At McDonalds....and who was that merchandise buyer again?..name please?

Ohoh.  McDonalds, in its race for every cheaper giveaways, went to China for this baby...about 12 million of them. You can read the story here but let me summarize.

In a follow up to Shrek Forever After, Micky D decided to sell glasses at $2 a pop.  So to increase its profit margin, it went to China to get these things. Unfortunately China has about as much product "restraint" as a two year old in a candy store so they used Cadmium in the paint. According to our standards, Cadmium can be very toxic, and is dangerous if it is swallowed or inhaled. While spontaneous recovery from mild cadmium exposure is common, doses as low as 10 milligrams can cause symptoms of poisoning. There is no accepted fatal dose amount.

So let me get this straight. McD wants to sell glasses at $2....about 12 million of them. $24 million gross. It goes to China to get them on the cheap, ships them to the US, distributes them from on central place all over the US and figures that this is better than buying from a US source (#1 point) and circulates poisonous glasses to kids (minor risk but whatever) in the hopes of making perhaps $1 a glass max when you count in all the add on costs.   WHAT ARE THESE GUYS DRINKING FROM?