“Smoking kills”, “alcohol abuse is dangerous for your health, consume in moderation”… There are a multitude of messages which encourage consumers to adopt a healthier lifestyle. But their effectiveness is sometimes called into question. An American federal agency used the power of music for prevention.
The American Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recently released an album, entitled “We’re Safety Now Haven’t We”, to modernize its usual prevention campaigns. It is made up of five songs in English and two in Spanish, with titles as evocative as “Protect Ya Noggin'” (“Protect your caboche”, in French) or “Phone Away” (“Put away your phone”).
Because these pieces are, in reality, messages of prevention in music. They address various themes related to the primary mission of the CPSC, that is to say, to reduce “the unreasonable risk of injury and death linked to consumer products”.
So, the title “Going Off Like Fireworks” explains how fireworks can be dangerous. Every year (between 2013 and 2022), an average of 3,200 Americans aged 13 to 24 are admitted to emergency rooms for injuries caused by firecrackers or fireworks, according to the CPSC. Some leave their hands or fingers, and others their lives.
For its part, “Off Road Adventure” strongly encourages mountain bike users to wear a helmet. For good reason, the CPSC estimates that 36,000 Americans aged 13 to 24 were injured during incidents involving the use of a mountain bike between 2013 and 2022. Some 3,700 young people of these ages even died for this reason between 2015 and 2019.
Like “Going Off Like Fireworks” and “Off Road Adventure”, the songs on the album “We’re Safety Now Haven’t We” are aimed primarily at teenagers and young adults. “One of the things we want to do with this record is remind young people that it’s important to wear a helmet when riding a bike. This will allow them to live healthier and safer lives. It’s “It’s important to remember that when you’re walking with your phone, you have to raise your head so you don’t fall into a manhole or accidentally step onto the road,” said Joseph Galbo, social media specialist for the CPSC, on American public radio NPR.
The album “We’re Safety Now Haven’t We” can be listened to in its entirety on the CPSC website and on its YouTube page. The songs in it are all in the public domain, allowing anyone to download them for free, remix them and share them on the Internet. The American federal agency hopes to create more records of this type in the near future, in order to reach a younger audience.