• 6 Comments
  

TWENTY years ago, Nestle could have got away with sourcing milk from a dodgy diary dairy somewhere remote from its Swiss headquarters. Not in today’s world.
Social networking has shifted power in a very subtle way. Corporations find themselves having to weigh up the gains they make from their dodgy practices against a rapid global assault on their brands.
In the case of Nestle’s decision to source milk from a diary dairy seized by Grace Mugabe in Zimbabwe, it was a matter of days before the world began to mobilise, threatening boycotts of Nestle products and a wave a negative media coverage across the globe.
After losing valuable days prevaricating, Nestle did the only thing it could: It canned its deal with Grace Mugabe and backed away from the muck as quickly as it could.
The world has become a very small place for those who operate in the ethical margins

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  4. Contaminated baby formula: From the mouths of cows
  5. Mugabe must not be welcomed to South Africa

 

Comments

 

Hermann

October 2, 2009 at 7:51 am

I stand corrected, but I believe Nestle was also responsible for unethical marketing practices in the 1960′s.
They dumped cheap infant formula in the East African market and once the mothers stopped breastfeeding, they then increased the price of the infant formula, leaving them no alternative but to buy the formula at inflated prices.

 

pearson

October 2, 2009 at 7:58 am

@ Herman. I would like to correct you on your comment “unethical marketing practices in the 1960’s.”
Make that the 1950s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and now Grace Mugabe

 

Jim

October 2, 2009 at 8:22 am

People power wins again!
By the way – get your sub-editor a cup of strong coffee to wake him/her up – it’s dairy, not diary!

 

Leighanne

October 2, 2009 at 8:34 am

What about the Melamine found in Nestle milk.Melamine-contaminated milk has killed four babies and sickened more than 50 000 children in mainland China.

 

Perry Torrance

October 2, 2009 at 12:48 pm

Only woken up to the fact that multinational corporations are dodgy, now?

Pick a brand. Any Big Name Brand. One of the Fast Moving Consumer Goods Brands, like Coke, Nike, Nestle, Apple, Levi’s or Colgate. Do some digging. They all have histories of dodgy labour practices, tainted merchandise, recalls and underhanded selling pitches. Do you reallt think they care about where they source their products from? Of course not – as long as it’s the cheapest, they’ll take it.

The upshot? Guess who keeps them in clover?

You. And your unthinking attitude towards brands. According to you, if it’s big and familiar, it’s safe. Wrong. The bigger the brand, the less they care about you – what they’re after is your money. The bigger the brand, the more reason they have to cut corners, which means…you guessed it: cheaper labour and cheaper raw product. It’s called cpaitalism, and you are its sponsor.

Wanna make a difference? Start thinking for yourself for a change. Now that would be radical, wouldn’t it? Or else get ready for a world where your house is built on a landfill choked with Unilever packaging and your garden swimming in an ocean of Woolworths ready-meal cartons.

Wake up, people. We don’t have much time left before our overpopulation and rampant consumerism leaves us up **** creek.

Please, start thinking for yourself.

 

Tony Namate

October 4, 2009 at 3:13 pm

The Cow’s milk is turning sour…

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