The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has ordered recalls on three distinct products due to their risk of causing fires or burn injuries.


While Anker does operate in the promotional marketplace, the recalled power banks were not promotional products. Gemline, which ranks as PPAI 100’s No. 11 supplier and received high marks in Responsibility, accounts for the vast majority of Anker’s promo products.

Frank Carpenito, president of Gemline, assured PPAI Media that none of the products Gemline sells were affected by the recall, which concerns power banks sold in retail stores such as Target and Best Buy.

“Anker has informed us as of two weeks ago that none of the products we sold or currently sell are affected by their recent recall,” Carpenito says.

Regarding the fire pits, the CPSC stated, “Use of the recalled fire pits can lead to injury quickly and unexpectedly, causing burns in less than one second that can be serious and deadly,” and reiterated that resale of the product is in violation of federal law.

In addition to the 31 reported incidents concerning the fire pits, the Anker Power Bank recall noted 28 reports of overheating leading to explosion and fire. While the promotional lighters involved reported no incidents, their recall is an example of how seriously the CPSC takes failures to meet child resistance requirements, especially with products that involve fire.

Promo Perspective

Safety advocates would suggest that Olivia Cigars is lucky that the company’s promotional lighters were recalled before an incident occurred, causing an end user to be hurt. Indeed, along with the obvious safety concerns, such dangers are a reminder that the power of promotional products as a marketing tool can have a negative side, if quality and compliance are not prioritized.

  • No brand wants to be associated with harm to consumers.

It’s worth noting that all three of these products are fairly common in the promotional marketplace. Any promo company branching out into products that inherently have any possibility of fire or burn injuries must make sure to take all available precautions.

  • It is imperative that promo firms strictly adhere to compliance, not only for the sake of the law, but to ensure the safety of end users.

Last month, at PPAI’s Product Responsibility Summit, a panel was held discussing how to handle the possibility of being ordered to recall a product and the steps that need to be taken. In that situation, complying with the CPSC is absolutely critical, but the next priority is being intentional with messaging surrounding the recall.

“It’s important to move fast, but it’s also important to move smartly,” said Neal Cohen of Neal Cohen Law.

“You need to control everything, especially what the person says,” added Rick Brenner, president of Product Safety Advisors. “Yes, you want to be empathetic and show concern, [but] there should be a very disciplined and scripted response of what they can say, and the escalation process of who does what next.”