Mattel

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Mattel Inc.

logo
legal form Corporation
ISIN US5770811025
founding 1945
Seat El Segundo , United States
management Christopher A. Sinclair
Number of employees over 31,000
sales approximately $ 6.70 billion
Branch Toy maker
Website corporate.mattel.com
As of December 31, 2015

Mattel Inc. ([ mə'tɛl ], German pronunciation: [ ma'tɛl ]) is an American toy company and the second largest toy manufacturer in the world after Lego . He is best known by the Barbie dolls that Big Jim - and the Masters-of-the-Universe - action figures . Mattel, with global headquarters in El Segundo , California , employs over 31,000 people in 42 countries and sells products in more than 150 states. The German headquarters are in Frankfurt am Main .

Company history

Corporate headquarters in El Segundo

In 1945, Mattel was founded in a garage by Harold Matson, Elliot Handler and his wife Ruth Handler . The company name is made up of Matson's nicknames " Matt " and " El liot". The first products were picture frames and wooden dolls furniture. The expansion of the range to include doll clothes was very successful, and so the Handler couple, after separating from their partner Matson, decided to concentrate more on toys.

In 1959 the first Barbie doll appeared and in 1961 the Ken doll (Barbie's friend). Mattel founded the first European office in 1966. The first Hot Wheels - toy car models appeared in 1968. The Action Figure Big Jim came in 1972 on the US market.

In 1975 the Handler couple left Mattel and in 1978 Mattel began developing the first 16-bit video game console, the Intellivision , which was released in 1980. Two years later, the first Masters of the Universe figures were published. In 1992 Mattel took over International Games , which was particularly successful with card games such as Uno , Skip-Bo and Rage . In 1993 Mattel took over the manufacturer of baby and toddler toys Fisher-Price and merged with Tyco Toys in 1997 while taking over the brands Matchbox , Tyco R / C and View-Master . In 1999 Mattel took over the learning software company The Learning Company . In 2000 Mattel became the main licensee of the Harry Potter toy line.

In 2006, Mattel announced the acquisition of Radica Games Ltd., a specialist in electronic toys. known.

In mid-2008 Mattel sued its competitor MGA, known for the Bratz dolls, for several million dollars in compensation for a copyright infringement. A Barbie designer had sold designs to the doll manufacturer even though he was still under contract with Mattel. It is still unclear whether the group can continue to sell the dolls that have already been made.

In 2009, the French game company Sekkoia , made famous by Blokus , was taken over by Mattel.

Recalls and Penalty

  • In early August 2007, Mattel recalled 1.5 million Chinese-made toys worldwide for being painted with a paint that contained too high a lead content. The head of the Chinese subcontractor then committed suicide. The group put the profit burden at 30 million US dollars.
  • Almost two weeks later, on August 14, 2007, the toy manufacturer started the largest recall campaign in the company's history. He withdrew from the market more than 18 million dolls, toy cars and other toys made in turn in China. According to the company management, small magnets that children could swallow were attached to the products, such as parts of the Barbie & Hund Tanner play set . Mattel shares lost more than 3.3 percent of their value shortly after the New York IPO.
  • In June 2009, Mattel and its subsidiary Fisher-Price were fined US $ 2.3 million by the US Consumer Protection Commission ( CPSC) . The companies knowingly imported and marketed toys from China with excessively high lead content.
  • In September 2010, Mattel recalled approximately 11 million items worldwide. According to the company, small parts of two toys sold in Germany and Austria could become loose and pose a choking hazard for small children; certain high chairs would pose a risk of injury.

criticism

In the Black Book of Branded Companies - The machinations of global corporations , the group is accused of exploiting its suppliers. B. Hourly wages of only 11 cents on 16-hour working days and without trade union rights in China.

To make the cardboard outer packaging, Mattel uses wood from the Indonesian rainforests , where the last 400 Sumatran tigers live.

In 2015, Mattel was awarded the negative Big Brother Award in Austria in the Communication and Marketing category for children's toys that record the player via microphone and make the recording available to parents.

Cooperations

Since 2011 there has been a cooperation with the Argentine company Dimare, which revived the Rasti modular system that was once developed in Germany . With the brand name Hot Wheels , four vehicle models from the typical building blocks are offered as a kit.

Products

Mattel Electronics handheld console from the 1980s

This section lists the company's products and games. It does not claim to be complete.

toy

Games

Others

Web links

Commons : Mattel  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Mattel 2015 Annual Report , accessed September 24, 2016
  2. ^ Mattel Hot Wheels 1971 TV ad on YouTube
  3. ↑ Mattel Tommy Burst TV commercial 1960s! on YouTube
  4. ↑ Masters of the Universe TV advertisement 1983/84 by Mattel on YouTube
  5. ↑ MATTEL ADVERTISEMENT on YouTube
  6. ↑ Charlotte Dietz: The cult around the blocks brings billions. In: welt.de. WeltN24 GmbH, September 4, 2014, accessed on March 7, 2015 .
  7. ^ Mattel, Inc. - Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, Background Information. At: Reference for Business (English)
  8. ↑ Cf. NN: Mattel swallows The Learning Company . In: Heise online from December 14, 1998; Robert F. Bruner: Deals from Hell. M & A Lessons that Rise Above the Ashes. John Wiley & Sons, New Jersey, USA 2005, pp. 246-254 (chapter Mattel's Acquisition of The Learning Company ).
  9. ↑ Winning Moves press kit ( memento of the original from March 29, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 416 kB) from February 5, 2009 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.winningmoves.de
  10. ↑ spiegel.de : TOXIC TOYS: Mattel fined millions (June 6, 2009)
  11. ^ "Barbie" saves Mattel from falling. In: Online edition of the Basler Zeitung . October 15, 2010, accessed November 2, 2010 .
  12. ↑ Mattel Announces Product Recall Statement. (No longer available online.) Mattel on September 30, 2010, archived from the original on November 5, 2010 ; accessed on November 2, 2010 (press release). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mattel.de
  13. ↑ “The New Black Book Brand Firms”, page 326f
  14. ↑ http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/forests/asia-pacific/barbie/
  15. ↑ derStandard.at - Big Brother Awards go to Mikl-Leitner and Facebook . Article October 25, 2015, accessed October 25, 2015.
  16. ↑ Article (Spanish) in the iEco