Mattel sells out and kisses ass to the Chinese

[drift freaq]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7006599.stm

thats a link to one article, its all over the place. Mattel has basically apologized to the Chinese for defects of toys made for Mattel in China by China. WTF? This is just fucked up. China was engaging in shoddy work pratice's at the factories! In fact one factory official was taken off the job by the Chinese because he was purchasing lead based paints for the products. Now China has Mattel apologizing when China should be apologizing for letting piracy,dishonest work pratice's underpaying of the labor and whatnot to go on. This is it folks, when our companies start apologizing for shit they should not even be apologizing for to the people that were the problem in the first place, well its just wrong. No offense to any Chinese members on the forum but China is just a fucked up here with fucked up and dishonest business policy's.

[exitspeed]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7006599.stm

thats a link to one article, its all over the place. Mattel has basically apologized to the Chinese for defects of toys made for Mattel in China by China. WTF? This is just fucked up. China was engaging in shoddy work pratice's at the factories! In fact one factory official was taken off the job by the Chinese because he was purchasing lead based paints for the products. Now China has Mattel apologizing when China should be apologizing for letting piracy,dishonest work pratice's underpaying of the labor and whatnot to go on. This is it folks, when our companies start apologizing for shit they should not even be apologizing for to the people that were the problem in the first place, well its just wrong. No offense to any Chinese members on the forum but China is just a fucked up here with fucked up and dishonest business policy's.

You right now: http://www.clipartguide.com/_thumbs/0511-0702-0111-4742.jpg

[drift freaq]

You right now: http://www.clipartguide.com/_thumbs/0511-0702-0111-4742.jpg

lol pretty good man, but ya I was pretty blown away when the headline popped up.

[aznpoopy]

he said it was due to a design flaw on mattel's end.

"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."

yes china's manufacturing sucks.

but if they were building them to spec and the problem was on mattel's end, i think its rather noble of him to take the fall for it when he didn't need to.

[exitspeed]

Is this regarding the lead paint being used? How is that a design flaw. Don't cheap out and use lead fuckin paint.

[drift freaq]

he said it was due to a design flaw on mattel's end.



yes china's manufacturing sucks.

but if they were building them to spec and the problem was on mattel's end, i think its rather noble of him to take the fall for it when he didn't need to.
Noble maybe, right? No, but I bet you ten to one the Chinese black mailed him into saying that . They were losing face in the international business community for this. Normal Chinese reactions to these things as a country is to deny and accuse the other side of doing exactly what they themselves are doing. They most likely told Mattel either you apologize publicly or we will just stop doing business with you. Of course Mattel being driven by greed would just apologize and save possilbe millions of dollars lost. Unethical and wrong but look no further than Enron to see how unethical and wrong business executives can be when money is involved.

P.S. This indeed was about the lead paint issue originally and Mattel is basically commiting a form of subterfuge here by apologizing in a manner that clouds the facts around the original issue. Again look no further than the Chinese goverment to see why these actions are taking place.

[aznpoopy]

im surprised the chinese government has enough clout to blackmail mattel into taking the fall for this. scary. lol

[drift freaq]

im surprised the chinese government has enough clout to blackmail mattel into taking the fall for this. scary. lol

Indeed China is scary. They are taking the manufacturing base away from the rest of the world,due to their artificially low wages and manufacturing costs, because they do not honestly let their currency float on its on. In the past the Chinese Yuan has always been tied to the dollar at a artificially low rate. China's excuse for this was they were a third world nation that need to catch up. Problem is their manufacturing base has become huge due to this and even though recently they let their currency float a little they still have not taken the reins off it. (From a manufacturing basis they are right up there with the rest of the industrilized world,at this time.)
If they did the value of it would rise dramatically and they would no longer have a unfair cost of manufacturing advantage in relation to the rest of the worlds cost of manufacturing.
That is why we see so much cheap Chinese stuff and lots of knocks offs. Corrupt goverment and corrupt trade pratice.

China has become a double edged sword. A lot of the products we take for granted are manufactured over there these days. Computers, coffeemakers,clocks, car parts, etc... some of the companies invested over there work real hard to make sure the corruption and graft does not seep into the factories they use. Unfortunately China is a large country with a Goverment based on Totalatarian rule( they like to call it Communism.) They have only adopted Capital business pratices because they had to for financial reasons and even then its a very corrupt form. Their Idealogy is still very non Western non Democratic.

[azndoc]

Damn it Dave.

I'm offended.

So send me free parts to make me like you again.

Fuck, wait I'm not Chinese.

Oh damn it send me free parts anyways.

[EvilRB]

Wait I am Chinese and I'm always offended by what Dave says!

I'll give you my free parts list later tonight!!

LoL

[VROOOM]

my mom works at mattel, ill get the inside story later tongiht for you.

btw it has always been about lead paint and small magnets. lead paint sounds better for the news to report on cuz it brings ratings

[HalveBlue]

drift freaq, I feel you, man...for the most part.

I think China is to blame for a lot of this, but so are we. Why?

