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.

Hardee-Har-Harrible Burger PR Campaign

Here's an item, in its entirety and with the owner's permission, from a mailing list that goes out exclusively to the more-or-less working press (sorry, not allowed to provide a link):

SPECIAL REPORT: PIMPING FAT AS A PRESS ACTIVITY
Every once in a while, we come across a PR program that is so innately insensitive to press people we feel compelled to share it. This one, on behalf of the Carl's Jr. (West) & Hardee's (East) "Spicy Buffalo Chicken Sandwich" asks press people to shill in some especially unpleasant ways. The first stops are at 2 Web sites. One offers images & video clips of Ashley Hartman, the skimpily-wardrobed young blonde actress from their commercials, in which double entendres about breasts & nudity are a big play. You're supposed to fill in a Web form to send an e-mail that a friend will misinterpret as being an invitation from Ashley to rendezvous at the restaurant, only you surprise & fool your friend by showing up instead; they send you a coupon for a dollar off the sandwich as your "reward". (Note that they just brought you & your friend to the restaurant to spend your money there, while the coupon saves you enough to consider a quarter of your sandwich as free). The other Web site expects you to put their graphics & links on your Web site; the only difference between what they're asking & an affiliate program is that they're not offering any payments in return. We're supposed to also buy into promoting the sandwich as the latest in "boneless hot wing technology". Despite their wishes, we boned up: according to their customer phone center, their Spicy Buffalo Chicken Sandwich (just under $4) has 2.59 grams of sodium & 780 calories, of which 330 are from its 36 grams of fat (6 grams saturated). Gee, that $1-off coupon is like getting 9 grams of fat on the house! To recap, they're asking press people to pimp their sandwich & their fake-date-with Ashley promo in exchange for a coupon. We're not seeing respect on that menu.

Some PR and marketing campaigns are honest mistakes and some are the results of mishandling. Then there are the ones that are so poorly conceived and structured that you have to wonder whether the company's competitor broke into the corporate headquarters and left a folder labeled "Do this" on some marketing wunderkind's desk. I haven't seen the PR materials, but if this report is accurate, then I'm surprised that the company's shareholders aren't storming the gates. Oh, wait, they won't have to because management forgot to lock 'em.