Child Labor in Overseas Manufacturers essays

Child Labor in Overseas Manufacturers essays The issue of whether overseas manufacturers of U.S. products employ child labor in their factories is of great importance to marketing departments not only because the practice is abhorrent but because when exposed, such practices reflect negatively on both the company's management While most consumers around the world agree that they do not want the merchandise they purchase produced by child laborers who are underpaid and working under harsh or otherwise unacceptable conditions, companies who find that they have directly or indirectly used such child laborers can find it a difficult problem to manage. McDonald's found this out after charges that the give-away toys they use to market their "Happy Meals" to children were created by child laborers in China working under near-slavery conditions (AP, 2000). McDonald's argued that they did not know child laborers were used. They had contracted with a supplier by the name of "Simon Marketing, Ltd.," located in Hong Kong. This company passed the tasks on to "Pleasure Tech Holdings," who gave the work to "City Toys, Ltd." in mainland China (AP, 2000). When City Toys was located, underage workers explained how they got false identification documents so they could lie about their age credibly. When this information surfaced, McDonald's explained that they followed a strict code regarding child labor and that they periodically executed unannounced site inspections at the factories supplying them with manufactured goods (AP, 2000). However, many did not find this a credible explanation, because an inspection at neither Simon Marketing, Ltd. nor Pleasure Tech Holdings would have shown any manufacturing, and reporters visiting City Toys had no trouble ferreting out the problem. Toy manufacture is not the only area where third world countries sometimes employ child labor. The practice occurs in other industries ...