Thread regarding Mattel Inc. layoffs

Bold at the end? It's deliciously fun to dream about, but there's zero chance of that. HWID will drift silently off into the night, like the iceberg that sank Titanic, as management rearranges the deck chairs pretending that all is well and offering you distractions. More free Peet's coffee anyone? Look Ma, no bag checks! Have some cake at our world-class corporate party... outdoors on the loading dock! Line up for a free forklift ride!

Seriously, Mattel culture has NEVER supported an honest, open post-mortem when products fail. Although it would be prudent and useful to find out what went wrong, it would expose poor choices and cast the glaring spotlight of accountability on management, and they simply would never stand for that. And thus, we find ourselves in this situation yet again. Insanity is doing the same thing over & over, expecting different results. Maybe next time! Surely management's vision will be perfect next year! You know, 20/20 in 2020! We got this!

There is more painful truth in this thread than most others combined. Mattel is always late to the technology party, and when they finally arrive, kt's consistently bad. Wrong play pattern, wrong price point, wrong target audience, more PITA than fun. Just because you pay extra to sell something in an Apple store doesn't make it any better, smarter, or more appealing. Heads will eventually roll, but of course, they will be the wrong heads.

HWid is Mattel showing up at the Toy-to-Life party with a six pack of Natty Ice, kicking down the door yelling "Let's get it started!" only to realize everyone left four years ago.

Platform... hmmm... it’s really just a copy of an idea from years ago that several video games companies did and made $ on. The issue is you need to understand your audience and ask “is it fun” - the original versions of this innovation were “fun” because they had a very immersive game driving them - they did not simply rely on the gimmick.

Sadly, because the “clown world” and "Honkler” memes have become a prominent symbol of alt-right hatred, clowns are now considered to be problematic. It’s no secret that the alt-right and right wing extremists are adept at weaponizing memes and other digital media in order to bully marginalized and oppressed minority groups. Because of this, any reference to clowns is problematic, even misspelled references. Please do not use hate speech on this forum. 🤡

What’s a “Clowb”??

Is Hot Wheels ID just the latest in a long litany of failed attempts at tech at Mattel. Off the top of my head, the Learning Company, Radica, Hyperscan, Fuhu and Nabi, Sprouting, ThingMaker, Aristotle, Smart Bear, Hello Barbie, Smart Dream House, Barbie Hologram, Viewmaster, the hiring of Margo Georgiadis. I'm sure there are at least a dozen other examples over the years. If we keep trying I'm confident we'll eventually get it right.

Sales dollars and quantity is well below the investment dollars and expectations. So far , but this pattern is typical at Mattel. If it is a money loser, who takes the blame. Many high paid people should take the hit. Don’t push B.S. money losing projects. Don’t defend the continued cancer that is Mattel senior decision makers .

Give me a break OP, Mattel invested 4 years and tens of millions of dollars to ensure the HW brand is future-proofed for decades to come. If you think they're just going to abandon HWid after a single season you really don't see the big picture here. HWid not a toy line, it is a platform on which all future toy lines will be built. This is only the beginning.

OK Boomer.
You are right nothing new should ever be tried.