ceremonially buried 29,188 frozen cheese-and-mushroom pizzas after the FDA flagged possible botulism in canned mushrooms supplied to him. Although no illnesses occurred, the mandatory recall and public pressure forced him to dispose of pizzas valued at about $60,000, and the episode sparked major media ridicule and a humiliating “pizza funeral” event attended by Michigan’s governor.
Latest FactRepublic Video:
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
8 Israeli Ambassador Recalled from El Salvador
In early 2007, Israeli diplomat Tsuriel Raphael, serving as ambassador to El Salvador, was found outside the embassy drunk, naked (except for bondage gear), hands bound, and gagged. His identity was only confirmed after police removed a rubber ball gag from his mouth. Although he did not face criminal charges, the Foreign Ministry recalled him due to his “behavior unbecoming of a diplomat,” which resulted in career embarrassment for him.
9 1980s Coca-Cola Ad Image Scandal
In the mid-’80s, Coca-Cola ran a “Feel the Curves!” campaign in South Australia to promote its iconic contour bottle, using posters featuring a Coke bottle surrounded by ice cubes. One ice cube concealed a hidden depiction of oral sex, inadvertently included by a graphic artist who treated it as an inside joke. The entire campaign-estimated at distributing thousands of posters across Sydney-was swiftly recalled and destroyed, the artist was fired, his agency was sued for hundreds of thousands of dollars, and no replacement posters were issued.
10 2015 Auvi-Q EpiPen Recall
In 2015, Sanofi recalled all Auvi-Q auto-injectors, which totaled around 490,000 packs, following 26 unconfirmed reports of incorrect dose delivery; however, no injuries or deaths were reported. The product relaunched in 2017 under Kaleo, offering improved manufacturing and a $0 out-of-pocket plan, but it failed to significantly dent EpiPen’s 85-90% U.S. market share.
RE: Fact #2 (1993 Gay Ken Doll Recall) – So, I actually have one of those too.
Back then, I was working as a chef, and two of my coworkers, who were like besties and also roommates, told me about it. They were absolutely cracking up over a magazine ad for the doll.
I can still picture one of them saying, “No way… he’s wearing a *c*ck* ring! And they’re marketing this as a toy for little girls!” He was laughing so hard he ended up sliding down the wall by the bulletin board.
The “Earring Magic” name just made the whole thing even funnier.
It wasn’t because the doll was gay or anything, but because Mattel seemed so completely clueless about what they’d actually created.
After our shift that day, we all crammed into a coworker’s van and went out to buy our own. Mine’s still in its original packaging.
RE: Fact #18 (Bungie’s “Myth 2” Game Recall) – They’ve had a few release fumbles.
Halo 2 on PC got pushed back ’cause someone stashed a developer’s butt picture in the game files.
Even though it wasn’t directly Bungie’s fault, Infinite got delayed a whole year because of COVID, but I reckon they just needed more time to get it just right.
Man, that was a huge deal back in Bungie’s day. Like, a million-dollar oopsie! They had to pull back all the discs already sent out to stores and get the factory churning out new ones. They didn’t push the release date too much, but wow, all those new discs and repackaging cost them a ton.
If that whole mess hadn’t gone down, Bungie probably wouldn’t have been scouting for someone to buy them out of their money troubles. Halo would’ve stayed a Mac and PC thing, and Microsoft likely wouldn’t have snagged Bungie and the rights to the game. Maybe they still would’ve gotten an offer, or perhaps a deal where a publisher just put it out without buying them outright.
Edit: Actually, it sounds like they were already on the hunt for a buyer to shore up their finances, and Microsoft was the clear pick at the time. The disc recall wasn’t enough to sink them completely, but it definitely stung.
Seriously though, if you take away Halo and Halo 2, the Xbox wouldn’t have made it through the console wars. Online gaming would have been stalled for a decade. Internet in the US wouldn’t have sped up as fast either. Early smartphones wouldn’t have had the speed they needed for their features, so most people would have just thought of them as cool toys. Social media would have stayed pretty basic.
(Edit: Okay, I get that bandwidth would’ve probably increased anyway because of music streaming and YouTube and all that. But still, you gotta admit, that Ethernet port on the first Xbox totally pushed a ton of homes to ditch dial-up.)
RE: Fact #3 (Canadian Universities’ Condom Staple Mistake) – Titanic level? Get the fuck out of here
RE: Fact #7 (Great Michigan Pizza Funeral 1971) – possible? It either is or it isn’t, there’s no in between.
