Disney, Toys R Us: Trash and Verify Mattel

You know the crisis is getting tiresome when your business partners start publicly distancing themselves from you. Disney and Toys R Us exercised their CYA rights in Louise Story's NYT scoop , which says both companies will institute their own "trust but verify" testing of toys made on their behalf by Mattel.

While the public spanking doesn't have the severity of the Ford-Firestone fall-out several years ago, it's still not a good sign for Mattel. While customers are usually careful not to beat up their suppliers in the press no matter how tense relations may become, both Disney and Toys R Us must have hit their limit when Mattel announced its third recall late last week.

At this point, the public offensive serves two purposes. It not only helps distance the Disney and Toys R Us brands from the woes, it also tells Mattel they're feeling they have superior leverage in future negotiations.

"A spokesman for Disney said the company's plan would cost a few million dollars a year and that Disney might try to pass along the costs to toymakers in contract negotiations."

Count on it.

Jack Flack is finally interested in the Mattel story. So stay tuned for more.