[HN Gopher] Lidl Product Recall [pdf]
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Lidl Product Recall [pdf]
        
       Author : Tomte
       Score  : 230 points
       Date   : 2023-09-01 10:07 UTC (12 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.lidl.co.uk)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.lidl.co.uk)
        
       | nneonneo wrote:
       | Check the whois on the site (appykidsco.com): it's registered to
       | someone in Jiangsu, China, and they seem to own a _lot_ of other
       | domains: https://website.informer.com/email/muskseo1971@gmail.com
       | 
       | Seems like one of these automated domain-takeover attacks: watch
       | for expiring domains, snap them up the moment they expire,
       | replace them with porn ads, profit.
        
       | siva7 wrote:
       | I can't even tell if this product is meant for dog or human
       | consumption.
        
         | Karellen wrote:
         | If you don't have kids, or none of your close family do,
         | there's no reason you would be aware of the brand, but if you
         | do they're astonishingly popular and almost impossible not to
         | be aware of :-)
         | 
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PAW_Patrol
         | 
         | > PAW Patrol is a Canadian computer-animated children's
         | television series
         | 
         | > The series has been sold to TV networks in over 160
         | countries.
         | 
         | > In 2016, the season two episode "Pups Save a Mer-Pup" was
         | nominated for Best Animated Television/Broadcast Production for
         | Preschool Children in the 43rd Annie Awards. As of 2023, PAW
         | Patrol has received twenty five Canadian Screen Award
         | nominations with twenty wins.
        
           | drcongo wrote:
           | It's known as Piss Poor Patrol in this house.
        
         | CTOSian wrote:
         | butter/chocolate for sure not for dogs...
        
           | butterNaN wrote:
           | Poor choice of mascot then
        
             | manojlds wrote:
             | Didn't grow up watching things like Bugs Bunny and Tom and
             | Jerry?
        
             | jandrese wrote:
             | It's a tie in product to a popular cartoon series.
        
         | dredmorbius wrote:
         | Reading the article my first interpretation was that dog treats
         | were being confused for human, and/or vice versa.
        
       | lioeters wrote:
       | Quoted below to save you a click. Sounds like it's not a problem
       | with the products themselves, but their website got hacked.
       | 
       | ---
       | 
       | Important Notice: Product Recall
       | 
       | Paw Patrol All Butter Mini Biscotti Biscuits x 5
       | 
       | Paw Patrol Choc Chip Mini Biscotti Biscuits x 5
       | 
       | Paw Patrol Yummy Bake Bars Raspberry Flavour x 5
       | 
       | Paw Patrol Yummy Bake Bars Apple Flavour x 5
       | 
       | Batch affected: All stock
       | 
       | * Lidl GB is recalling the above-mentioned branded product as we
       | have been made aware that the URL of the supplier which is
       | featured on the back of the packaging has been compromised and is
       | being directed to a site that is not suitable for child
       | consumption.
       | 
       | * We recommend that customers refrain from viewing the URL and
       | return this product to the nearest store where a full refund will
       | be given.
       | 
       | We apologise for any inconvenience caused and thank you for your
       | cooperation.
        
         | selimthegrim wrote:
         | Wow, that Saw Patrol tie-in is coming in earlier than expected.
        
         | Ylpertnodi wrote:
         | >directed to a site that is not suitable for child consumption.
         | 
         | Given the foodi-ness, surely 'consumption' could have been a
         | better word. Oh, I don't know..."viewing"?
        
         | Otek wrote:
         | > Quoted below to save you a click
         | 
         | I hope not many people are reading a comment section before
         | article.
        
           | TeMPOraL wrote:
           | I _always_ check HN comments before the article. The comments
           | play a big part in deciding whether I even _want to_ read the
           | article.
        
