Toy Monster - The Big, Bad World of Mattel

From Boise to Beijing, Mattel's toys dominate the universe. Its no-fun-and-games marketing muscle reaches some 140 countries, and its iconic products-Barbie, Hot Wheels, and Chatty Cathy, to name a few-have been a part of our culture for generations.
 
Now, in this intriguing and entertaining exposé, New York Times bestselling author Jerry Oppenheimer places the world's largest toy company under a journalistic microscope, uncovering the dark side of toy land, and exploring Mattel's oddball corporate culture and eccentric, often bizarre, cast of characters.
 
Based on exclusive interviews and an exhaustive review of public and private records, Toy Monster exposes Mattel's take-no-prisoners, shark-infested corporate style. Throughout this scrupulously reported, unauthorized portrait, you'll discover how dangerous toys are actually nothing new to Mattel, and why its fearsomely litigious approach within the brutal toy business has helped their products dominate over potential rivals such as Bratz.
 
But this is only part of the story. Along the way, you'll also become familiar with the larger-than-life personalities that have shaped Mattel's eccentric world. There's cofounder Ruth Handler, a "one-woman sales-merchandising-promotion-administrative force, a sort of industrial Orson Welles," who becomes a white-collar criminal. There's Jack Ryan, the "Father of Barbie," whose second of five wives calls him "a full-blown seventies-style swinger into wife-swapping and sundry sexual pursuits as a way of life." And don't forget CEO Robert Eckert, who came from the worlds of processed cheese and hot dogs to lead Mattel-only to get grilled by the U.S. Congress, and the world press, in the lead-paint-and-dangerous-magnets cause célèbre.
 
The phenomenal Barbie brand's 50th anniversary arrives in 2009, hot on the heels of the China Toy Terror recall scandal that has tarnished Mattel's image in the hearts and minds of millions of people worldwide. Toy Monster takes you inside the scandals that have been a part of this company, and shows you why today's toy business isn't always fun and games.

List of contents

Part One: The Barbie War and the Handler-Ryan Era.
 
Chapter 1: Barbie's Untold Heritage.
 
Chapter 2: A Shocking Cover-up.
 
Chapter 3: From Weapons of Mass Destruction to Barbie, and the Knocking Off of a German Doll.
 
Chapter 4: Putting the "Matt" in Mattel, and How the Toymaker Became a Hotbed of Aggressive Hotheads.
 
Chapter 5: Real-Life Barbie Dolls.
 
Chapter 6: Horrific Scandal, Controversy and Indictments.
 
Chapter 7: A Civil War and a Hollywood Romance.
 
Chapter 8: A Bloody Tragic Ending.
 
Part Two: A Drama Princess and the Barad Era.
 
Chapter 9: "Miss Italian America".
 
Chapter 10: From "He-Man" to Home Depot.
 
Chapter 11: A Fearsome and Firing Diva and the Great Whistleblower Debacle.
 
Chapter 12: The Princess Diana Fiasco, Praying for Success, and Demi Plays Barad.
 
Chapter 13: Another Whistleblower in the Ranks, Toyland's Worst Acquisition and the End of a Reign.
 
Part Three: Toy Terror, the Bratz Attack, and the Eckert Era.
 
Chapter 14: The Processed Cheese Savior.
 
Chapter 15: Barbie's Aging, Eckert's Making Excuses, and the Bratz Pack Is Booming.
 
Chapter 16: Toy Terror 2007.
 
Chapter 17: An Outrageous Apology.
 
Chapter 18: "Like Something Out of The Exorcist".
 
Chapter 19: Keep It Out of the News!
 
Chapter 20: Don't Diss Barbie, and the Toy Trial of the Century - Bratz vs. Barbie.
 
Author's Notes on Sources.
 
Selected Bibliography.
 
Acknowledgments.
 
Index.

Report

"Jerry Oppenheimer, best known for mordant biographies like "Just Desserts" (about Martha Stewart) or "State of a Union" (on Bill and Hillary Clinton's marriage), has now trained his sights on the world's biggest toy company -- its egos, scandals and flawed products. In his toyland, nothing is cute." (The Wall Street Journal)
 
Oppenheimer (Just Desserts) takes a tour of Mattel's seamier side, highlighting its dubious corporate practices and kooky cast in this scathing portrait to be published to coincide with Barbie's 50th anniversary. Drawing on personal interviews and public sources, Oppenheimer paints a bleak picture of the peculiar practices of the adults running the toy company--including the "playboy" Jack Ryan, known as the "Father of Barbie" and rumored to be sexually obsessed with his creation, and Mattel cofounder and white-collar criminal Ruth Handler, who took credit for Barbie's invention. The author chronicles the "Doll Wars"--the fierce competition and eventual litigation between Mattel and the creators of the rival Bratz line, as well as 2007's "Black Friday the 13th," when potentially deadly magnets and lead paint in the company's most popular toys led to two massive recalls. Executive scapegoats and backpedaling resulted in public lashing from the media and intense public mistrust. Fast-paced and engaging, this exposé will absorb readers until the last page and will forever change the way they think about the company. (Mar.) (Publishers Weekly, January 26, 2009)

Product details

• Authors: Jerry Oppenheimer, Oppenheimer Jerry
• Publisher: Wiley & Sons
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 03.02.2009
• EAN: 9780470371268
• ISBN: 978-0-470-37126-8
• No. of pages: 304
• Dimensions: 163 mm x 236 mm x 30 mm
• Weight: 470 g
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Business > Business administration; Wirtschaft, Business & management, Wirtschaft u. Management, Spezialthemen Wirtschaft u. Management, Business & Management Special Topics