Edelman PR

RTE reported on the huge product recall by Mattel in Ireland last week following concerns over loose magnets and excessive amounts of lead paint in 116,000 toys in the country. It comes as part of a global move which has seen over 18 million products recalled.

There is wider discussion on the recall’s effect on ‘Brand China’. The BBC delved into the discussion and pointed out that “there are over 10,000 toy factories in China, almost all working for export, producing some 80% of the world’s toys…Mattel is believed to source its products from about 3,000 factories across China.And toys are only one industry. China is also facing criticism for safety scares in everything from food and drug production to the manufacturing of tyres and toothpaste.”

While many critics of outsourcing manufacturing to Asian and Eastern Bloc economies have long argued that companies that do so sacrifice quality to price, the reality is that the Chinese have realised while foreigners may make their first purchase based on price, but their repeated business is based on quality. This recall and similar concerns about products like knock-off toothpaste aren’t doing China’s reputation any good and unless there is a serious emphasis put on quality assurance in the short term, consumers will be a lot quicker to check where goods are manufactured in the future.

Technorati Tags: BBC, China, Edelman

This entry was posted on Monday, August 20th, 2007 at 7:26 am and is filed under Edelman. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.