Fisher-Price history

Herman Fisher retired from his post as president of Fisher-Price in 1966 and was succeeded by Henry Coords, who had been recruited from AT & T's affiliate company Western Electric.

In 1970, in what was then the largest advertising campaign in the company's history, Waring and LaRosa created a campaign emphasizing the quality and sturdiness of Fisher-Price toys.

General Mills Fun Group, for example, spent $8.8 million on network advertising in 1975; Mattel and Hasbro spent $6 million and $4 million, respectively.

As Fisher-Price entered new markets, it also expanded the scope of its advertising, offering commercial spots during children's television programming for the first time in 1976.

With the help of ad support, Fisher-Price's new toy lines made 1986 a profitable year.

In 1987, the company introduced the first video camcorder for children.

Though the first promotional products met with success and brought additional revenues to the company, by 1988 resources had to be shifted from the company's preschool, infant, and juvenile lines to support the failing promotional line, according to Children's Business.

The restructuring efforts had returned Fisher-Price to profitability by 1991.

Two years later, in November 1993, Mattel bought Fisher-Price.

They look to developing (toy) lines over the long term.' Fisher-Price's infant and preschool lines became Mattel's second largest product category, after Barbie, making up an estimated one-fourth of Mattel's 1994 sales.

By 1997, Mattel decided to market all of its preschool products under the Fisher-Price name.

By 1998, the company had sold approximately ten million of the battery-powered cars, which were popular among both boys and girls and ran to nearly 100 different models.