The power of publicity

Toys 'R Us, that magnificent emporium of Chinese-manufactured goods, decided to award a $25,000 baby bond to the American first child born in the US in 2007. It turned out that the child, Yuki Lin, was the child of undocumented Chinese immigrants (restaurant workers since you ask), although she herself is a US citizen, by birthright. Toys 'R Us decided not to award the prize to her, citing small print in the prize specifications. Bad publicity for Toys 'R Us ensued, not least as the result of an email campaign started by members of the powerful US Chinese-American community; this led to a reversal of the decision, or at least a fudge because the company decided to award three prizes instead of one, including Yuki Lin, and two others who arrived at precisely the same time. What happened originally was that the names of the three babies who arrived at the same time were put in a hat, and Yuki Lin's was drawn out. She was then disqualified by reference to the small print, and another child Jayden Swain was given the prize. Now all three will be given bonds. Around 6 out of 10 children born in New York now have parents who are immigrants. A very high proportion of them are likely to be undocumented.

Original story via.