           | croisillon wrote:
           | tbh i rarely click on the tfa
        
           | gruturo wrote:
           | I always check out the HN comments first. The HN comments
           | don't assault my browsers with popups, ads, awful styling and
           | who knows what else. I may learn what the article is about
           | (not always clear from the title of the submission) and be
           | warned of other people's reactions (like "WOW that giant
           | flashing thing on page 2 can trigger a seizure!" or "Site
           | hijacks back button!" or even more importantly, "Article is a
           | waste of time, author has it all wrong. Here's an
           | authoritative source which explains why").
           | 
           | I may or may not risk a click at all if there are no
           | comments.
           | 
           | I do read the article before commenting though. (Well.... not
           | this time, but it's kind of a meta topic)
        
           | benterix wrote:
           | I have automatic PDF downloads configured as the built-in
           | browser PDF viewers are often subpar. So for sure I will
           | check the comments before deciding if I want to click on a
           | PDF link (in this case: I don't).
        
           | Greenpants wrote:
           | I, for one, often glance at the comments first to check if an
           | article is valid. If not, there's probably a highly rated
           | comment explaining what's wrong with an article's facts or
           | reasoning.
           | 
           | Saves me not just a click, but lots of time reading lesser
           | quality articles too.
        
           | foul wrote:
           | Sometimes I have the arrogance to have an expectation of what
           | could I read there on the article, so I read the comment
           | section on HN first to find unexpected insight or a POV I
           | wouldn't find boring, for better or worse.
        
         | geek_at wrote:
         | Reminds me of the time I was buying a windshield for my 2001
         | Ford Focus and I had troubles on the website and by chance
         | found out they link a js file from a non registered domain so I
         | registered it and watched the traffic.
         | 
         | Seems to have been used on multiple sites and when a site loads
         | js from a compromised site you can do anything on the site.
         | 
         | I reported it four times and after 6 months they still didn't
         | fix it.
         | 
         | https://blog.haschek.at/2019/threat-vector-legacy-static-web...
        
           | ipython wrote:
           | I like your ssh-to-comment system! Clever!
        
           | nneonneo wrote:
           | The domain is available again; I wonder if anyone is still
           | using those scripts?
        
           | mrelectric wrote:
           | You have a very cool site sir.
        
         | Thomashuet wrote:
         | Their website was not really hacked, it was just abandoned and
         | someone else registered the domain and put porn there.
        
           | [deleted]
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | foobarian wrote:
         | TIL Paw Patrol brand is popular enough in Europe to have
         | product tie-ins
        
           | TeMPOraL wrote:
           | Isn't it literally why it exists - to push stuff to kids?
           | It's pretty much a way to work around regulations pertaining
           | to advertising to children.
           | 
           | At this point in Poland we have a Paw Patrol variant of
           | literally anything a kid could use or consume - from regular
           | and electric toothbrushes, through clothes, sheets, toys,
           | shower gels, food, beverages. Whatever you think of, there's
           | a version with a Paw Patrol dog being sold somewhere.
        
             | croisillon wrote:
             | same with Peppa Pig i guess
        
               | TeMPOraL wrote:
               | Not to the same extent. Paw Patrol seems to be its own
               | category, rivaled only by Frozen.
        
           | Cthulhu_ wrote:
           | The copaganda seems reasonably popular with young kids, if
           | toy stores and the like are anything to go by.
        
           | lenzm wrote:
           | Paw Patrol was created by a toy company to sell products.
           | They design the new products with each new season which
           | includes new vehicles/accessories/etc.
        
           | Waterluvian wrote:
           | Canadian culture infiltrating the world, one pup at a time.
           | 
           | Though Bluey is definitely the better product.
        
             | blamazon wrote:
             | There's a new one in the mix too, called Pupstruction,
             | which seems to be Disney's "this is legally distinct from
             | paw patrol" entry. Watch Disney Junior and you'll see a lot
             | of Bluey and Pupstruction.
             | 
             | Bluey is still king to me, but Pupstruction being centered
             | around construction rather than law enforcement is a
             | positive distinction in my eyes.
        
