Mattel is the only thing more screwed up than this country. Both are too big, too unwieldy, have ridiculous policies and put too much power in the hands of a few grandstanding people who are utterly disconnected and out of touch with reality. Both have become laughing stocks, punchlines to tired old jokes. You've seen the "giant asteroid" bumper stickers saying "just end it already", that's how most of us feel at Mattel. There is no turnaround coming, only rhetoric and hollow promises by clueless "leaders". Real issues no longer matter, it's a popularity contest. How else can you possibly explain how Dickson & Down, two of the most out of touch people on the planet, can be "setting the pace" at Mattel? It's just too ludicrous. Every day we wait to see what stupid, cringe-worthy move they will make next. There is no inspiration, no motivation, no innovation, no reason to care anymore. Supposedly Dickson will replace Sinclair as CEO this year. What has Dickson achieved? Why is he the only candidate? He's no better than Hillary or Trump. A giant meteor or Hasbro buyout is our only hope.
22 replies (most recent on top)
I'm so glad I left the .company
I find our content team to be second in uselessness only to marketing and that's mainly because they take ultimate direction from marketing. How's that AI Barbie doing now? Updating that content? Is she becoming another skynet? Content boasted about their great achievement but we all knew it was going to be a flop before the first talking toy hit the shelves. BTW, you want to get into digital? Ask content! Guaranteed to be another winner with their hands in the pot.
Our problem is that we don't have a leadership team who knows where to invest internally.
Mattel's biggest problem is not a lack of creativity but an issue of focus and investment.
If it is content then God help us because that's never going to be clear.
If it is licensed partnerships then how is that being prioritized? Everyone seems to want to get into that.
If it is a foray into a digital experience then who is leading that and good luck on investing in that.
Not holding my breath on any of these as there is absolutely no alignment on anything except that someone's gotta do something.
We've been told for years that everything is going to eventually be sold online. All packaging will be white boxes with just the name and SKU on it. Guess we'll either be doing graphics for amazon or completely outsourced.
Hey "Management" I am sure all the people from MGSSA whose jobs just got outsourced were working hard and producing quality work so your post is crap. Wonder which department is next to be outsourced and how long it will be until everyone's job is outsourced.
Don't forget the constant circle jerk thats going on in EA with the over-the-hill velvet mafia over the acquisition of Adler. They must be refilling their Viagra prescriptions weekly.
Deer sent over patterns that his underlings created, which f-peeons are adding to existing product so they can hit the promised target release date. The packaging will be a sterile, bland artsy design that once again alienates the core consumers and appeals to the 1% of moms who think their all hoity toity for shopping in Target.
If you're wondering why the talent here is getting let go because we have workers in china and malaysia who work for $15 a year and sleep at their desks during their lunch breaks. They do just the same quality work and are deemed "un-skilled" labor.
Have a great weekend suckers. Hope your self esteem is at an all time high at Matthell!BTW, the above is all true.
Why have we been having all these layoffs of Designers, Engineers, Model Makers, Seamstresses, you know, the people who actually produce the product? In the name of cost reduction?
At the same time we have increased the number of Director and above positions, you know, the people who don't produce the product. People who cost more than the ones who have been let go.
Meanwhile, the company continues to circle the bowl. Is there any correlation between these facts?
Hey FP, how's Adler working out fer ya?
To the "We" post which totally sounds like our MattHell upper mismangement with out a doubt. The only thing "They" care about is if you kiss their asslike they kiss their managers asswhich is how they got to where they are at.
BTW, this guy is full of crap because in the last few rounds of layoffs "They" fired some people who did quality work, on time, on budget, & over delivered as well. But.....they didn't kiss asswhich is all that matters now at MattHell. It not if your works sucks, it's only if you don't suck.
That is exactly why MattHell sucks now as the 3rd largest toy company behind Lego & Hasbro who are both kicking MattHell's ass
To "Management": You must be playing with us. Your tone and approach is so absolutely ridiculous it couldn't possibly be authentic. If you are, by some crazy chance, Mattel management it's no wonder Mattel is in the shape that it is. You can't possibly be in a leadership position. I'm embarrassed for you.
2 years later the board should be ashamed, look at data. And no evidence of any LY plan. It's not about the employees it's about the leadership or lack there of.
