In June, it was announced that 7.5 million Baby Shark bath toys were recalled out of concerns that the fin carries “risks of impalement, lacerations and punctures,” according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
There are two different types of Baby Shark toys made by ZURU Toys in the recall: The “Robo Alive Junior Baby Shark Sing & Swim Bath Toys (full-size)” and the “Robo Alive Junior Mini Baby Shark Swimming Bath Toys (mini-size).” According to CPSC, there has been 12 reported injuries involving the full-size toy.
The CPSC announced that the toy was being sold at Walmart, CVS, Dollar General, Family Dollar, HEB, Target, Ross, Walgreens, and TJX Companies. TJX Companies includes TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and Home Goods. A TJX Companies customer claimed that she caught one of the stores still selling the toy that was recalled.
“This is why you have to be so careful shopping at T.J. Maxx and Marshall’s,” she says in the video. “These were recalled. I covered this on my channel, and you can see they literally are still selling them. They’re recalled, so,” TikToker @newmommytoks, an influencer with nearly 200,000 followers, said in a since-deleted video, as she held up a Baby Shark toy that she said she found on the store’s shelf.
The Daily Dot has reached out to TJX Companies and to @newmommytoks via email regarding the video.
Viewers think there’s a good explanation as to why the toy is at the store. Many commenters believe the toy @newmommytoks held up in her video isn’t the same Baby Shark toy that was recalled.
“It’s the ones with the hard fin on top and the hard fin tale,” one commenter wrote. “If they have silicon they are fine.”
“I think the ones that are recalled are the ones with the hard fin not the silicone fin,” another commenter echoed.
“Those with the rubber fin were not,” a third said. “The ones that were had a hard fin and 3 lines on one side.”
Both versions of the recalled toy do indeed have a hard plastic fin top, according to CPSC. According to a description of the full-size one, “Only full-size Baby Shark toys with a hard plastic top fin are included in this recall.” The mini version of this toy also has a hard, plastic fin, according to CPSC. But it’s unclear which Baby Shark toy @newmommytoks held up in her video.
Even if it is the recalled toy, however, viewers argued there are preventative measures stores have that would prevent workers from selling it.
“Idk how it works for those stores but my mom works at Ross and they get notified when they scan something that’s on recall,” one commenter wrote.
“So either when it’s scanned at checkout there’s a prompt for cashier saying they can’t sell it and it can’t be bypassed or before that mark downs team can’t sell it also when people do markdowns if it’s scanned a little so not sell sticker prints out,” another said.
If you purchased one of the affected Baby Shark toys, the CPSC asks consumers to “immediately stop using the recalled bath toys and contact Zuru for a full refund of $14 for each full-size bath toy or $6 for each mini-size bath toy, in the form of a prepaid virtual Mastercard. Consumers should disable the tail fin (by cutting it on the full-size bath toy or by bending it on the mini-size bath toy), mark the body of the shark bath toy with the word “recalled” and the unique code provided during registration for the recall, then upload a photo of the product, showing it is disabled and marked, at https://www.recallrtr.com/bathshark. Upon receipt of the photo, Zuru will issue a refund to purchasers.”