               | adam-a wrote:
               | There seems to be a weird popular misconception about Paw
               | Patrol being some sort of police recruitment propaganda
               | for toddlers. I've (unfortunately) had to sit through
               | hundreds of episodes and it really isn't. The police dog
               | is not particularly treated as a main character as all of
               | them are given pretty equal screen time and storylines
               | (out side the recent film, which does focus on him). And
               | even when the episodes do focus on Chase it's barely
               | police work, certainly he doesn't go around pointing his
               | gun at immigrants. His main ability as a police officer
               | seems to be that he has a megaphone.
        
               | autoexec wrote:
               | > And even when the episodes do focus on Chase it's
               | barely police work, certainly he doesn't go around
               | pointing his gun at immigrants.
               | 
               | If he did go around pointing is gun at immigrants that
               | would be the opposite of police propaganda wouldn't it?
               | Most young kids don't interact with police directly, so
               | nearly everything they know about police comes from the
               | media they consume. The question comes down to what kids
               | need to learn about police and what role media plays in
               | that education. Families in certain communities have been
               | educating their children on how dangerous police are for
               | a very long time.
               | 
               | Is it better to introduce an idealized version of police
               | to kids and let them learn on their own that police are
               | dangerous or is it better to present police in children's
               | media realistically so that they're prepared when they
               | see their 8 year old classmate thrown to the ground,
               | handcuffed, and arrested because they acted up in class
               | or so they understand when they see protesters march past
               | their house because police officers beat and murdered
               | another person on camera without consequences?
               | 
               | I suspect that it's better to show kids what police are
               | supposed to be like before introducing them to the
               | harsher reality we live in, but I can't blame people for
               | looking at shows like Paw Patrol and thinking that it's
               | giving kids a very unrealistic view of policing at a time
               | when they should be increasingly made aware of the issues
               | and the risks they face.
        
               | TeMPOraL wrote:
               | Indeed. And _even if_ it had some police propaganda, this
               | wouldn 't be that bad anywhere in the developed world
               | _except_ the US. The perception of police spending most
               | time harassing minorities and exacerbating humanitarian
               | crises? That 's a _US_ problem. Literally no one else has
               | it. Which is what makes the attitudes to LEO that US
               | exports sad, and perhaps even dangerous.
        
               | civilitty wrote:
               | _> The perception of police spending most time harassing
               | minorities and exacerbating humanitarian crises? That 's
               | a US problem. Literally no one else has it._
               | 
               | France just had weeks of riots because the police shot
               | Nahel Merzouk [1] due to similar dynamics that have been
               | developing in France since at least the Algerian crisis
               | [2]. I don't know if "spending most time" is a fair
               | characterization of French minorities' perception but the
               | antagonistic relationship between police and minorities
               | is far from a US only problem.
               | 
               | [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nahel_Merzouk_riots
               | 
               | [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_massacre_of_1961
        
               | stavros wrote:
               | I think that merely the fact that people are bothered
               | enough to riot shows that the problem in the US is much
               | more extended, where shootings by the police were such an
               | everyday phenomenon that the biggest reaction you'll get
               | is an extra-high shrug.
        
               | rsynnott wrote:
               | Well, also, it is _France_; proud tradition of very large
               | dramatic protests and riots going back over two hundred
               | years. It's kind of their thing. French farmers routinely
               | shut down whole cities when they're vaguely irritated
               | about something; it's unsurprising that protests around
               | more serious and emotive matters than France enforcing an
               | EU ban it was already meant to be enforcing on a
               | pesticide get a bit dramatic.
        
               | stavros wrote:
               | I don't know if that's just a France thing, I remember
               | here (Greece) ten years or so ago, when a police officer
               | shot a teenager, and the whole country was in flames for
               | a week from the riots. There are still marches and
               | protests every year, on the anniversary.
        
