Richard Gottlieb

What really happened in 2007!
December 31, 2007

There may have been a worse year for the toy industry but it would be hard to find one.  I’m sure the Depression was pretty bad but few of us were around for that so let’s just say that it’s 2007. 

The story behind the recalls of 2007 is far more complex than what has been reported.  The press painted the industry’s year in pretty simplistic and stark terms.  They saw us as a callous industry chasing high profits in China at the expense of America’s children.  It made for good TV and maybe helped CNN’s ratings but it was truly a dangerous libel on an entire industry.

The reality was a far more complex story that involved good intentions, good works and complacency.  It was a double helix of good intent and benign neglect. 

It started several years ago when the world’s toy industries became so secure in their Chinese industrial base that they became complacent (Let me note here that complacency is confidence as seen in a rear view mirror.  Those of us who are confident never know we were complacent until after the fact).  We were so confident we decided to put our focus, our energy and our money behind improving working conditions for the world’s toy workers.

In doing so we may have taken our eye off toy safety at a time of seismic changes in the Chinese economy.  We missed it and I think, unfortunately, everyone else did as well.  I have yet to see any reporting on a lone voice in the wilderness who predicted the the toy industry's safety failures.

The toy industry’s efforts to create better working conditions are the under reported part of this story.   

So, just to correct the record, let’s take a minute and celebrate the industry’s good intentions and good works. 

Imagine an industry choosing on its own to make better working conditions and then pulling it off.  It’s a huge story.

Think about it.  The world’s toy industries,   The International Council of Toy Industries, consisting of the TIA and 20 toy organizations from other countries, managed to cobble together an agreement to create one standard for working conditions in all the world’s toy factories. 

To truly appreciate the immensity of this achievement, one has to realize that this meant getting the agreement of literally hundreds of toy companies and thousands of toy factories, not to mention the cooperation of the government of China.  It is truly historic in importance and those who championed it and made it happen are truly heroes.

It’s time for this side of the story to be reported.  It is not only a reason to be proud.  It is also a reason to have hope.  Any industry that could pull this off will certainly create the best consumer safety program the world has ever seen.

Will that side of the story be told?

Posted by Richard Gottlieb on December 31, 2007 | Comments (0)