Product Recall

For the business concept, see Product recall.

"Product Recall"
The Office episode
The offending watermark. The "beloved cartoon duck" and "[the] certain cartoon mouse" were meant as parodies of Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse respectively.
Episode no.	Season 3 Episode 21
Directed by	Randall Einhorn
Written by	Justin Spitzer Brent Forrester
Production code	321
Original air date	April 26, 2007
Episode chronology
← Previous "Safety Training" Next → "Women's Appreciation"
List of The Office (U.S. TV series) episodes

"Product Recall" is the twenty-first episode aired of the third season of the US version of The Office. It aired on April 26, 2007 on NBC. It was written by Justin Spitzer and Brent Forrester and directed by Randall Einhorn.

In this episode, the company deals with the consequences of an offending watermark that appeared on several reams of paper. Michael holds a poorly-attended press conference, Jim and Andy head to a high school that printed their prom invitations on the paper to apologize, and Creed frames an employee at the paper mill to keep his job.

Synopsis

In the cold open, Jim shows up at work imitating Dwight by wearing large glasses, a short sleeved shirt and hair split on his forehead. Jim then asks Dwight which bear is best, and when Dwight answers, Jim declares him false and states that black bears are the best. Jim then further mocks him with statements such as "Bears, beets, Battlestar Galactica" (three things Dwight frequently mentions on the show). Jim then produces a small bobblehead from his briefcase, which provokes a furious Dwight to demand that Jim stop, telling him that "Identity theft is not a joke, Jim. Millions of families suffer every year!".

Dunder Mifflin Scranton is thrown into damage control mode when reams of paper with an obscene watermark depicting "the image of a beloved cartoon duck performing unspeakable acts upon a certain cartoon mouse that a lot of people like" are shipped to customers. Kelly trains the accountants to handle customer support calls, while Jim and Andy are sent to calm a school principal that used the affected paper to print prom invitations. At the school, Andy is horrified to discover that his girlfriend is actually a high school student. Creed, who failed to catch the error, saves his quality assurance job by framing an employee at the paper mill.

Michael stages an apology press conference, attended by just one local news reporter, where he presents an angry customer with a novelty check for free paper. The outraged customer instead demands Michael's resignation, but he refuses. When she threatens to call the Better Business Bureau he angrily tells her he will call the "Ungrateful Biotch Hotline".

Now facing further damage control, Michael instead makes an "apology video" in which he reiterates that the incident was not his fault and that he has become an "escape goat". In the final credits sequence, Dwight shows up imitating Jim, but is annoyed when his Jim-styled appearance and wardrobe are met with compliments from his co-workers.

External links

• "Product Recall" at NBC.com
• "Product Recall" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Product Recall" at TV.com