               | civilitty wrote:
               | The French do love a good riot but don't forget that the
               | George Floyd protests just a few years ago were the
               | largest in US history - during pandemic lockdowns, no
               | less. They devolved into something resembling riots in
               | only a few cities but "extra-high shrug" is hardly how
               | I'd describe that series of events or the other smaller
               | protests since. The Minneapolis ones only wrapped up in
               | May of this year after the criminal cases were resolved.
               | 
               | I think with US suburban sprawl it's just a lot easier to
               | ignore what's going on in the cities.
        
               | stavros wrote:
               | Ah, interesting, I may be wrong then. I remember the
               | George Floyd protests, but didn't know of any more
               | recent.
        
             | FirmwareBurner wrote:
             | _> Canadian culture infiltrating the world, one pup at a
             | time._
             | 
             | Maple syrup was already here
        
             | konschubert wrote:
             | Bluey is just very different.
             | 
             | You can tell that it is made with love.
             | 
             | I think if my daughters weren't watching it, I would watch
             | it alone.
        
             | hotnfresh wrote:
             | I only recently saw Bluey for the first time (only one of
             | my kids is still, barely, in the demo for it).
             | 
             | God damn it's good. It'd be a solid choice for a lazy
             | Saturday afternoon of getting baked and zoning out on TV,
             | even for those without kids. Mellow, funny, you get little
             | wins to root for, and some fun bits that go over kids'
             | heads. Rare for a show targeted _that_ young to be as
             | appealing to (or, at least, tolerable for) adults. Far
             | better than, say, Daniel Tiger, which is already well above
             | the bottom tier of that kind of show.
             | 
             | [edit] incidentally, I think Fred Rogers would have been
             | disgusted by all the heavy-handed auto tune in Daniel
             | Tiger. Giving kids a wildly incorrect model of what
             | ordinary, real human singing sounds like strikes me as the
             | kind of thing that would have prompted him to bring down
             | the "no" hammer on his own show _in a damn hurry_ , if
             | someone had suggested it. Bugs me every time I watch it.
        
               | Al-Khwarizmi wrote:
               | I also love Bluey but I think we might be somewhat
               | biased, because it clearly makes an effort to cater to
               | adults as well (most chapters can be seen as being about
               | parenting, and sometimes contain non-obvious lessons for
               | parents). Perhaps from the viewpoint of a child it
               | wouldn't be so superior to other cartoons.
               | 
               | Although it does have the quite objective advantage of
               | not being overstimulating. Most current cartoons look
               | _overwhelmingly_ overstimulating for me as an adult, and
               | move at such a fast pace that in some I can barely follow
               | the action, and we throw them at small kids...
        
               | RandallBrown wrote:
               | > Perhaps from the viewpoint of a child it wouldn't be so
               | superior to other cartoons.
               | 
               | My friend's son LOVES Bluey. When it's on TV or a phone
               | he'll stare at it without blinking for as long as it's
               | on. I didn't notice it until another friend asked why he
               | was crying and his dad told us he just doesn't blink when
               | Bluey is on.
        
               | Al-Khwarizmi wrote:
               | Just to clarify, I didn't want to imply that it cannot be
               | great from the viewpoint of the kids. Just that for most
               | parents it tends to be the uncontested best among shows
               | for that age, miles ahead of any competitor without a
               | second thought (an opinion that I myself share) while for
               | kids it's probably just one more that some may prefer
               | while others don't.
               | 
               | My son does like it quite a lot, and it prefers it to
               | many others such as Dora, Spongebob, Paw Patrol or the
               | infamous Peppa Pig, but he will choose PJ Masks or
               | Superkitties over Bluey, and those two I find... not very
               | good, to be honest. Especially Superkitties.
               | 
               | Your friend's son has great taste in cartoons, although
               | not blinking might be taking it a bit too far :)
        
               | Waterluvian wrote:
               | There are entire episodes of Bluey that are pretty much
               | therapy for parents. And there's episodes that celebrate
               | being a parent. There's even episodes that bring tears to
               | my eyes every time, even having seen them half a dozen
               | times.
               | 
               | - Baby Race
               | 
               | - Bike
               | 
               | - Camping
               | 
               | - Flat Pack (how do they tell a story that deep in six
               | minutes?!)
               | 
               | - Sleepytime (yep, welling up just thinking about it now)
               | 
               | - Rain
               | 
               | - Granddad
        
               | konschubert wrote:
               | My three year old wants to watch sleepytime every day and
               | somehow I don't mind it.
        
