I think the cosmetic episode was not the best one to put first since only if you're on social media and a female between the ages of say 15 to 31 would you be interested in the plethora of social media so-called influencers showing you how to apply makeup or interested in that dramatic method of using makeup. Although very eye-opening (no pun intended), there was too much focus on the Influencers themselves instead of what they do and why their contribution to this problem is based on the chaotic freedom of social media. I shall disagree that it's as simple as consumers just saying no to cheap products. Most people who buy these knock offs wouldn't purchase them if they didn't think it was the real thing. Throughout the series, in fact, one of the main problems is the lack of education and awareness by the American consumer as well as the free-for-all trade agreements between the US and these anything for a dollar countries that the 45th president was trying to fix. This series really highlights how people trying to sell cheap junk have changed the landscape of a country by taking advantage of the gullible uninformed consumer in a land where integrity was once coveted world wide.
I see a lot of reviews saying the furniture one was rediculous and that its up to parents to safeguard their children. I can see why many minds go in this direction. When I was a little girl and a young mother I was constantly reminded to be aware of whether or not a furniture item was safe and how my child might use it . So I can agree that there is a big disconnect between how we used to socialize in our families and teach each other how to best protect ourselves and our children . But simply testing an item isn't always going to produce the kind of data that companies like Ikea have already concluded , as indicated by their warnings on the actual leaflet that comes with the dresser . Being from the legal field, I can also agree that there is, and always has been in the United states, a lean toward making sure the buyer knows that they are the one who has the final say on whether or not this or that item is appropriate for their needs. Such as when you buy a small lightweight car, common sense will tell you that it's unlikely to protect you in a major accident. You don't need the court or a piece of paper to tell you that. And if we pressure the government and their resources to tell us what can or can't be bought or sold then we would not have available to us many things such as electrical items, motorcycles, cigarette lighters, treadmills - the list is endless . So it is my strong opinion that the long-standing law of Let the Buyer Beware is first and foremost, and we should all teach our children this. Just because it's for sale doesn't mean it's safe, edible, or a good option. But if you read the actual court documents, you can see why even Ikea agreed that they were negligent. They knew these dressers were killing children. The rule of Let The Buyer Beware that prevents most lawsuits and makes it impossible for companies to be completely controlled and regulated by commissions. So when a suit is won, you know the seller or manufacturer was proven neglegent, like the hot coffee suit which is only critisized by those who've not read the court documents. I did agree that walmart and Amazon are some of the worst perpetrators of these cheap knockoff products.
The episode on Plastics is hopefully something everyone is aware of , and when they say that the consumer needs to be the one to tell the government that it needs regulating I completely disagree because it's very obvious that the consumer thinks of themselves as just the end user . If this weren't the case we wouldn't be seeing all these Plastics in the ocean and on the land and in the wrong places . We would have more people trying to avoid buying single-use Plastics and demanding that places like Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk find alternatives to the single-use Plastics that end up in the ocean . This is something that absolutely must be mandated and needs to be done soon . There's only so many millionaires who have the time and resources to go spend their time on the ocean hiring Crews to collect garbage . The microplastics alone that are killing not only fish but humans have to be addressed . For me this should have been the first episode and should have been more hard-hitting. Most people watching the show aren't really going to concern themselves with how it's affecting China or Malaysia . But it is also very eye-opening in some ways since I consider myself a very informed person but I didn't know that we were sending 80% of our garbage to China and getting it back in the form of cheap products . Obviously this whole recycling mess has made the US a country where there's a lot of cheap Commodities and has quickly become a disposable landscape a landscape of disposability . This series will inform a lot of people but sadly it's not done as well as probably could have been.