RE: Fact #32 (Superman Comic Recalled for Content) – wrong picture Dumas
RE: Fact #4 (Toyota Recall Frees Wrongly Imprisoned Man) – So, to deal with the recall, they had us chop or shave down the pedals. That was their big fix.
So, I recall seeing a lot of signs at the store reminding everyone not to put floor mats on top of other mats. They also emphasized making sure they’re secured so they don’t slide up and get caught on the pedals, jamming them.
RE: Fact #17 (Lane Company’s Dangerous Cedar Chests) – Same deal with US refrigerators not latching anymore, they just have that magnetic seal. Turns out, kids used to hide in old, abandoned fridges and ended up suffocating.
Not those of us who saw that Punky Brewster episode!
Just a heads-up, even though that magnetic seal makes things safer, the law still says you gotta unbolt and take the whole door off when you’re ditching an old fridge or freezer. Sometimes kids can be jerks and get themselves stuck inside if the door’s still on. The law was put in place when they had those old-style latches, but it’s still a good idea to follow it.
Basically, no matter what the law says where you are, it’s smart to avoid any chance of someone getting trapped when you’re getting rid of stuff like that. Same goes for fridge doors, old cedar chests, or anything else.
Man, that’s crazy. I had no clue about that law and hauled one to the scrap yard maybe a year and a half back. Our mechanic, who owned the fridge, had passed away, and it just sat outside our terminal forever. So, I had the warehouse lady use the forklift to get it into my trailer, and then I took it to be scrapped.
RE: Fact #23 (Sky Dancers Recall in 2000) – Honestly, my nieces had those when they were tiny, and I definitely got bonked a few times when they were playing. Those “wings” were made of hard plastic and you had to spin them super fast for them to “fly,” and man, they really stung if they smacked you. I don’t know how they’d break a rib or give someone a concussion, but I absolutely believe they could scratch your eyes or break your teeth, and definitely cause cuts that needed stitches. Seriously, they’re like weapons if they fall into the wrong hands.
Makes you wonder how they can get a broken rib or a concussion from that.
Maybe it’s from jumping out of the way to not get their eye scratched up.
RE: Fact #27 (Fireball Whisky’s Formula Change) – Hey, just so you know, propylene glycol isn’t car antifreeze. It’s actually food-grade stuff, used for winterizing water systems in RVs and the like. Plus, it’s in laxatives and tons of food items.
RE: Fact #22 (1999 Belgian Coca-Cola Scare) – Pretty wild, turns out there’s this thing called “mass sociogenic illness.”
RE: Fact #6 (Powerpuff Girls DVD Virus Recall 2001) – How tough is it to check your main version before you print a ton of copies?
RE: Fact #13 (Peppa Pig Episode Banned in Australia) – Australians are just built differently.
RE: Fact #7 (Great Michigan Pizza Funeral 1971) – So, I actually knew this guy. Super interesting dude. His whole thing was leasing electric pizza ovens to bars and then selling them frozen pizzas. The bars could just bake and sell slices to their customers. He actually had a bunch of people working for him at this factory he had over in Ossineke, Michigan, and he’d ship tons of frozen pizza down to the Detroit area.
He grew up in Italy and told me they never even used tomato sauce on their pizza there. He said it was basically just leftover dough his mom would bake with whatever toppings she had after she finished the week’s bread.
RE: Fact #13 (Peppa Pig Episode Banned in Australia) – Huntsman spiders aren’t a big deal, honestly. They’re massive, yeah, but still way smaller than even a little kid. The most they’ll do is give you the creeps.
The real problem is those super small ones that have enough poison to take down a herd of elephants, and Australia’s got tons of them.
The scariest thing a huntsman can do is zip across your windshield while you’re driving. You gotta figure out super fast if it was on the outside or if it somehow got inside.
Peppa’s a UK thing, right? And the stories totally don’t seem to be written with other countries in mind.
RE: Fact #11 (Ku Klux Klan’s 1924 Anaheim Takeover) – Back in the day, the Klan was a big deal in Anaheim, snagging four out of five City Council spots. Then, a recall pushed them out in 1924.
When the group was at its peak in Orange County, almost 300 Klan members were living in Anaheim, even cruising around town in their robes and masks. One KKK rally even pulled in a whopping 20,000 people!