               | omnicognate wrote:
               | Bluey is by far my kids' favorite show, FWIW.
        
               | autoexec wrote:
               | > and move at such a fast pace that in some I can barely
               | follow the action, and we throw them at small kids...
               | 
               | I love animation so I end up watching a ton of cartoons
               | and I have to agree that shows these days can move way
               | too fast. You _can_ tell a whole story in a 5-15 minute
               | episode, but telling a story well in that time takes
               | serious talent and I 'd love to see what talented writers
               | like that could do with a story that had room to breathe.
               | 
               | It matters a lot less for shows with little if any
               | continuity but serious story telling needs a lot more
               | time. I'd feel better about it if there were a bunch of
               | animated shows with 40-60 run times to balance things
               | out.
               | 
               | One good thing I'll say about hyper-fast paced animation
               | is that it forces the audience to fill in a lot of blanks
               | on their own. That could engage a kid's imagination if
               | they take the time. I get the feeling that it's the older
               | audiences who tend to go nuts with that though.
        
               | russdill wrote:
               | A kids show that can include a moment about pregnancy
               | loss for the parents is quite the thing to behold.
        
               | konschubert wrote:
               | Yes. This show is on another level.
        
               | aequitas wrote:
               | My kids really love this show, coincidentally it's even
               | on at this moment. Regarding the parenting lessons, they
               | resonate with the kids as well. There was an episode
               | after which one of our kids compared the story of an
               | episode with something that happened in our household and
               | it gave us a nice chance to talk about it on their level.
               | The Bluey writers really do a terrific job. My kids never
               | learned a lesson from Paw Patrol, except wanting to buy
               | their merchandise.
        
               | Waterluvian wrote:
               | Mom and I had a really emotional moment when 4yo was
               | getting incredibly discouraged that he couldn't hit the
               | baseball but his older brother could. And 6yo just went
               | to him and said "it's okay! Run your own race."
        
           | mrweasel wrote:
           | You're not allowed to advertise to children in the EU, so
           | shows like Paw Patrol is a brilliant workaround. The show
           | itself itself is a product, that can be picked up by various
           | TV stations, but it's also an indirect way to advertising the
           | toys and other co-branded products.
           | 
           | The show is innocent enough that nobody will complain about
           | it, so it's a clever marketing strategy.
        
             | Al-Khwarizmi wrote:
             | _> You 're not allowed to advertise to children in the EU_
             | 
             | Maybe in some EU countries, I guess. In Spain, toy ads are
             | common. Recently, the government prohibited toy ads that
             | are segmented by sex (e.g. marketing dolls or toy kitchens
             | specifically for girls) but otherwise there are no limits
             | as far as I know.
        
           | isoprophlex wrote:
           | My dude/person, it's beyond popular, we have an entire shelf
           | in the toy cabinet dedicated to "paw patrol stuff"
           | 
           | There is a full feature paw patrol movie in which one of the
           | characters breaks the fourth wall and says "How can we afford
           | this? Licenced paw patrol merchandise!". And all the parents
           | in the audience groan.
           | 
           | It's pure, unadulterated kiddy crack
        
           | Al-Khwarizmi wrote:
           | Sure it is. I'd even go as far as to say that in Spain, it's
           | probably _the_ most popular cartoon among 3-5-year olds (I
           | have a 4-year-old son who doesn 't especially like it, but
           | many of his classmates love it, all of them know it, and
           | almost every kid in the neighborhood has some kind of toy,
           | stickers, etc. from the franchise).
        
