December 31, 2007
1. China During 2007, the Year of the Pig, Mattel is forced to recall almost 20 million items made in China because of lead paint on toy cars and tiny magnets that could be deadly if swallowed. Lead paint problems are also found in 844,000 Chinese-made Barbie accessories and toys with the Sesame Street brand.
Pet food makers recall more than 60 million cans of food laced with tainted melamine in wheat gluten from China. A huge underground distribution network for steroids, human growth hormones, and other bodybuilding drugs is traced to 37 companies in China. Chinese-made lunch boxes, given away by the California Department of Public Health to promote healthy eating habits among children, are found to contain lead.
Nike recalls 235,000 football helmets because the Chinese-made chin cup has a defective strap and has caused at least two concussions and a broken nose. Ethylene glycol is found in Chinese-made toothpaste. The government of China executes the former head of its State Food and Drug Administration.
2. Eli Lilly Eli Lilly wins FDA approval to put Prozac into chewable, beef-flavored pills to treat separation anxiety in dogs.
3. Leona Helmsley Upon her death, Leona Helmsley leaves $12 million to her white Maltese, Trouble.
In the first quarter of 2007, thanks to its $1.3 billion purchase of First Franklin Financial, Merrill Lynch becomes the world’s top underwriter of subprime-mortgage-backed securities. Nonetheless, with the market in meltdown just a few months later, Merrill CFO Jeffrey Edwards (pictured) tells analysts that the firm’s subprime exposure is "limited, contained, and appropriately marked." In October, Merrill announces a quarterly loss of $2.24 billion after $7.9 billion in subprime-related write-downs.
In August and September, as his company is racking up the largest quarterly loss in its 93-year history, Merrill Lynch CEO Stanley O’Neal squeezes in 20 rounds of golf, including three rounds on three different courses in a single day. In October, O’Neal announces his "retirement," walking away with a compensation package valued at $161.5 million.
Citigroup CEO Chuck Prince resigns after the company takes an $11 billion write-down.
7. High-tech toilets Japanese manufacturer Toto apologizes to customers and offers free repairs for 180,000 high-tech toilets – thrones that feature heated seats, air purifiers, blow dryers, and water sprayers – after at least three catch fire. "Fortunately nobody was using the toilets when the fire broke out," says a company spokesman. "The fire would have been just under your buttocks."
8. KFC/Taco Bell A video clip showing hordes of rats in a closed-for-the-night KFC/Taco Bell outlet in New York City gets nearly a million hits on YouTube.
The French daily Le Monde calls Ratatouille, Pixar’s movie about a rat in a kitchen, "one of the greatest gastronomic films in the history of cinema."
10. Electronic voting machines Diebold tightens security after it is revealed that a simple virus can hack its electronic voting machines. Months later a hacker uses a picture of a key from the company website to make a real key that can open the company’s machines.
Made (Badly) in China
Grand Prize Winner
During 2007, Mattel recalls almost 20 million items made in China because of lead paint and tiny magnets. Pet food makers recall more than 360 million cans of tainted food from China. Chinese-made lunch boxes given away to promote healthy eating among children are found to contain lead. And so on … and so on … and so on.
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