A “Made in China” Apology
An interesting story from the Washington Post (h/t China Challenges) about the Mattel toy story. The company made an apology for the recall, and the Chinese media took it as an apology to China. But is that how it was meant?:
“Mattel says that Thomas A. Debrowski, its executive vice president for worldwide operations, was in Beijing to repeat what the company had already said in Europe and the United States, that it was sorry for the recall of millions of toys, and that it was doing all it could to prevent further problems.
The Chinese press heard it differently. The state-run New China News Agency said Debrowski “apologized personally Friday to a senior Chinese official for the massive recall of Made-in-China toys due to design flaws committed by itself.” Other media outlets said Debrowski apologized for harming the reputation of Chinese firms.”
PR can be a tricky business, and foreign firms have to be increasingly careful what they say when talking about China (even if it is to clarify things to a US audience) if they want to be welcomed, and if they want to avoid a (mis)communications meltdown.
See news source:
Mattel and China Differ on Apology
Interpretation Sets Off Debate
By Renae Merle and Ylan Q. Mui
Washington Post Staff Writers
Read Original Post Here
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