Coyote, ACME & Product Safety with Joe Galbo

After a fraught journey to the big screen at the hands of corporate overlords, Coyote Vs. ACME has finally seen the light of day. Despite the C-suite mishigas the film is proving to be a well-earned success. It’s a funny, charming, and uniquely sobering look at the things we buy and use, and the companies we get used by. Rooted as much in the world of Chuck Jones as The Verdict or A Civil Action, the cartoon courtroom antics are built on the bones of a legal thriller, and the resulting observations bear an uncomfortable resemblance to the reality of our relationship with almost every corporation in 2026. To unpack this, I spoke with Joe Galbo, a social media specialist for a U.S. safety regulatory agency. Over the past decade, Galbo has made it his mission to raise awareness of unsafe products in wry and off-beat ways one meme at a time. We discuss the irony of how the film’s fraught distribution is reflected in its script, and frankly enhances its message. We also get into how the film captures an ever-present dread in the face of AI and the “enshittification” of just about everything we buy and use. We marvel at how unflinching the film is in delivering these sentiments, and why the Looney Tunes are the perfect vessel to raise awareness. Be sure to follow Joe @josephgalbo.bsky.social, and for any info on unsafe products (or how to report them) visit saferproducts.gov. Coyote Vs. ACME is now in theaters.