       | harvie wrote:
       | _Insert http cookie joke_
        
       | weekay wrote:
       | This is very common in retail. What tends to happen is that a
       | retail buyer would work with a supplier and order a product in .
       | That product packaging will have a promotional or information
       | site it will link to & is printed as a QR code. From a buyers
       | perspective they are doing this as it's a way to provide value or
       | information to their customer and supplier fronts the cost of
       | this. The IT teams within retail aren't kept in the loop and
       | neither are they aware of a site that is hosting any of this
       | content. All the content and marketing of this is done by a
       | agency who are hired and managed by the category or merchandising
       | teams in the head office . Product sells for a quarter or maybe 6
       | months at the most . Products get rotated and goes back to
       | warehouse until such time in a year they need to liquidate the
       | stock and do promotional discount pricing as part of back to
       | school or Black Friday etc., By then the agency that fronted this
       | and created the site has lost its domain or the site isn't
       | maintained/ gets compromised etc., At that point the product is
       | on the shelf , domain is hijacked or the hosting provider / host
       | gets taken over by a malicious actor. Then the IT / security
       | teams in the retail organisation are asked to step in and support
       | their business colleagues. Every major retail corporation will
       | have this happen to them at least once a year. IT teams will have
       | a laugh about this and nothing ever changes as a process as it
       | doesn't really affect the share value or damage the reputation of
       | the retailer as such
        
         | b3lvedere wrote:
         | One of my customers found out someone copied their website
         | almost to perfection under a different domain name and started
         | advertising their products for way less prices. They wanted the
         | website gone of course. So now i had to explain our company
         | doesn't have any jurisdiction on some website hosted on the
         | other side of this planet.
        
           | dazc wrote:
           | I have recently received a subpoena from 'the other side of
           | the world' regarding a domain I registered recently.
           | 
           | It seems the domain in question was one of many involved in
           | IP infringement against a global fashion brand long before I
           | came along. A simple check of registrar data would confirm I
           | have f all to do with this.
           | 
           | Either some big law firm knows different from you or are just
           | scamming their client? Surely this can not be the case?
        
             | dmurray wrote:
             | I don't think much of the technical or moral chops of big
             | law firms involved in the intellectual property game, but
             | this seems reasonable to me.
             | 
             | The site was being used to do some bad thing to their
             | clients, they're justified in assuming the current owner
             | might know something about it. Changing registrars and
             | WHOIS info is exactly the kind of thing a shady site might
             | do to throw off investigation. If you're fortunate, you'll
             | at least get your reply read by someone who can understand
             | the plain English of "it wasn't me, I bought the site since
             | then" and doing a bit of research to cross check that.
        
         | NikkiA wrote:
         | What this needs is a mitm service that gives shortened/custom
         | urls like https://prom.os/paw_patrol_biscuits that redirect to
         | the vendor's site, and when the promo/limited-run is over the
         | url can be 'turned off' in a control panel and then default
         | back to a 'This promotion has ended, but visit <vendors general
         | site>' for more information on products' or such.
         | 
         | I guess it'd be hard to get companies to use such a service,
         | except for situations that cause product issues like this one
         | we're seeing.
        
           | jahewson wrote:
           | In other words, the biscuits need more shortening.
        
           | kevincox wrote:
           | A lot of online QR code generators provide this service
           | (often by default without making it clear that they are
           | injecting their URL). It can definitely be useful to "change
           | the URL" after deploying the code, but you still have the
           | same problem that you don't control the domain. If you stop
           | making payments or the company goes out of business then you
           | are out of luck.
           | 
           | IDK if any of these services support custom domains. So that
           | you could have qr.mycompany.example or whatever. That way if
           | something goes wrong with the service you can at least direct
           | it to something else.
           | 
           | But I think in general you should control your URLs.
           | Especially for printed material. Often this would be
           | something like a short URL or some other small name that can
           | be directed to the intended final site and changed at any
           | point.
        
