Mattel apology to China not the end of it
25th September 2007 by Alex Briggs
When big brands started to manufacture their products in “cheap labour” markets, it was believed that the brands had all the power, with governments such as China, India, Vietnam, etc. doing everything they could to create favourable economic incentives to those brands.
The latest in the Mattel “lead paint” story seems to have indicated that the situation has drastically changed. Mattel’s executive vice-president for worldwide operations, Mr Thomas Debrowski, visited China and issued the following apology:
‘Mattel takes full responsibility for these recalls and apologises personally to you, the Chinese people, and all of our customers who received the toys,’ said Mr Debrowski.
‘It is very important for everyone to understand that the vast majority of those products recalled were the result of a design flaw in Mattel, not through the manufacturing flaw in China’s manufacturers.’
The move was viewed in the US with skepticism and criticism. What has not yet been discussed is the importance of major manufacturing companies being wholly dependent on one country for their supply chain (Mattel has been in China for 25 years and manufactures over 65% of its products there).
More importantly, it once again highlights the need for brands to better understand the potential risks across their supply chain, both to their bottom line and their reputational risk.
The Mattel-China story appears to be far from over.
