Crock-Pot Defends Slow Cookers After ‘This Is Us’ Reveal

After This Is Us revealed the cause of Jack’s death, an appliance company felt the need to speak out.

Tuesday’s episode, titled “That’ll Be The Day,” revealed that the fire that eventually claims Jack’s (Milo Ventimiglia) life starts after a slow cooker — given to Pearsons by friendly neighbor George when he and his wife are moving out of their house— shorts out and starts the house fire.

With no batteries in the smoke detector, as revealed in the previous episode, the family isn’t alerted to the fire that has started on the ground floor as seen in the last moments of the episode.

After the episode, fans were quick to post on social media blaming the Crock-Pot appliance for the death of their beloved Jack.

According to Entertainment Weekly, one fan wrote on the Crock-Pot Facebook page that she hoped that Crock-Pot was planning a can’t-miss Super Bowl ad, given that people were tossing their slow cookers.

Naturally, the appliance brand responded to her message, writing: “Jack Pearson was our Valentine so we equally understand your pain with his loss. We love him and we love you too. Don’t further add to our heartbreak by no longer using Crock-Pot Slow Cookers, rest assured our products have been generationally tested by your family and friends.”

On Wednesday afternoon, Crock-Pot issued a more serious statement clarifying their stance on the episode and slow cookers in general via TVLine.

“Crock-Pot understands the concerns brought up by last night’s episode of This Is Us, and we too are heartbroken by the latest development in Jack’s storyline. However, it is important that our consumers understand and have confidence that all Crock-Pot slow cookers exceed all internal testing protocols and all applicable industry safety standards and regulations as verified by independent third-party testing labs. For nearly 50 years, with over 100 million Crock-Pots sold, we have never received any consumer complaints similar to the fictional events portrayed in last night’s episode. In fact, the safety and design of our product renders this type of event nearly impossible.

“In addition, and most relevant to the concerns consumers are having after watching the recent This Is Us episode, our Crock-Pot slow cookers are low current, low wattage (typically no more than 200 or 300 watts) appliances with self-regulating, heating elements. The product is designed to cook foods over a longer period of time at low temperatures and the switches connect to only 1 side of the power line voltage, so there is never a high voltage applied directly across our switches. The switches within our slow cookers are subjected to additional internal testing, which includes a Rotary Knob Endurance test, Rotary Knob Force Test and Flame Burning Test and constructed of self-extinguishing, flame resistant material.

“Our hope is that the team at NBC’s This Is Us will help us spread factual information regarding our product’s safety. While we know their primary mission is to entertain — something they have continued to excel in — we also feel they have a responsibility to inform. Just like many fans, we will be watching next week’s episode to see how Jack’s story progresses and, regardless of the outcome, we want consumers first and foremost to know they are safe when using their Crock-Pot.”

This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman also gave his two-cents on the public’s new hatred of the appliance with a tweet, assuring viewers that not all slow cookers lead to devastating house fires.

The next episode of This Is Us, which will show the Pearson family during the devastating fire, will air Sunday Feb. 4 after the Super Bowl on NBC.