Impact Report | Consumer Reports Annual Report 2023

Our annual report for fiscal year 2023 gives us the opportunity to thank you for the extraordinary support and trust you've given Consumer Reports.

We've celebrated some big wins this past year, including landmark laws for safer products and new consumer rights. And with your help, we continue to work for meaningful solutions to some of the most persistent problems in the marketplace, from toxins in our food to the exploitation of our most private data.

This month, CR is being recognized as a Brand That Matters by Fast Company, which seeks to "honor companies and nonprofits that have had an undeniable impact on business and culture."

As Fast Company writes: "Over its 87-year existence, CR has built a reputation for independence, objectivity, and trustworthiness."

We strive to earn that trust every single day, and we hope you will enjoy this look back at what we've accomplished together this past year.

CONSUMER REPORTS

BY THE NUMBERS

6+ million

members

CR is proud to have more than 6 million members in all 50 states, who access ratings and reviews on our website, receive our publications, and engage in our campaigns for marketplace change.
2,000+

products tested

In fiscal year 2023, CR tested over 2,000 products and services in 100+ categories.
150+

partnerships with organizations to advance marketplace change

CR works with an extraordinary range of safety experts, family organizations, public interest groups, philanthropic institutions, and other partners to raise consumer voices and advocate for a better marketplace.
1.3+ million

consumers tell us what they think

We heard from more than 1.3 million consumers through our research and outreach tools, such as over 80 national surveys.
$30.2 million

donated

CR is able to achieve its impact through the generous support of our donors, who went above and beyond in fiscal year 2023. We are deeply grateful to both longtime and new members for supporting CR's mission to create a fair and just marketplace.
854,000+

actions taken

The number of signatures and emails that CR members and activists sent to policymakers and company CEOs to advocate for reforms, including digital rights, financial fairness, safety, and sustainability.

Winning the fight for safer furniture

million

dressers required to meet safety standard

Every year, more than 5,000 people in the U.S. are taken to emergency medical care because dressers and other clothing storage furniture have tipped over on them. At least 234 people have died from these tip-overs between 2000 to April 2022. Tragically, the victims are often toddlers and young children.

Consumer Reports has been exposing the deadly problem of furniture tip-overs for more than a decade, and we are proud to say that we now have a national law that can help save kids' lives.

CR tested dozens of dressers, and we found sturdy choices across a variety of prices. But too many dressers were prone to tipping. And manufacturers had no rules for stability — only a voluntary standard.

We helped organize an extraordinary group of parents who had lost children to furniture tip-overs. They wanted to turn their grief into action to prevent more tragedies. Their organization, Parents Against Tip-Overs, joined with CR and other consumer and safety groups. We brought Democrats and Republicans in Congress together to sponsor a bill called the STURDY Act. It stands for Stop Tip-overs of Unstable, Risky Dressers on Youth, and it requires the first-ever mandatory stability standard for dressers and similar furniture.

Our advocates, scientists, and content leaders provided expert advice for what the rules should be. Thousands of CR members contacted their lawmakers in Washington. And we helped get companies like Home Depot, Ikea, and Amazon on board to endorse the bill. With the clock ticking down, Congress passed the STURDY Act on its very last day in session in 2022, and the President signed it into law. Now the 20 million dressers and other clothing storage units that are sold in the U.S. annually must meet this safety standard.

Ensuring safety comes standard in every car

24,000

injuries a year prevented with automatic emergency braking in every new vehicle

For years, CR has been pressuring carmakers to make automatic emergency braking (AEB) systems come standard in every new vehicle. This year, we celebrated a strong rule proposed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). It would require all new passenger vehicles to come equipped with systems that can prevent or mitigate frontal crashes with cars and pedestrians — including at higher speeds, and at night. The rule could prevent over 24,000 injuries per year, according to NHTSA.

For a vehicle to be named one of CR's top picks, it has to come with automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection as standard equipment, and the braking system has to operate at highway speeds. This is part of a long tradition at CR of creating powerful incentives for automakers to produce safer cars. Safety should always come standard, and it should never be treated like a luxury add-on.

HELPING MAKE PRODUCTS MORE SUSTAINABLE — AND AFFORDABLE

$330

savings per year with the "right to repair"

When your smartphone is broken, you usually have two choices: Get it fixed by the manufacturer's repair service for a premium price, or throw it away and buy a new one, adding to the mountain of electronics in our landfills. That's not good for your wallet, or the environment.

CR wrote a model bill to require manufacturers to provide the tools, parts, and manuals to independent shops and do-it-yourself consumers to fix their products. Our model has been used to produce bills in more than a dozen states and Congress in the growing movement for "the right to repair."