         | hedora wrote:
         | Always remember to convert a QR code back to text before
         | printing / distributing it.
         | 
         | There are some shady QR code generation sites on the Internet
         | that produce codes that work for a week or so, but go to some
         | unexpected third-party domain that redirects to your site.
         | Later, you find out that you have to pay them a subscription
         | fee if you want the QR code to keep working.
        
           | [deleted]
        
         | tetha wrote:
         | This is why I've grown even more careful about introducing new
         | domains in production.
         | 
         | If I keep everything in one or a small amount of production
         | domains, even if a product is shut down, a project ends, and
         | everyone has long forgotten about it - it's still hitting my
         | load balancers and I can deal with it. Cheaply, too. Some 404
         | pages delivered by a loadbalancer probably cost cents or less
         | per month. I can also make it a cute branded image based on a
         | few conditions as well if you give me that.
         | 
         | And some POs are arguing how this is controlling and how this
         | might be constricting freedom and such. And, yes it is. But on
         | the other hand, we won't have porn hosted on something the
         | company once promoted. Unless the company wants to rebrand as
         | such.
        
           | SoftTalker wrote:
           | Yeah registering a domain is sort of a permanent act. If you
           | ever let it expire, someone else can take it over and start
           | receiving all emails, http requests, and anything else
           | directed at services you used to run there. And possibly
           | responding to them. They'll easily get certificates to verify
           | the domain, since all that's needed to do that is control of
           | the domain.
        
             | Iulioh wrote:
             | "a domain is forever" is kind of a scary thing
        
               | bombcar wrote:
               | DNS was designed to delegate subdomains, and we should do
               | it.
               | 
               | But easier for every team to grab a new domain.
        
       | rickdeckard wrote:
       | Terrible.......so what's the URL and what was on it?
        
         | DonaldFisk wrote:
         | Here's a Reddit discussion about the recall:
         | https://old.reddit.com/r/unitedkingdom/comments/1662ylp/lidl...
        
           | ChrisMarshallNY wrote:
           | Oops.
           | 
           | Looks like someone ignored the domain expiration emails.
           | 
           | I see that constantly, especially where there's high
           | turnover.
        
           | jjgreen wrote:
           | The wayback captures page (SFW, but links to recent captures
           | rather not) https://web.archive.org/web/20230815000000*/https
           | ://www.appy...
        
             | levidos wrote:
             | Thank you
        
         | jandrese wrote:
         | It's a domain parking page full of ads for Chinese porn apps.
         | The company closed shop and some squatters took over their
         | domain. A recall seems unnecessary to me, but I'm guessing they
         | got complaints and figured this was just safer.
        
           | imp0cat wrote:
           | Oh, Chinese hackers attacking Paw Patrol, what's next? Bing
           | Bunny gets turned into The "Big" Bunny? ;)
        
             | bombcar wrote:
             | Bing Bunny sounds like some misplaced Microsoft promotion.
        
           | padjo wrote:
           | Hardly anyone will actually return anything but they get to
           | cover their asses by doing this.
        
             | yorwba wrote:
             | Eat the cookies, return the packaging? After all, it's an
             | issue with the packaging that resulted in the recall.
        
               | mcguire wrote:
               | Odds are, if a consumer asked they would tell the
               | consumer to just throw the packaging away. In fact,
               | that's probably what they would tell a retailer.
        
             | anon____ wrote:
             | Consumers won't return it, but the stores will, in bulk.
             | That's a lot of lost food because they can't repack or
             | relabel it.
        
               | bombcar wrote:
               | The recall could instruct the stores to cover the
               | offending URL with a sticker. But they'll just say "toss
               | 'em".
        
           | bspammer wrote:
           | It's not just porn, it's actively malicious. The site tries
           | to install a configuration profile (iOS) if you click
           | through, presumably to install a root CA or something.
        
