the Toys of Death

by fu manchu Fri Sep 21, 2007 18:38

After lengthy discussions between representatives of manufacturers in the People's Republic of China the largest toy manufacturer in the world and one of the most ubiqitous US corporations has climbed down & apologised. They sent faulty designs to the Chinese which included lethal levels of lead and other toxins in the paint coz it was cheap. They quite plausibly thought it could be blamed on the Chinese too if anything went wrong.

2 executives have since committed suicide, one on the US and the other on the Chinese side.

The Mattel corporation has not yet updated their message from Mr Bob Eckhart........ Mattel CEO - chairman -president -world leader -alpha male - works hard for a living - [late 2005 disclosure under "The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 USA" revealed $1,000,000 per year; and a grant of 25,000 restricted stock units (“RSUs”) with dividend equivalents].... to include the apology made by Thomas Debrowski, their executive vice president for worldwide operations to the Chinese today.

"Mattel takes full responsibility for these recalls and apologises personally to you, the Chinese people and all of our customers who received the toys," he told Li Changjiang, head of China's product quality watchdog.

"It is important for everyone to understand that the vast majority of these products that we recalled were the result of a flaw in Mattel's design, not through a manufacturing flaw in Chinese manufacturers."

a news-source which will in the full breadth of time prove easier to find than an encyclical -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7006599.stm If you'd like to follow up on this story in either an artistic sense, silly rant or even "hope of hopes" a properly incisive & well written report of social and worker interest to indymedia readers - here's a resource link to Mattel corp. http://www.google.es/search?num=30&hl=es&safe=off&rlz=1...ng_en

by Fu Manchu - (iosaf mac diarmada) Fri Sep 21, 2007 20:09

I'm adding illustrations because today's apology by Mattel vice-president for world operations Thomas Debrowski is very big news. & it is really our sort of international news.

The Irish media sidestepped the last product recall which this article reported simply noting the listed goods did not affect Ireland. All the same many hundreds of toys were recalled in Ireland in the previous "emergencies".
The Mattel corporation have in less than two months recalled 20 million toys worldwide. The manufacturing quality reputation of Chinese industry has been injustifiably slandered and libelled. And this was not only done to protect your kids from poisonous paint. The USA and EU combined forces to challenge all Chinese manufacturing. The EU commissioner for imports Meglena Kuneva suggested a blanket ban on all goods coming from the PRC as response to the allegations made by Mattel and the immediate thinly veiled racism which saw those allegations spun in western media. *& That was only yesterday!*

But why?

# Do either the USA or EU want to take back the production jobs they moved in the name of economic rationalisation to PRC and Taiwan, perhaps as part of a new worker paradise of full employment from the Mexican border to Estonia?
# Has the rationale by which Richard Nixon could spread globalised production & find low skill workers in Asia rather than blue collar America ended?
# Do they wish to undermine the migration nodes which China has seen blossom in recent years, thinking now there are too many Chinese people working in Chinese clothing or novelty good distribution?
# Do they wish to cut the global impact China is undoubtedly having on globalised economics after the setting up of her "special administrative regions " of Hong Kong & Macau and her SEZ's ("special economic zones")?

I argue that they (meaning the neo-liberal globalists be they so called "neo-con" or "social democrat" alike want all those things. The "yellow peril" hysteria which excused western inteference in China a century ago and racist attacks throughout the western empires and USA has returned in another form. I understand that as being "par for the course". I have always argued that free market globalisation is ironically nothing more than a return to protectionist market 19th century imperialism.

The legacy of Fu Manchu it seems lives on.

As will all news which plays on prejudice, the 20 million consumers who gave their toys back to retaillers and ultimately Mattel - will not now readily turn from the libel or slander on Chinese industry. As simple proof let's look at how Mr Eckhart the "million a year toymaker who worries for your kids" managed to pull off a stock value increase today after chatting to the US safety board.
One Mattel share today sold at 23.97$ on the New York Stock Exchange, the corporation enjoyed a slight bouyancy of 1.74%. Yep you read it. Mattel stock is worth more today, coz nobdy in investor land read the apology......or cared about it......before close of trading. That's Biz.
http://www.nyse.com/interface/jsp/NHDetail.jsp?RequestI...false

coverage so far of the "apology"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7006599.stm
http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2174444,00.html
http://www.swissinfo.org/spa/internacional/agencias/det...ty=ti
http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/international/ticker/detai...ty=ti
http://www.lefigaro.fr/valeurs/20070921.WWW000000513_ma....html
http://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/0,1518,507126,00.html (spiegel used the same illustration I started out with - that damned Barbie dog. belonged in a camp. no?)

Mattel CEO gets over 1,000,000$ a year & 25,000$ stock options. a Chinese worker gets 4,397$

Get it clear - 20 million deadly toys were made in the U$A

by fu manchu Fri Sep 21, 2007 20:58

I'm sorry it isn't 1,000,000$ a year with 25,000$ stock options. He doesn't get bonuses but does get other compensations. we call these perks. Just as well when you're being sued by parents and have the deaths of one Mattel executive and one Chinese factory boss on your hands even though your stock price is going up.
He gets 1,250,000$ wages in 2006. & complete compensation (perks) to stood at $4,744,559.
In total the man got paid 5,994,559$ last year. His options (perks which keep you loyal) stood at 3,750,000 exercisable (meaning he could stroke them) worth $13,710,000 and just beyond his reach saved up for a rainy day were 750,000 shares in non-exercisable options. At the close of 2006 he had a total value of $13,710,000 to his name in Mattel stock. Oh yep, he's also a director of McDonalds. They do food. It's quite probably poisonous but don't go handing out pamphlets. Now many people will say I'm being prejudiced against big business in this article and the last 2 comments as I report the big capitalist news this week

" "It is important for everyone to understand that the vast majority of these products that we recalled were the result of a flaw in Mattel's design, not through a manufacturing flaw in Chinese manufacturers." which of course was what beta-male-not-so-tough Mr Dubrowski said on his piddling $706,154 a year salary with $1,350,359 options totalling only $2,056,513.

So I won't be prejudiced. IT's important to give the other side of the picture. the Mattel corporation scores 88 out of 100 on gay rights and transexual equality corporate employment, the average for Fortune 500 companies is only 81. Great news there, that no-one cares if you're queer or were born with different dangly bits in the company that leaves genitals off its dolls.
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Categories/Individu...attel

Let's go back to Mr Dubrowski, he's up and coming, & obviously feeling the whole thing.

"These recalls have been very, very devastating to our company. We make products for 150 countries around the world, but no one has been hurt more by the recall other than Mattel,' he told Li in front of a group of reporters."

now that's forthright and honest for a man whose stock has managed to go up since I wrote my last comment, silly me forgot they're still trading over in NYC. It's now at 24.01$ a pop. The good folk of the capitalist world know the best way to mark the suicide of Hong Kong entrepeneur Zhang Shuhong who hung himself over this is to rally round and buy U$ stock. Strange how only a few weeks ago he "was so evil-hearted to have sold the fake paint to our boss ... our boss was ruined by his best friend," a manager of the company, surname Liu, was quoted as saying to Reuters, the week "the Economist" ran the China toxic toy scoop story. http://www.economist.com/people/displaystory.cfm?story_...90265
http://investing.reuters.co.uk/news/articleinvesting.as...C.XML