Because we as a nation have completely let our economy be sold out from underneath us. Now we're at the point of no return. China is dependent on us, and we're dependent on China. The manufacturing base has been almost completely wiped out in this country.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the free market and competition. But that's not what's happening. Chinese employers don't have to abide by the same work, patent, and environmental regulations that American companies have to. That gives the Chinese a huge break when it comes to competition.

This issue makes me think of George Carlin who always seems to be express the way I feel rather straightforwardly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCojqV5dMkk

[special_k86]

So where was Mattel's quality control on that one?

[drift freaq]

drift freaq, I feel you, man...for the most part.

I think China is to blame for a lot of this, but so are we. Why?

Because we as a nation have completely let our economy be sold out from underneath us. Now we're at the point of no return. China is dependent on us, and we're dependent on China. The manufacturing base has been almost completely wiped out in this country.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the free market and competition. But that's not what's happening. Chinese employers don't have to abide by the same work, patent, and environmental regulations that American companies have to. That gives the Chinese a huge break when it comes to competition.

This issue makes me think of George Carlin who always seems to be express the way I feel rather straightforwardly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCojqV5dMkk

I do not disagree on this one, this is something that actually started to happen back with Japan. Though Japan was not nearly as aggressive about it. Then it got expensive for Japan to manufacture in Japan which is what happened in the U.S. and both the U.S. and Japan fucked up in this area instead of figuring out ways to make manufacturing here cost effective they just took it overseas. That is where China stepped in. The problem is China does not follow the rules. Nor are they going to their Idealology is anti western to begin with.

[quote special k86] So where was Mattel's quality control on that one?[quote]

thats a good question.

[Farzam]

"CHINESE MANUFACTURING PRIDE"

You don't hear that often.

[VROOOM]

it would suck if your product was in a different country and you couldnt get it


on a side note my friend just handed me a 8 oz coors light. wtf is that

[ramblux]

I've had a little firsthand experience with Mattel from the inside, and I think what it boils down to is that there's no way that Mattel is going to stop getting toys made in China due to their extremely cheap manufacturing costs. That being said, it's better for Mattel to shoot itself in the foot for the short term and chalk it up to a "design flaw" rather than 1) piss off China, and 2) have to stop manufacturing in China due to lack of consumer confidence.

[DRavenS13]

^^^I agree.

Pissing off China would, in turn, cause production costs to go up for Mattel, and then we get fucked royally when we have to pay outrageous costs for toys and stuff. I am SO COOL on having to pay 15-20 bucks each on toys for my kids come Xmas/birthdays. I can live with 6.99 for a set of 10 hot wheels and 5.99 for a barbie.

[ixfxi]

^^^I agree.

Pissing off China would, in turn, cause production costs to go up for Mattel, and then we get fucked royally when we have to pay outrageous costs for toys and stuff. I am SO COOL on having to pay 15-20 bucks each on toys for my kids come Xmas/birthdays. I can live with 6.99 for a set of 10 hot wheels and 5.99 for a barbie.

There are other countries willing to take on the labor, rest assured. Mexico still makes a lot of product for the US.

"Several firms have been fired, and Mattel has introduced mandatory audits on products coming out of Asia as well as tougher testing procedures."

like its SO fucking hard to make a gaddamn TOY. if they cant make toys for mattel, what makes you think they can make quality HID kits and car performance parts, which are supposed to endure exposure to the elements?

this is exactly the type of shit i am talking about as to why china FAILS when it comes to manufacturing. however, with very strict control... it IS possible to run a factory in there, and still end up with a decent product.

cheers
mike

[DRavenS13]

True, but if it was just as cost-effective, why wouldn't they have gone to Mexico in the first place?

[HalveBlue]

Because there is an inherent expense involved with moving manufacturing operations to another country.

Besides, it would take at least several months to reestablish production. The loss in production would cost Mattel millions.

[mrmephistopheles]

Yeah, I try to stay away from Chinese manufactured stuff, but it's so hard anymore. literally 95% of the crap sold on base here is Chinese.

I'm fairly certain we've sworn off all toys sold in major stores (unless it's clear they're not made in China). I understand the whole concept of free economy and capitalism, but all these major corporations are losing sight of the fact that the economy will collapse if they keep outsourcing labor, cheaping out on parts and sacrificing quality and the wellbeing of their market for the sake of the almighty dollar.

The US will lose it's clout in about 50 years if we keep on this path. The corporations will continue glutting in the money of America, and when the federal gov't finally realizes that all this profiteering is actually bad for the people, they'll clamp down on big business, and you'll see a mass exodus of these corporations to more fair-weather countries who are more than willing to look the other way from such business practices in the interest of building up the economy.

Do I find it shocking that Wal-Mart owns something like 70% of the manufacturing places in China? Not anymore.

Do I shop at Wal-Mart? Nope.

America is probably boned, unless radical action is taken, ie. greatly reducing taxation of lower-income persons, and taxing corporations more heavily. Soon enough, there's going to be too many Americans and too few jobs (unlike China where there's more than enough Chinese and more and more jobs each day, thanks to you buying that $25 DVD player).

[RiversideS13]

they pirate other automobile products and they never apologize or admit. it just their arrogant style...