Mattel Admits to Scapegoating China on Product Problems

According to the weekend Financial Times, Mattel had to apologize to "the Chinese People" last Friday. The company had been blaming its series of toy recalls this year on Chinese contractors:

The apology was in stark contrast to recent comments from Robert Eckert, Mattel’s chief executive. In testimony to the US Senate last week, he suggested that the fault for the group’s recent product recalls lay with outside contractors. “We were let down, and so we let you down,” he said.

The story that Mattel had told involved the presence of lead paint, but the vast majority of recalled units - 18 million - suffered from design flaws.

In a later statement, Mattel said that some reports had “mischaracterised” its comments and said it had “apologised to the Chinese today just as it has wherever its toys are sold”. But the statement made clear that it was also apologising to the country and its reputation over the magnet-related recalls.

Oh, what a mess Mattel has made. Just a month or two ago, the company was receiving accolades for its prompt attention to the problems and its handling of the public relations crisis. Guess they can toss the good work out the window - it was nothing but misdirection. I can remember at one point seeing the numbers involved in one recall and wondering why the bulk seemed to be about design problems, but I didn't follow up on that, and shame on me for doing so. But where were the reporters who were actively following the story for their news organizations? There appears to be a numbers phobia in the business press, which is disturbing considering just how much of business is related to and described by numbers.