China Receives Apology From Mattel for Recalls

Shannon Weidemann

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A representative for Mattel Inc. traveled to China in order to deliver a personal apology to the head of product safety there. Mattel has issued numerous product recalls this year for toys made in China. Most of the recalls revolve around lead based paint used on the toys.

"Mattel takes full responsibility for these recalls and apologizes personally to you, the Chinese people, and all of our customers who received the toys," Thomas A. Debrowski, Mattel's executive vice president for worldwide operations, told Li.

The unusual move reflects how invested El Segundo-based Mattel has become in China.

"Mattel certainly must have been facing some pressure to do that, because you can't imagine why they would be trying to push this story along any further," said Eric Johnson, a professor of operations management at Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.

Experts feel that Mattel offered the apology to keep their business costs in China low. Mattel stated that most of the recalls were due to a design flaw with the toy and not due to lead based paint.

For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Defective and Dangerous Products.