The question is not, “How hard do you work?”
The question is, “Do you produce quality work?”
Honestly, the rest of us don’t care how hard you work or don’t work. And my guess is that your clients also don’t care if you work hard.
What we care about is that you do quality work.
We care that you do good work.
We care that the work you did actually works to get the job done.
We also do care that your work came in on time.
On budget.
And that you deliver (or even better, over-deliver) on what you said you would do.
But we don’t really care how much time you spent on it.
You either spent enough time doing it or you didn’t - IF your work sucks.. WE boot your pathetic assto the curb.. That's what you should care about..
You’re not the center of the universe. In fact, no one really cares about you. It’s harsh, but true. Sure, you have family and a few great friends. They will take particular interest in various parts of your life, helping you when needed. But they don’t care about you nearly as much as you care about yourself. Ultimately, you’re not top of mind to anyone but yourself. When properly understood, this is incredibly freeing and valuable. Stop being a bitch - nobody ever cared in the first place.
Perhaps Jill Barad is available to come back and bail us out. Her, or most any past president or CEO like Eckert, or Kallinske would be a vast improvement over our current "management" and I use the term loosely. Hell, Ray Wagner would be a huge improvement. And he's dead.
It's not this site that has become a joke, it's MattHell that has become a joke. Perhaps you'll get your wish on more layoffs after the Q2 results come out.
The last comment is exactly correct, no talent, stupid arrogant mismanagement has totally screwed the pooch here & when Dickson becomes the next CEO it will even get worse if that's possible.
Dickson and Down, it sound like the name of a bad comedy act! Face it, Mattel will never be on top again. All those idiots in high places for so long, short sighted and arrogant with zero reason to be. Neither understood the valuable relationship we had with Disney for over forty years. No one appreciated the equity in the Mattel brands. How badly did they ruin the relaunch of the Masters of the Universe line? Barbie is about as boring as can be; girls couldn't care less. The clothes are painted on the doll's bodies! What is a fashion doll without removable clothes? How could you screw up an evergreen brand like Hot Wheels but somehow these imbeciles did. They turned over the engineering to Asia and unfortunately, they have very little ingenuity and no pride in craftsmanship. Now we're left with a bunch of product that is dead in the water. Ultimately, the biggest waste of money was the Bratz vs. Mattel fiasco that sunk millions of dollars into a lawsuit that ended up a wash. Smart legal team would have advised to drop the law suit and more forward with incredible new product to beat MGA at their own game. Where do you think the funds for the redesign of the Handler Center went?
People are laid off or quit & their work gets piled onto the poor suckers who remain without any additional compensation or recognition. If you do a good job you don't get promoted, they just pile on even more work. Meanwhile useless Execs who come in late, leave early & do nothing but delegate to anyone & everyone else (even when it's not their area) get promoted? Disgusting. Supervisors are losing their kits and shouting down anyone who dare ask a question about workload. HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT. Corporate America sucks & thanks to Citizens United execs are abusing the power they've amassed to continually squeeze workers. I'm voting Bernie Sanders today regardless of what the AP or any of the other corporate news media say.
This site has become a joke. We need another massive layoff at Mattel and its affiliates so we can get some new blood on here to complain and gossip.
Kilpin was in toys for over 30 years & nice guy but it was under his watch where he enabled all the higher mismanagement in Design/Engineering. I was there, watched it happen. He's now gone and some of those he enabled are also gone but many are still left making the mess.
As far as executives go, they've always been useless but at least Jill knew Barbie which flourished on her watch. Dickson, not gonna happen so the decline will continue. It's done, turn out the lights, the party's over but the execs will still get their millions.
Who cares about the workers ...................
This place is a joke.. Nobody cares.. its like the Walking Dead..
Sweet baby Jesus! why can't these people just go away already? They are the ruination of productivity and morale.
Well said and exactly why we have to hire so many over paid consultants to help make more bad decisions.
What do you expect? The company is run by people without long term Toy Business experience. These people have no passion for what we do.
Sinclair is from the Food business.
Dickson is from Cosmetics.
Chugg is from Food.
Schwaber is from TV.
We manage to have Execs with toy biz experience in places like operations but not in creative!