Shopper spots 'very unsafe' detail in Coles advertisement

A parent has reached out to Coles to ask the supermarket to be more responsible with advertising after spotting an unsafe image in a Coles catalogue.

“Coles please be more responsible in your advertising. Your click and collect promotion in this week’s catalogue depicts two very unsafe child seat practices,” the parent wrote on the Coles Facebook page.

The complaint was accompanied by an image promoting Coles’ click and collect service showing a young child asleep in a car seat with a seatbelt very loosely fastened.

While the parent said she understood that advertisements use staged images, she felt it was an image that could be potentially dangerous if copied.

“While I am sure it is a staged shot you could and should have done better.

“In a real life situation both her coat and the extremely loose straps would more than likely end her life and should have been depicted showing proper child seat safety,” the parent suggested.

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Two in three child car seats used incorrectly

Astoundingly two in three child car seats are not being used correctly, according to Child Car Seats, an initiative of the Child Restraint Evaluation Program (CREP).

CREP is a consortium of government agencies and motorist organisations which aims to provide consumers with information to help choose and use safe child car seats.

“Children who are restrained incorrectly are up to seven times more likely to be seriously injured in a crash than children who are fitted in the correct child car seat,” CREP states.

Correct use of child car seats

To use a child car seat correctly the CREP website states “the inbuilt harness should be comfortable but firm, with no slack” and the straps should be double checked to make sure they are not twisted or able to become caught on anything.

A Coles spokesperson responded to the comment on Facebook and said they would share the feedback with the relevant department and told Yahoo News Australia they take safety seriously.

“The image used in our Click&Collect ad features a staged photograph, selected from a stock image library. Coles takes safety seriously and will review the images used in future marketing materials,” a Coles spokesperson told Yahoo News.

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