Society’s all-time favourite, Barbie, was taken for a spin around town, or more accurately the world, due to Mattel’s mistake. Barbie and her friends, including Polly Pocket, Elmo, Big Bird, Dora the Explorer, and Hot wheels, were recalled twice in the summer of 2007 for cases of heavy lead amounts in the paint of the toys and harmful magnets embedded within the toys themselves. According to sources, these dangers could have resulted to intestinal perforation and mental damage to the brains of small innocent children, all due to the company’s (Mattel) carelessness of cutting production costs with Chinese businesses and not going through close inspections to ensure the safety of the new products.

This slip-up affected more than the mere company itself, but the children, families, Mattel’s profit, Mattel’s reputation, and stores.

Although the careless ethic of insufficient inspection of toys before selling them caused Mattel a headache of lost profits, recalls, and the public ire, Mattel was to be respected for how it so diligently dealt with the issue. With high media outreaches all throughout the world, Mattel was able to get the word out about the recall of dangerous toys and a public apology given by CEO of Mattel, Robert Eckert. Further promised responsibilities were strengthened on Mattel’s part, including extremely keen inspection of produced toys, and safer Chinese clients for toy productions. With all these, it enabled Mattel’s customers to feel cared for and respected, aiding Mattel’s reputation and following their ethical code.

News Report

Sources:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/26/business/26toy.html

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1796

http://www.brighthub.com/office/entrepreneurs/articles/115557.aspx

http://businessethicsblog.com/2007/07/26/mattel-in-china-ethics-prudence/

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/mattel-toy-recall-sparks-alarm/story-e6frf7kx-1111114194019