The Klan would stop and question people on the streets, and they even lit a huge cross in front of St. Boniface Roman Catholic Church once. A lot of what the KKK was all about in Anaheim and other places back then was anti-Catholic sentiment.
Seriously, I can’t even picture what a city run by the KKK would be like.
Back in the 1920s, Anaheim was basically just a bunch of orange groves. It felt more like a small town than a big city, that is, until Disneyland popped up in the ’50s.
It’s pretty interesting how Anaheim is in Orange County, which usually leans Republican.
RE: Fact #18 (Bungie’s “Myth 2” Game Recall) – That Myth story was intense, right? The world’s taken over by zombies and they’re on this last-ditch effort to make things right…
RE: Fact #5 (WWI German Sawback Bayonet Recall) – That’s awesome! Or, at least, it would be if it were actually real. Turns out, those bayonets were meant for chopping wood. It’s like a long-standing military thing where they kept trying and failing to make bayonets useful for anything other than, well, being a bayonet, as they became less and less effective as actual weapons.
It’s totally weird, right? Like, stabbing people with a regular bayonet is fine, but making the bayonet deadlier is somehow a war crime? Doesn’t add up.
So basically, you’re trying to clear the enemy out of the fight, hopefully for the whole war. That’s a different ballgame. If you can manage that without making them suffer a long, drawn-out death – you know, humanely – you should definitely go for it. And if you can do it so they actually have a shot at surviving, even better. But if you’re out there actively trying to torture people just for kicks, well, there are human rights laws for a reason, and that’s why certain weapons are off-limits.
When stuff’s designed to slowly kill you, it’s a real downer, right? So yeah, just like you said, but as a statement.
RE: Fact #2 (1993 Gay Ken Doll Recall) – How’d they mess up and drop a major product with so many extras like that?
So, my guess is they spotted guys rocking that look in dance clubs in New York or LA and figured it was super cool and trendy. And honestly, they totally were. What they missed, though, was that it was also a big, bold statement about being gay. This was the early 90s, remember. Most straight folks back then pictured gay people looking like something out of a retro costume party. They had no clue how fast style shifts in the gay scene, or that those necklaces were actually… well, more than just necklaces. It’s pretty clear now that openly gay guys are all over the place, but back then it was definitely more of a hidden thing.
There’s a pretty good chance a gay guy designed Barbie’s, like it was totally on purpose.
So, apparently they hit up raves and dance parties to try and make Ken more likable. It totally backfired in a pretty messed-up way.
So, I was in this college business class, right? And we were talking about how companies try to make new stuff based on what people say they want. It’s kinda tricky, though. The whole Earring Magic Ken story came up. Apparently, Mattel might have just made up the whole “surveyed girls” thing to save face later. But honestly, I can totally see how some out-of-touch corporate guys, you know, the typical older, wealthy, straight white dudes running things back then, would just throw survey results into making a product and think it’s a guaranteed hit.
And get this, the doll actually sold like crazy – it was the best-selling Ken ever! Just, you know, not to the kids Mattel was originally aiming for.
Seriously, that still sounds nuts. But then again, it’s not like this is the first time something like a product or ad has popped up unexpectedly. Like that vibrating Harry Potter broom, remember that?
So, my daughter had Ken, right? And, like, it was obvious he was gay. My grandma then asks my daughter if Ken minded sharing the box with all the naked Barbies. I was like, “Well, Grandma, I think he’s gay.” And Grandma goes, “Well, duh! With all those girls around him, he’s happier than a clam!” lol
RE: Fact #25 (Lexus LS400 Recall Excellence) – Remember that time they really tried to make it look like they cared about their customers so the brand wouldn’t go under?
RE: Fact #5 (WWI German Sawback Bayonet Recall) – The whole point was so regular soldiers could help out the engineers, not because it was actually all that great in a fight.
First World War propaganda is still around now. One story that didn’t stick around is how the Germans supposedly claimed British infantrymen were using the Lee Enfield’s magazine cutoff to make “dumb dumb” bullets by chopping off the jacketed tips of the bullets.
So what happens when you cut off the jacketed tips? Is it kinda like a hollow point? I’m totally clueless about guns, by the way.
You either chop off the tip or jam the bullet in backward. People thought this would make metal targets chip more when hit compared to a regular bullet.
But why would anyone want metal chipping? The whole point was to make a sniper’s metal shield chip, so a sniper hiding behind it would get hurt.
