DiligenceChina

Well, they got Barbie – and even Batman took a hit. Mattel is in for another tough week. And so is China Inc.

Now, here’s a morbid test for all you China-Watchers out there: Who will get more air-time, Sarge the Jeep or Polly Pockets?

Unfortunately, I’m being serious. ‘Sarge’ is the toy car from the Pixar movie Cars. Finished in toxic lead paint that was intentionally substituted at the factory level, Sarge is a textbook example of supply chain failure. Because of the way it happened (close personal relationship between the provider of the paint and the toy-factory owner) is seems to be a particularly China-type problem.

Polly, on the other hand, is a toy for toddlers that contains a series of tiny magnets glued to fabric. Little kids consider tiny magnets a delicacy, and gluing them to fabric is like putting steak on a bed of greens. It just adds to the presentation. This really sounds like a design flaw which started – and should have stopped – at HQ early in the product development cycle.

Polly has already made a few kids sick. Lead poisoning doesn’t start showing up for years.

Mainstream media has two ways to go

If the mainstream media interprets the kids who got sick from Polly Pockets as victims of China Inc, we have got a pretty severe situation on our hands. It will meant that: A) China Inc is a lightning rod for everything wrong with consumerism in the US, and B) China will have gotten little kids sick on CNN. That’s a pretty big deal.

BUT if the media folk focus on the lead paint issue then we are still on reasonably high ground. An optimist would say that there is still a chance for clearer heads to prevail. Pessimists might say that there’s still room left to fall and that the situation may get even tenser before it improves.

The week is still young. Stay tuned.