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Mattel: Sorry, China
Last week, Mattel Chairman and CEO Robert Eckert formally apologized for his company’s product safety lapses and tried to explain how millions of toys were recalled. (Read his full testimony to the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations here.)
“As I said at the outset of my testimony, these recent recalls have been a personal disappointment to me and, I am sure, to all of the thousands of men, women and parents who have always taken great pride in working at Mattel,” Eckert said. “We are by no means perfect.”
Bob Eckert had said “sorry” many times before. He wrote the following opinion statement, published on September 11th, saying, “We’ve even been accused of being “unapologetic” by the very same newspaper in which we ran full-page ads apologizing. I apologize again.” And again. And again (also including detailed reports about Mattel’s history, safety procedures and compliance measures.)
Days after Eckert issued his formal statements, Thomas A. Debrowski, Mattel’s executive vice-president of worldwide operations, met with Chinese officials and apologized for damaging the reputation of Chinese manufacturers…well, at least according to some news sources.
Mattel says these accounts have been “mischaracterized.” Indeed, Mattel took responsibility for some of the toy recalls: “The magnet related recalls were due to emerging issues concerning design and this has nothing to do with whether the toys were manufactured in China. Mattel does not hold Chinese manufacturers responsible for the design in relation to the recalled magnet toys.” The lead-related recalls, however, were the fault of a few manufacturers who “did not follow the company’s rules.” So “full responsibility” is really only half-way responsibility.
According to the New York Times, a Mattel spokesperson said Debrowski was sent to the meeting to apologize to consumers in China, not to manufacturers.
Mattel has since issued a written statement, saying, “Since Mattel toys are sold the world over, Mattel apologized to the Chinese today just as it has wherever its toys are sold.”
Debrowski, meanwhile, receives criticism in the United States for supposedly kowtowing to China’s manufacturers in order to protect Mattel’s business relationship.
“It’s like a bank robber apologizing to his accomplice instead of to the person who was robbed,” Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York said in an interview. “They’re playing politics in China rather than doing what matters.” (NYT, 9/22/07).
And China has been quick to take Debrowski’s apology to restore its image.
Just check out the headlines:
- Mattel’s apology highlights innocence of “Made in China” (People’s Daily Online)
- An apology at long last (China Daily)
- China seizes on Mattel apology to emphasize safety (Reuters)
- For China, Mattel’s Mea Culpa Isn’t Good Enough (New York Times)
To learn more about the nuances and implications of Mattel’s apology, read Clay Chandler’s column, “Chasing the Dragon.“
An enlightened steward of China’s global reputation would see the US toy maker’s reversal for what it was: a PR fiasco – not just for Mattel, but China too. The problem with Mattel’s elaborately staged about-face is that it was just that: staged, and almost entirely about ‘face.’
[tags]Mattel, China, toy recall, apology, Robert Eckert, Thomas Debrowski[/tags]
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