Turns out, it wasn’t clear if those flat-tipped bullets even did that, and sniper shields didn’t stick around for long anyway.
RE: Fact #5 (WWI German Sawback Bayonet Recall) – Back in the late 1800s, most armies had bayonets with saw-like edges. The idea was they could double as a handy tool for chopping wood or even dressing game.
Turns out, that sawback was actually messing with the blade’s performance. It’d just get snagged on stuff really easily, you know, and then you’d have a tough time pulling it free. So, some of the guys ended up filing down the teeth.
The US military’s standard issue M9 bayonet right now actually has a saw edge on the back.
RE: Fact #14 (Whole Foods’ Asparagus Water Debacle) – So, this wasn’t a Whole Foods thing everywhere, just at one store where the manager decided to use up some extra asparagus instead of tossing it. They got fired for it.
He would’ve gotten a raise if it had sold.
RE: Fact #7 (Great Michigan Pizza Funeral 1971) – So, the FDA did some more tests and found out it wasn’t botulism. Fabbrini took his suppliers to court, and in ’79, the Michigan Court of Appeals tossed him $211,000, but his business still bit the dust a few years after that.
RE: Fact #12 (Lay’s Olestra Chips Backfire) – Hang on,
What’s this about “anal leakage”?
So, they used this oil that people couldn’t digest, meaning it had zero calories. But here’s the tiny thing nobody seems to have thought about: if your body doesn’t absorb the oil, where does it go?
Turns out, your butt gets a semi-permanent lube job.
When you’ve got IBS, that’s pretty much how all fatty foods hit you.
So, I used to work for this company that made this really popular apple cider, totally natural crushed apples, not that concentrate stuff everyone else uses. Then we decided to do a pear version. Thing is, we started getting reports that people were getting, uh, stomach problems from it. We checked everything out, thinking there was a quality issue, but nope, everything was fine. Still, the complaints kept rolling in.
Turns out, there was something naturally in the crushed pears we were using that acted like a natural laxative. Basically, drinking like five or six bottles of this pear cider was about the same as eating a whole bag of prunes! We were even sponsoring indie music festivals at the time, so let’s just say the lessons learned weren’t exactly fun. We ended up quietly pulling it from the shelves.
RE: Fact #13 (Peppa Pig Episode Banned in Australia) – Given how many nasty spiders call Australia home, I’m cool with skipping that episode.
RE: Fact #10 (2015 Auvi-Q EpiPen Recall) – But was it actually a good deal? Epi-Pens are pricey, no doubt, but my insurance wouldn’t let me switch to the Auvi-Q, even though I needed a new epinephrine auto-injector because of how much the Epi-Pen was costing me.
RE: Fact #9 (1980s Coca-Cola Ad Image Scandal) – Back in the 80s, we all figured it was some kind of intentional “subliminal advertising” thing.
RE: Fact #16 (Ford Model T’s Chigger Recall) – “Chiggers”… wow, haven’t heard that one in ages! I’m 54, and when I was a kid, my mom was always warning me about them, telling me not to walk on the grass barefoot, or they’d get me. I’m still not totally sure what they actually are, but it feels like nobody even mentions them now.
RE: Fact #19 (McDonald’s Radioactive Shrek Glasses) – I’ve still got mine.
RE: Fact #1 (Maple Leaf Foods’ 2008 Listeria Apology) – Seriously, is the bar this low?
Someone got props for playing it safe with everyone’s health instead of just chasing more cash.
So the CEO took his company lawyers’ advice and dodged jail time. It’s true he says he blew off what his company lawyers told him, and maybe he did. But the article also mentioned that kind of stuff can’t always be used to prove guilt in civil cases. Figuring out the real story behind all this is about as easy as knowing what’s actually in the lunch meat they sell. Or hey, maybe I’m off base and it was his personal lawyer who signed off on what he said?
RE: Fact #12 (Lay’s Olestra Chips Backfire) – Back when I was in middle school, we were all over the yard, cracking up about anal leakage because we’d heard it on the news.
Man, the 90s were so much chillier. I miss when that whole anal leakage thing was a big deal.
I totally remember this! It was hilarious. I had some friends in high school who tried it, and they said the leakage was like greasy orange pizza sauce. Haha, gross.
RE: Fact #17 (Lane Company’s Dangerous Cedar Chests) – My folks had one of those too. It was always so jammed with our junk, we pretty much gave up on trying to cram ourselves in there.