We've scored two big wins: In the New York legislature, officials worked with CR on the Digital Fair Repair Act to establish the right to repair phones, laptops, and tablets. The bill passed overwhelmingly, but tech lobbyists pressed the governor to veto it. When it looked like the legislative clock would run out, the governor signed the bill, and New York became the first state in the nation with a broad right to repair law. We built on this momentum in Minnesota, where the governor signed an even stronger and broader law, and officials credited CR for helping make it happen. The average family stands to save $330 a year in repairs under right to repair laws, according to U.S. PIRG.

INVESTIGATING TODAY'S MONEY APPS

83%

of Americans use digital finance apps

According to our nationally representative survey, 83 percent of Americans use at least one digital finance app. CR launched an exciting initiative to investigate these fast-growing apps and services. Some of them offer quick and convenient ways to manage money. However, they aren't always as safe as you might think, and the rules haven't kept pace with the technology.

The foundation of our new Fair Digital Finance initiative is seven principles: safety, privacy, transparency, user centricity, support for financial well-being, inclusivity, and a commitment to corporate governance, environmental responsibility, and social responsibility.

Using this framework, we investigated peer-to-peer payment apps like Venmo and Apple Cash, as well as "buy now, pay later" services. We discovered how users could lose money to fraud and scams, as well as threats to their privacy. Now we're working with the companies to find ways to fix problems and improve the consumer experience, while pressing government regulators to step up so that consumers have some rules of the road.

EXPOSING THE DANGERS OF HEAVY METALS

75,000

consumers tell chocolate makers to get the lead out

CR's testers found lead and cadmium in 23 popular dark chocolate brands from companies like Hershey's, Theo, and Trader Joe's. Studies suggest heavy metals like lead and cadmium are linked to a host of health problems in children and adults.

More than 75,000 consumers signed our petitions to call on companies to get heavy metals out of our chocolate, which we delivered to Hershey's and other producers. When the chief financial officer of Hershey's was asked about the CR investigation, he said the company would “love to eradicate” heavy metals “completely” as it “look[s] for opportunities in the process.” We're keeping up the pressure to ensure your chocolate is safe.

ASKING AMERICANS ABOUT THE DRIVE TO GO ELECTRIC

71%

of Americans express interest in EVs

Our largest-ever nationally representative survey asked people across the U.S. what they thought of electric vehicles, or EVs, 71% of Americans expressed some level of interest in buying or leasing an EV.

Among those who did not say they'd “definitely” buy or lease an EV, the top three barriers were charging logistics, such as where and when they'd be able to charge it, the number of miles the vehicle can go before needing a charge, and costs involved with buying, owning, and maintaining an EV. CR shared our findings with automakers and testified before Congress, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Transportation about ways to reduce vehicle emissions, expand the number of EV charging stations, and extend tax credits to help people get new and used EVs.

Plus, CR launched our new online EV & Hybrids Hub to help car shoppers find the most fuel-efficient vehicles side by side. It features our independent ratings and reviews, EV benefits and trade-offs, savings and tax incentives, and much more.

WORKING TO BAN HARMFUL FOOD CHEMICALS

2,900

food products contain harmful Red Dye No. 3

CR is leading the charge to remove toxic chemicals like Red Dye No. 3 from your food. The Food and Drug Administration banned the dye from cosmetics more than 30 years ago, but it's still available in 2,900 food products today, especially candy, cookies, and other foods marketed to children.

CR co-sponsored a bill in the California legislature to ban Red Dye No. 3 from food, along with other food chemicals linked to a range of health harms from cancer to behavioral problems in children. The landmark bill was signed into law in October 2023. And we're going directly to food companies to press them to drop these chemicals immediately, as many are already banned or restricted from food sold in the European Union.

BREAKING GROUND TO BOOST AUTO SAFETY

$1 million

investment in new auto test loop

More than half of new cars today come with advanced driver assistance systems that can automate certain driving functions. When it's done right, this technology can make driving safer and easier. But a poorly designed system can put drivers at risk.

That's why CR invested $1 million to build a new test loop at our Auto Test Center so that we can safely evaluate these increasingly common car systems. The loop is designed to the specifications of U.S. public roads, with curves, hills, split lanes, lane merges, and exit ramps. This lets us test functions such as lane centering assistance, lane departure warning, and adaptive cruise control in real-world driving scenarios.

HOLDING COMPANIES ACCOUNTABLE

$1.5 million

fine for privacy violation uncovered by CR

For the first time ever, the federal government punished an online platform — the prescription drug discount service GoodRX — for sharing its users' sensitive health data with other companies for advertising, and it was CR that brought the problem to light. GoodRX agreed to stop the information sharing and pay a $1.5 million fine.

Three years ago, CR found that GoodRx was sharing people's sensitive health information with more than 20 companies, including Google and Facebook. They got the names of medications that people were researching, along with details that could let companies pinpoint whose phone or laptop was being used. In February 2023, the Federal Trade Commission announced actions against GoodRx, crediting CR's investigation. This could have a profound effect on how our health information is kept private moving forward.