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[02-29] [Economist-欧洲]What European toys say about European views
Charlemagne
Toy story
玩具故事
Jan 31st 2008
From The Economist print edition
What European toys say about European views
从欧洲玩具看欧洲人的观点
Illustration by Peter Schrank
LEADERS of the European project spend much timesearching for icons of a single European identity. They name “Europeansof the Year” and give awards to books—and even to journalists. There isa Charlemagne prize, a German bauble for which this column takes nocredit. Instead, it offers a humbler suggestion. In the hunt for adistinctive European identity, consider toy brands, such as Denmark'sLego or Germany's Playmobil.
欧盟领导人花了许多时间寻找统一的欧洲认同的标志。他们提名选出“年度欧洲人”，还给作家甚至记者颁奖。有一项奖叫做查里曼奖，这是个德国颁发的名头很大的奖项，与本专栏无关。相反，本专栏有个较为谦虚的提议。在寻找独特的欧洲认同时，不妨考虑考虑玩具品牌，如丹麦的Lego或德国的Playmobil.
These firms may be dwarfed in America by titans like Mattel, but inEurope they are cultural giants, vying for top spots in markets such asFrance and Germany. In their designs, business models and philosophies,they offer a striking snapshot of European aspirations, anxieties andfoibles. (Tellingly, toy bosses see Britain as a case apart, closer tothe American market in taste, and showing what they call an“Anglo-Saxon” fondness for heavily marketed novelties tied to films ortelevision.)
在美国，这些公司和Mattel这样的大公司比起来也许显得渺小，但在欧洲，这些公司却是文化巨头，竞相争夺法国德国等市场的主导地位。在它们的设计、企业模型、以及经营理念中可以看到一幅体现欧洲人渴望、忧虑、与弱点的惊人画面。（有趣的是，玩具公司老板们认为英国是个特例，其品味与美国市场更加接近，并显示出他们所称的“盎格鲁-萨克逊”式的喜爱，即对同电影或电视相关的大为宣传的新玩艺儿的喜爱）
This column offers as its European of the Year Playmobil man, a short,stiff-legged, eternally smiling, plastic figure first created threedecades ago, and today churned out at a rate of 80m a year. Study theselittle people, and you learn much about European views ofglobalisation, violence, creativity, America, race, gender equality andwhat makes a good job. For example, says Playmobil's chief executive,Andrea Schauer, “the dream of every German mother” used to be to havean engineer for a son. Parents liked to see boys assembling elaboratestructures in their bedrooms; Lego is the top toy brand in Germany. Incontrast, the French shun construction toys, preferring the world ofthe imagination. Playmobil is their leading toy brand.
本专栏将Playmobil玩偶提名为“年度欧洲人”。这是一个身形矮小，两腿僵直，始终面带微笑的塑料小人，诞生于30年前，如今年每年要生产8000万个。研究这些小人就能大为了解欧洲人对全球化、暴力、创造力、美国、种族、男女平等、以及怎样才算好工作的观点。例如，Playmobil的首席执行官AndreaSchaucer说，“每个德国母亲都曾梦想”嫁给一个工程师，生个男孩子。父母喜欢看到孩子在卧室里拼装复杂的玩具建筑，因此德国的第一大玩具品牌是Lego。相反，法国人不喜欢建造型玩具，而是喜欢激发想象的玩具。所以法国的第一大玩具品牌是Playmobil。
Visit Playmobil headquarters in Bavaria, and you will hear asurprisingly nuanced message about globalisation. Unlike the rest ofthe industry, Playmobil and Lego have largely avoided China as a placeto manufacture. That helped last Christmas, when American pressarticles advised parents in a funk about Chinese safety standards tobuy Playmobil, Lego and the like, because they were made in Europe.(Most Playmobil figures are made in Malta and their accessories made inGermany; most Lego bricks are made in Denmark.)
如果去巴伐利亚的Playmobil公司总部参观，你就会惊讶的听到一种关于全球化的微妙声音。与玩具产业内其他公司不同，Playmobil与Lego基本上没有将中国作为生产地。这一策略在去年圣诞节时帮了大忙，因为当时美国报刊上的文章建议担心中国玩具安全标准的父母购买Playmobil,Lego等品牌的玩具，因为这些玩具是欧洲制造的。（大部分Playmobil玩偶在马耳他制造，其附件在德国制造；大部分Lego拼块在丹麦制造）
The head of the family that owns Playmobil, Horst Brandstätter, hasbeen known to drift into Euro-populism when explaining the decision toinvest in new German production lines during the past five years. “Ifeverything is produced in China, who in Germany will be left to affordhigh-value toys?” he once asked. In fact, Playmobil plants are highlyautomated—its main factory in Bavaria is strikingly empty, with tinydinosaur arms or car parts falling from unmanned injection moulds as afew blue-dungareed staff trundle about on large tricycles. Its youngcustomers are fickle and unpredictable, meaning that production volumesoften need swift tweaking. Like many “fast fashion” chains, Playmobilsuspects the lead times demanded by factories in China are too long forit.
拥有Playmobil公司的家族的家长HorstBrandstätter据说在解释为何在过去五年中在德国投资建立新生产线时不小心显出了欧洲民粹主义思想。“如果一切都在中国生产，德国还有谁买得起高级玩具？”他曾这样问道。事实上，Playmobil的工厂是高度自动化的---其巴伐利亚的主要工厂工人少得出奇，小小的恐龙手臂或汽车零件从无人控制的注射塑模中落下，只有为数不多的身穿粗蓝布工作服的工人骑着大型三轮车在厂里来来去去。购买该公司玩具的儿童三心二意，难以捉摸，这意味着常常需要迅速改变产量。与许多“快速出新品”的连锁商店一样，Playmobil担心中国工厂要求的交付周期太长了。
Mrs Schauer will say only that Playmobil has decided against China forthe next five to ten years. She does not criticise rivals who make toysthere. Chinese factories can make items of “any quality”, she says. Butwhen the firm experimented with making toys in China four years ago,the costs of moulds and raw materials were no lower than in Europe. Andit took too much time and effort to prod suppliers to set standardshigh and keep them up.