             | jiofj wrote:
             | This is done usually so you can sideload apps.
        
         | whalesalad wrote:
         | the url was appykidsco.com
        
           | WirelessGigabit wrote:
           | It still is. Open in mobile view and you'll see.
        
       | mikey_p wrote:
       | "Cool URIs don't change" from 1998 is as relevant as ever :(
       | 
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23865484
        
         | dredmorbius wrote:
         | If URIs aren't permitted to change, they require inalterable
         | time and/or content elements to them. Probably
         | ownership/authorship as well.
         | 
         | Because otherwise, this becomes an increasingly futile (and
         | frustrating) Quixotic quest.
        
         | selectnull wrote:
         | Let's all hope w3.org doesn't forget to renew their domain.
         | Because if they do, all these links to "Cool URIs don't change"
         | will suddenly become extremely ironic. We're safe at least up
         | to 2029...
        
       | schnable wrote:
       | My Chevy had a recall out to replace one of the pages in the
       | manual.
        
       | seabass-labrax wrote:
       | I can completely understand the concern with a compromised
       | promotional website listed on the packaging, but a full product
       | recall seems to me extremely wasteful. Presumably, all those bags
       | (which look to me like they're made of plastic) will have to be
       | disposed of, if not the actual biscuits themselves.
       | 
       | This is just one factor in a multitude of reasons why single-use
       | plastics are wasteful, but I believe that if a company is not
       | responsible enough to look after a URL they should not be
       | plastering it all over consumer products.
       | 
       | A URL is for life, not just for Christmas. Not sure whether to
       | link to the Dogs Trust or the W3C here!
        
         | krisoft wrote:
         | > all those bags will have to be disposed of, if not the actual
         | biscuits themselves.
         | 
         | Nobody will repackage the biscuits. That is not a thing any
         | manufacturer or merchant would seriously consider. Of course it
         | will be disposed of.
         | 
         | Just imagine the liability of selling a food product which
         | already come back from a costumer.
        
         | kypro wrote:
         | Realistically is anyone actually going to return these products
         | because of the URL though?
         | 
         | I'd assume it's more damage control in the event someone
         | actually does visit the URL because then they can say, "well we
         | have recalled these products, sir".
        
           | londons_explore wrote:
           | All of the product still in stock in the shop or warehouse
           | will be chucked out at the suppliers expense.
        
             | Paianni wrote:
             | Well, our expense since we impose a system that makes this
             | possible.
        
         | dredmorbius wrote:
         | An alternative interpretation is that the cost-of-materials is
         | insignificant related to brand dilution and/or the intended
         | promotional value of the URLs themselves.
         | 
         | The biscuits may very well have simply been a flytrap of sorts
         | (honey), or loss-leader. Disposing of them given that the URL
         | is itself no longer useful might well be the pragmatic
         | approach.
         | 
         | I also doubt the public will return sold product, though they
         | might take actions against the packaging itself. I'd hope that
         | unsold stock will be diverted to food banks or other
         | noncommercial distributors, though possibly with a provision
         | that packaging be covered (stickers or labels?) or removed
         | prior to final distribution.
        
       | qingcharles wrote:
       | There is nothing wrong with the food, so I hope they at least
       | show up at a food bank so poor people like me can get some value
       | from them.
        
         | Freak_NL wrote:
         | The sad thing is that they won't. Lidl can't risk sending these
         | out with the compromised URL on the packaging, and covering the
         | URL would take a lot of people in the chain cooperating and
         | donating resources to arrange that.
         | 
         | It is cheaper for Lidl just to donate a new batch without the
         | URL and destroy the affected batch... The best thing one can
         | hope for is that these end up on the break room table at Lidl
         | shops, but there are probably rules that prevent that too.
        
         | NullPrefix wrote:
         | So you want to use those bad QR codes to hurt poor people?
        
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