General Mills
General Mills is a global food company with revenues in 2005 of $11.2 billion.
General Mills product range includes snacks, yoghurt, ice-cream, prepared cereal products, convenience dinner foods, refrigerated dough and baking products such as Bisquick baking mixes and Betty Crocker. [1]
Contents
Pushing Pancakes with Fake News
In March 2006, a video news release (VNR) produced for General Mills / Bisquick by the PR firm Medialink Worldwide aired on at least four television stations, disguised as "news." The stations who aired the VNR were KYTX-19 in Tyler, Texas; WBOC-16 in Salisbury, Maryland; WFXW-38 in Terre Haute, Indiana; and WILX-10 in Lansing, Michigan. [2]
The VNR featured new ideas for pancake dishes, such as Mexican corncakes, orange toffee pancakes, banana split pancakes, and PB&J shortstacks. The VNR coincided with "National Pancake Week," created in 1985 by General Mills and Bisquick. [3]
Getting Multicultural
In August 2006, PR Week reported that General Mills "is simultaneously launching two separate PR campaigns targeting African-American and Hispanic communities." The African-American campaign, headed by the firm Circulation Expertí and starting October 1, is called "Serving Up Soul." The promotion centers around a contest, judged by "lifestyle expert" B. Smith, "to find a woman 'who serves up soul [food] in the most creative way,'" according to the firm's Tenley-Ann Hawkins. [4]
The Hispanic campaign, headed by Hispania Public Relations and starting September 1, is called "Que Rica Vida" ("What a Rich Life"). The promotion centers on mural contests for children, held in Houston, Miami and Los Angeles. The contests "will be supported by a substantial promotional component called 'retailtainment' events, where the agency hands out goody bags." It also includes a Que Rica Vida magazine, with "sections on nutrition and home life." [5]
Conatct Information
General Mills, Inc.
P.O. Box 9452
Minneapolis, MN 55440
Web: http://www.generalmills.com/corporate/index.aspx
SourceWatch Resources
External Links
- Diane Farsetta and Daniel Price, "Fake TV News: A Press Push for Pancakes," Center for Media and Democracy, April 6, 2006.
- Michael Bush, "General Mills efforts eye multicultural audiences," PR Week (sub req'd), August 22, 2006.
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