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Children’s entertainers the Wiggles have admitted to selling headbands to kids without warning about the dangers of button batteries contained within the products.
More than 3,100 Emma Bow headbands, which have four flashing lights powered by button batteries, were sold at live concerts, retailers and online between June 2022 and March 2024.
A legally enforceable undertaking signed by the blue Wiggle, Anthony Field, outlined the Wiggles’ admission that failing to include a headband safety warning likely breached Australian consumer law.
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The yellow and black Emma Bow headbands were recalled in August 2024 by the manufacturer CA Australia over safety concerns for young children who could choke by ingesting the small, shiny batteries.
In a statement by the ACCC on Tuesday, its deputy chair, Catriona Lowe, said button batteries posed a significant risk to young children and mandatory standards were important in helping to prevent injuries.
“Without a warning on the product, parents may not have known it contained button batteries and not understood the severity of the risk,” Lowe said.
“If swallowed, a button battery can become stuck in a child’s throat and result in catastrophic injuries, and even death, in as little as two hours.”
As part of its cooperation with the ACCC’s investigation, the Wiggles committed to produce an episode of its Wiggle Talk podcast discussing safety issues relating to button batteries and children’s toys.
The manufacturer also pledged to improve its compliance with consumer law.
Researchers have previously found approximately 200 children are potentially exposed to button battery injury in Australia each year, and at least a dozen experience severe injury.
The batteries have also been linked to the deaths of three children in Australia, according to the watchdog, in incidents unrelated to the Emma Bow headbands.
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The safety admission is the latest legal trouble for the Wiggles after it was sued by its former CEO Luke O’Neill.
The former boss launched legal action in the federal court in September, arguing he was dismissed without a reasonable basis by the group after complaining about the hiring of Field’s friends and family members.
But the Wiggles denied the allegations and alleged the former CEO was fired because his “overall performance was not satisfactory” and necessary trust in him had been lost.
A settlement was negotiated between both parties in October, news.com.au reported.
