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
             and its products.
             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
             includin...