Wednesday, September 09, 2009

GOODBYE CHEERIOS

A letter to General Mills:

At 63 years old, I couldn’t begin to estimate how much Cheerios I have eaten. No doubt the boxes would fill a room. But no more.

Your current ad campaign, promoting Cheerios as a key factor in reducing cholesterol, is simply beneath contempt. I don't mind massaging the truth a little for the sake of advertising, but this is a despicable lie for which you must be ultimately accountable. And don’t bother telling me what it says in the small print. Though it may be the consumer's responsibility to read it, few people do, as you well know. Your ad campaign is an obvious effort to boost sales through intentional deceit.

I will not buy Cheerios any more, or any other General Mills product, and I will encourage my small readership not to either. Hopefully, the word will spread from one consumer to the next until the number is large enough to send a message to General Mills that the FDA could not.

A former customer,

Bart Braverman