Nobody has ever truly experienced rejection until they use Vendor Central.
We get it. You’re a colossal, multi-national retail platform, with millions of new products added every year. The sheer volume of content makes it impossible to check with a traditional editorial team, let alone one comprised of native speakers. You need to make sure that every A+ published is right for your customers, so you resort to a mix of automated checks and standardised rules. Totally understandable.
Sadly, what’s also understandable is the frustrating frequency at which this system breaks down. Try as you might, you’ll inevitably run afoul of it sometime, due to a combination of unforeseen consequences, lack of context, and sheer bad luck. In this semi-regular series, we’ll be sharing some of our favourite content rejections. Even if they caused us to pull our hair out in frustration at the time, you have to look back on these things and laugh.*
The FDA Disapproves of a Light Meal
Is a car lamp a health product? I guess it is, in the sense that your health is likely to be impacted if you decide to drive around at night with no lights.
Still, I think most people would agree that seeking FDA approval on an automotive component could be categorised as severe agency overreach.
For those of us not in the know, Wikipedia describes the FDA as:
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or USFDA) is a federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food safety, tobacco products, dietary supplements, prescription and over-the-counter pharmaceutical drugs (medications), vaccines, biopharmaceuticals, blood transfusions, medical devices, electromagnetic radiation emitting devices (ERED), cosmetics, animal foods & feed and veterinary products.
…which only adds to the ridiculousness of this rejection, as the product in question was uploaded for Amazon Italy.
*Or so they tell us. I’m not convinced.
