Where there's crisis, there's opportunity

Chinese toymakers are obviously in a bind. With Mattel recalling some 19 million toys this week, following a Fisher Price recall of 1.5 million toys, the Chinese toy manufacturing industry's short-term future is not exactly bullish.

Sure, Chinese-made items have long carried the stigma of looking or feeling "cheap," but the toys are now regarded as dangerous--with lead-paint hazards topping the list of concerns.

Quality toymakers with high safety standards will undoubtedly thrive in the wake of the massive recalls. And one company was seemingly smart enough to proactively answer the the media's question, "Where can parents turn for safe toys?"

An AP story by Lisa Eddy features a photo of Supervisor Katrin Buettner of the Haba Company in Bad Rodach, Germany. My first thought was that the company provided the pic to the AP, though an AP photographer is credited. Nevertheless, you can be certain that someone in the company's PR department or a hired PR firm arranged for and staged the photo. And it's the perfect image. The line supervisor is inspecting a kid's roller car. She looks very serious(this is one instance where stereotypes--like the German reputation for exacting precision--can work in your favor) and she looks like she coud even be a Mom herself. The brightly colored toys, while simple in design, look sturdy, hand-crafted, and disproving of the old bromide, "They just don't make 'em like they used to."

So, if I'm a parent who's sworn off Chinese-made toys because I'd rather not have my preschoolers ingesting lead paint, now I know where to turn. And anyone who's making toys oustide of China and insisting on higher standards should be capitalizing on China's troubles by getting journalists to cover their superior (and safer) products. After all, consumers don't just want to be alerted to the dangers; they want solutions. And the media's MO is typically to terrify people and later reassure them. Ride the reassurance wave whenever you can catch it.