Business Nation - April 2007

“IT’S WAR!”
Mattel is the biggest toy company in the world, and Barbie is its top-selling brand.  But that may not be for long.  A vicious fight is brewing in Toyland.  In one corner, the 47-year-old reigning icon, Barbie.  In the other, a team of saucy and controversial Bratz dolls, ready to battle for every bit of the $5 billion dollar worldwide market. 

CNBC's David Faber, chief correspondent of Business Nation, goes behind the lines in the doll wars.

"IT'S WAR!" Excerpt
A fight is brewing in Toyland between Barbie and Bratz dolls. David Faber talks with Isaac Larian, head of MGA Entertainment and one of the most powerful men in the toy industry.

“SWEET ‘N SOUR”  
With more than 500 billion made, it's one of the most recognizable brand names in business, but the real story behind Sweet ‘N Low has been a closely guarded family secret.   Edie Magnus rips open the little pink packet to discover a family saga of wealth, scandal, and bitter rivalries.


Find out more about the family saga! "Sweet and Low: A Family Story" by author Rich Cohen, bills itself as the "unauthorized true story" of the family.

“BOBBY MAXWELL VS. BIG OIL”  
As a soft-spoken, mild-mannered accountant, Bobby Maxwell seems an unlikely hero.  But he has single-handedly taken on some of the biggest oil companies in the world, forcing them to pay millions of dollars they owed to taxpayers.  As a result, he stands to collect millions, too.  How'd he do it?
CNBC's Melissa Lee investigates.

"Bobby Maxwell vs. Big Oil" Excerpt
Bobby Maxwell is a former federal auditor who accused one of the world's largest oil companies, Kerr-McGee, of cheating the public.  CNBC's Melissa Lee has a preview.