The Wal-Mart Weekly: What to do about exploding gas containers

Wal-Mart's image is only as good as its weakest link

After seeing the report by Dan Rather above, it's hard not to be perplexed by Wal-Mart's flippant stance on something as serious as a product that could cause severe bodily harm. The Blitz brand gas can in the above report has a spout that is stored inside the body of the gas can itself. Without the inclusion of a flame arrestor device, flames can get back into the gas can itself and igniting the entire thing. So, who checks items from Wal-Mart's supply side to ensure products dealing with such serious situations like gas and fire aren't dangerous? Apparently, nobody.

According to experts, the inclusion of a flame arrestor device on this particular type of Blitz can would cost about one dollar. Either Wal-Mart doesn't know that this is needed by its vendor (Blitz USA in this case) or doesn't want to present a higher price to the Wal-Mart shopper for a lowly gas can. From what I can tell, both Wal-Mart and Blitz USA are denying that a problem even exists with this product.

As I said, I own one of these and I can easily see how a flame could catch on the extendable gas spout and ignite the entire can. It's not really safe to have a gas-coated, extendable spout protruding from a gas can, especially if you're pouring gas on an existing flame. But that's just what happened to some customers of this product, and they were burned as a result.

Anything can end up on YouTube

The professionally-produced Wal-Mart video above is just amazing. It really does seem that those customers who were harmed using this Blitz gas container product were being severely mocked here. Surely this was not done for showing at a Wal-Mart manager's meeting. But that's precisely what it is.

Do Wal-Mart executives have a clue here, or was this video production merely coincidental? Even so, it's in extremely poor taste and it's easy to see that Wal-Mart could appear callous and harsh here. After all, was there any educational value at all in the video? Even the entertainment value is pretty low here. And naming this skit the "iGas" in the style of iPod commercials by Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is appalling.

Doesn't any relationship exist between vendor and retailer?

It's just amazing that consumer feedback and safety aren't the first priorities of any company. But the reality is that profits and shareholder returns are the order of the day. As we've seen with multiple food recalls, safety recalls and other problems, consumer protection is the last thing on the mind of many huge manufacturers and global retailers. In other words, form product safety committees that explore how certain products could be used -- not how they are supposed to be used -- and ensure that consumers can't be harmed by slightly abnormal product use.

Sticking one's finger into a gas-coated gas container spout and expecting there not to be possible safety issues sound absurd, right? That's not on the mind of many consumers, though. After watching the above video and seeing how some Wal-Mart executives plainly made fun of the very consumers that keep the retailer afloat, one has to wonder what kind of elitists can't possibly anticipate the various scenarios some products could be used under. The YouTube video above that contains footage from previous Flagler promotional video from Wal-Mart management meetings speaks for itself, though. It's as if these Wal-Mart execs have contempt for their own consumers. If you own a business, would you last long if you made fun of your consumers over something as important as a vital product safety problem? Thought not.

As for the Blitz gas container in my garage, it has been emptied, cleaned and had made its way to the recycling bin for proper disposal. After examining the goofy design of the thing, it was a no-brainer to toss it out completely. But, as we've seen from many companies that are detached from the real world of the consumer, product design that may be intended for convenience can easily be trumped by unintended consumer use and consequences. It's unfortunate when those consequences cause severe bodily harm.

Stay tuned right here this time next week for another edition of The Wal-Mart Weekly. Until then, be careful out in that garage when filling that lawnmower or other yard tool, okay?