Bad Toys! Is China the only bad guy? (Noah Graff)

Is China the only bad guy in the lead paint fiasco, for which millions of Barbie dolls and other plastic toys were recalled? You have to blame China some. China has been responsible for past faulty and toxic products, but it’s too easy to use them as a scapegoat. What about blaming Mattel for not keeping its own quality control up to snuff? Mattel gave up control of its production operations. That’s quite risky we can see now.

Also, few point out that Mattel conveniently lumped the story of its toys that had dangerous, small magnates which it also recalled, with the lead paint toys it blamed China for. China never designed the toys with magnets, which were small and easily swallow-able, Mattel designed them. But the way the story came out made it seem like the magnets were China’s fault as well. You can read this argument in this article of Caijing Magazine.

I’m not a safety expert but my instinct tells me that it’s a lot more dangerous for a child to swallow a magnet than play with a toy coated with lead paint. The lead paint story is a red herring. Sure it’s terrible for Mattel’s sales, but at least it diverts some of the really toxic blame. I’ll bet Mattel’s PR people and lawyers are seeing the silver lining. American corporations need to take some responsibility for the well-being of American citizens.
Blaming China alone won’t solve the problem.