Kmart pulls lead-free items that contain lead

Filed under: Consumer experience, Marketing and advertising, ScandalsAccording to the New York Times, "Kmart said yesterday that it would remove all jewelry advertised as 'lead free' from its shelves after workers at lead monitoring programs who tested the pieces found that some actually contained high concentrations of the metal." One charm labeled lead-free was 52% lead. What is interesting here is that it raises questions about how much responsibility companies have about products that they source from third-party manufacturers. Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) ended up embroiled in a minor scandal after a New York Times piece found that products the company was selling (the material in question was manufactured by a third party) -- labeled as containing seaweed -- act