Mattel, meanwhile, has agreed to pay $12 million to more than three dozen states to settle an investigation over Chinese-made lead-tainted toys shipped to the U.S. in 2007. As part of the agreement, it also agreed to lower the acceptable level of lead in toys shipped to the U.S. to 90 parts per million, down from 600 parts per million, which is currently the federal standard. In a statement, the company says it "has taken steps that go beyond current requirements to give parents greater confidence that the Mattel toys that they buy this holiday season will be …

Catering to consumers put off by the accents of Bangalore, Manila and other call-center hubs around the globe, Dell is guaranteeing that its customer-service reps will be "based in North America." Only hitch is that the Your Tech Team service costs $13 a month for customers with a Dell account, or $99 a year for people who buy a new computer. It also promises that wait times will average two minutes or less, the Merc-News reports. The customer satisfaction score for overseas PC call centers is 23% lower than for U.S. call centers, according to CFI Group. …

Apple's Macs experienced flat year-over-year overall sales in the U.S. while Windows PCs were up 7%, according to NPD Group, which tracks retail sales. Apple's notebook sales were up 22% but desktops fell 38%. Windows notebooks rose 15% and desktops dropped 15%. "For notebooks, there is a little extra value to consumers [to buy Apple]. For desktops I'm not so sure," NPD analyst Stephen Barker tells Reuters. "To me the real story is the iMacs need a refresh." According to Technology Business Research analyst Ezra Gottheil, Apple has an entirely different surprise in store for …

Toyota says it will indefinitely put on hold its plans to begin making the hybrid Prius in a newly built plant in Blue Springs, Miss. Production was slated to start in 2010, Tina Wang reports. The facility was 90% completed but lacked machinery and equipment. "With the U.S. auto market having collapsed, at this point it doesn't make sense to have the plant at all. Not even hybrids are selling well," says Tokyo-based analyst Christopher Richter for CLSA. The AP reports that Detroit's woes "don't give Japan's automakers joy," according to an MSNBC headline …

It must be days since we observed the impact of The New Frugality on the buying public. Thankfully, the Post's Holly M. Sanders is taking a good look at a new DeBeers campaign out of J. Walter Thompson this morning. "Here's to Less," screams the headline on an ad that pitches quality over quantity, she reports. And Tiffany has a similar message with "For less than you imagine, the best there is." There may be more at play here than empty pockets, however. "There are growing indications that the desire to spend has been supplanted by the search …

Ad Age has "Stories of the Year", "People Who Made Their Mark," and Creativity's "Favorite Video Ads."Adweek has "2008: One for the Books." Inexplicably, no doubt, to Plutonians (or anyone outside the ad biz), the lead is about OfficeMax "ditching" its agencies (Toy New York and EVB) when it went to recreate Elf Yourself, the viral video sensation of 2007. Digital entertainment company JibJab produced it for free, and you know where that leads. "OfficeMax might get more than coal in its stocking," writes Brian Morrissey. "Early appraisals find …

Coca-Cola will roll out three flavors of a juice drink in its Odwalla line that contain a natural, calorie-free sweetener derived from the herb stevia, sources tell Betsy McCay. They will do so despite the fact that the Food and Drug Administration hadn't formally okayed the use of stevia as an additive as of Sunday. Stories about both Coke and Pepsi formulating drinks with stevia-based sweeteners -- called Truvia by Coke and PureVia by Pepsi -- have been running for months. Pepsi has several drinks ready to go in the U.S. market, McCay says, but it's waiting for the …

One of these days we're going to see a story about all the stories about grocers expanding their store brands to include premium products. In the meantime, between the standard quotes from retail insiders, Andrew Martin does a good job of exploring Kroger's efforts to develop products that go beyond knocking-off name-brand competitors. Linda Severin, Kroger's vp for corporate brands, heads up a division that includes value brands, middle-tier labels that compete directly with the big boys in packaged goods, and premium products such as ice cream, microwaveable-ready cut veggies and hand soap with scents such as coconut lime. …