Schauer夫人只会说Playmobil决定了在未来5到10年不在中国生产。她并不批评那些在中国生产玩具的竞争对手。她说，中国工厂可以制造“任何质量”的产品。但是该公司在四年前尝试在中国制造玩具时发现模具与原材料并不比欧洲便宜。而且公司得花大量时间与精力去敦促中国供应商制定高标准并达标。
What of Europe's cultural identity? Examination of Playmobil figuresreveals interesting things. Europeans are squeamish about warfare andarmies. American shelves groan under tanks and muscle-bound actionheroes; European parents are less keen. Playmobil tanks and warplanes“could certainly make big money,” says Mrs Schauer, since childrenwrite in demanding such things. But Playmobil will not make them.Europe's history, especially Germany's, rules it out. The firm alsoavoids links with violent licensed brands, such as Spiderman, saying itprefers older stories that leave children's imagination free to roam.
玩具同欧洲的文化认同有什么关系？细看Playmobil玩偶，会得出有趣的发现。欧洲人很反感战争与军队。美国商店的货架上摆满了玩具坦克与肌肉发达的动作明星玩偶；欧洲的家长却并不想买这些东西。Playmobil制造坦克和军用机玩具“肯定能大赚一笔”，Schauer夫人说，因为孩子们写信来表示想要这些玩具。但Playmobil不会制造这类玩具。欧洲的历史，特别是德国的历史，不允许这么做。该公司还同“蜘蛛侠”等充满暴力的特许品牌划清界限，称其更喜欢能让孩子们自由发挥想象的故事。
From Venus to Mars
从维纳斯到战神
On the other hand, Europeans are not as pacifist as they are sometimesportrayed, nor even as anti-gun. Playmobil policemen are armed to theteeth, and have big dogs for chasing Playmobil bank-robbers (who sportstubbly chins beneath their smiles). In the adult world, many Europeansare duly happy to send armed paramilitary police to be peacekeepers,but are fretful about sending their troops into combat.
另一方面，欧洲人并不像他们时常被描绘的那样热爱和平，甚至并不那么反对枪支。Playmobil牌警察玩偶全副武装，还配有高大的猎狗，用以追捕Playmobil牌银行大盗（大盗的笑脸下是大胡子下巴）。在成年人的世界里，许多欧洲人乐意派出武装的准军人进行维和行动，但反对将军队派去打仗。
Yet go farther back in history and violence triggers little concern.There are Playmobil knights and barbarians, pirates and Romanlegionaries, all wielding lethal weapons. Europeans can even live withAmerican military toys, if they are old enough: there are Playmobilcowboys from the Wild West, and soldiers from both sides in theAmerican civil war.
不过回到更遥远的历史，暴力就不怎么引人担心了。Playmobil公司有玩具骑士、野蛮人、海盗、以及罗马军团战士，全都挥舞着致命武器。欧洲人甚至可以接受美国玩偶士兵，只要士兵够古老：Playmobil公司有来自西部大荒野的玩具牛仔，以及美国南北战争中参战双方的玩具士兵。
The difference is philosophical, says Mrs Schauer. There are no moreknights and pirates, so their combat is a “resolved story”. Modern waris “really horror”. That is echoed by Gabi Neubauer, a librarian buyingtoys in Nuremberg. She suggests that “it is more honourable to fightwith a sword, somehow.” Not all explanations are as high-faluting.Asked why Playmobil makes any tiny toy guns at all, Mrs Schauer admits“otherwise, we probably wouldn't be accepted by boys.”
Schauer夫人说，现代主题与古代主题的差别是哲理上的。现在已经没有骑士与海盗了，所以他们的战斗是已经“了结的故事”。现代战争才是“真正恐怖”的东西。在纽伦堡买玩具的图书管理员GabiNeubauer表达了类似观点。她认为“不知何故，手持刀剑战斗更加光荣”。并不是所有的解释都这么崇高。当问到Playmobil为何还是制造了小型玩具枪时，Schauer夫人承认道，“否则男孩可能就完全不接受我们这个品牌了。”
Girls are well catered for by Playmobil: women role models vary frompilots to policewomen. But when it comes to race, Playmobil figures arealmost all white. European children have never asked for anything else,and Europe accounts for 90% of turnover (two ethnic families, theCostas and the Wongs, are on the way). American customers aredifferent. Some have asked for black pilots, Playmobil bosses say, andthe firm may yet produce them. The all-important American market is onethat Playmobil yearns to break into in a big way—if it can do sowithout betraying its calm German vision of toyland. That is a trickyconflict to resolve: and a very European one.
Playmobil玩具很适合女孩：女性玩偶有从飞行员到女警察等等的各种角色。但从种族层面看，Playmobil的玩偶几乎全是白人。欧洲的孩子从没要求要不是白人的玩偶，并且该公司90%的收入来自欧洲市场（该公司正在生产两个少数民族家庭的玩偶，Costas一家与“王”家）。美国的消费者却不一样。有的表示想买黑人飞行员玩偶，Playmobil的老板们说，该公司可能最终会生产这类玩偶。Playmobil做梦都想成功的进军美国市场，因为美国市场太重要了---前提是该公司这么做时不违背其静谧的德国玩具观。这是个很棘手的矛盾，也是颇具欧洲特点的矛盾。
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