2015 Shonky awards: Samsung and Ikea have the shoddiest products, according to consumer group Choice
Big name brands Coca-Cola, Ikea and Samsung have walked away with a new award – but it might not be one they boast about to their customers.
The 2015 Shonky Awards go to companies "that have flouted consumer protection laws, sold products that were faulty by design, and shown blatant disregard for consumer safety", according to organisers Choice, which this year rolled out the "yellow" carpet for a number of household names.
Ikea won its dubious honour for a "leather furniture" section that turned out to "be made from distinctly non-bovine stuff like polyester and polyurethane".
The giveaway is in the fine print on the "product information" tab on the websites, with one model described as "durable coated fabric that has the same look and feel as leather". Not quite the same thing, we say, and we think most cattle would agree.
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Samsung was given the accolade for washing machines that involved "pyrotechnics", and the "less-than-energetic recall efforts around a line of top loaders – 144,000 machines in all – that have an unfortunate tendency to go up in flames".
"Samsung pushed questionable repair jobs on consumers (involving plastic and tape) rather than offer refunds, which you're entitled to in cases of a major failure (such as a tendency to catch fire)," Choice noted.
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The consumer group suggested that Samsung could have broadcast a similar advert to the one below:
Drinks giant Coca-Cola Company, meanwhile, was given the award for an advert suggesting "we shouldn't stop gulping down cans of Coke, we should simply exercise more".
And Kleenex, who said they had created "flushable cleansing cloths" simply had not. "Clearly, Kleenex flushable wipes are sewer pipe-unfriendly, and we don't think they're consumer-friendly either. Why pay extra for something flushable that you really shouldn't flush? And guess who has to pay the plumber when they block up your pipes?"