Comments on: Kellogg…one of the worlds most ‘ethical’ companies?

By: kelloggs worker 294323

kelloggs worker 294323 — Mon, 10 May 2010 03:26:59 +0000

I agree with the anonymouse guy; I also work for kelloggs, their ethical ranking is absolutely a meaningless gesture decided by a meaningless source. It wasn’t wallstreet or the economist because their ethics compliance training falls short of valuable. They ask one questions like “Don’t you love kelloggs while you’re not breaking any laws” etc. the corporate rhetoric and policies make one realize “this is not a job, this is observational insight and hell on earth” and fuck cheezits

By: Desmondo

Desmondo — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:31:09 +0000

Hey Guys, don’t let your cortisol be raised, it shows them they’ve been noticed.

There is no such thing as bad publicity, there is only Brand Exposure.

It’s Marketing, Marketing, Marketing by Kelloggs and many others – ‘cos it it as certain as Death & Taxes that that there is perceived “added value”, that is, a higher price mark-up charged on the Organic Product at all levels in the Distribution Chain.

Even in a product with as little processing as milk, there is ALWAYS a higher store price asked for skim, “lo-fat” etc over the normal “full fat” product! Why? Higher added value.

(BTW, it’s the same for “fish oils”, ” cod liver oil” and so on – the price premium for the “convenience” of encapsulation is quite staggering.)

It’s neither ethical nor non-ethical, it is just making sure that another Manufacturer cannot get a leading Brand Image over another supplier and become an alternative supplier to the trade.

Business as usual – plus ca change, just more of what your mother can choose.
(Ignore, I’m light headed before completing my 1st day IF.)

Bye – no response needed.

By: Karen Barber Fitz

Karen Barber Fitz — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 20:46:10 +0000

Great posts here and the ‘Ethisphere’ model is in fact window dressing to further perpetuate opressive business practices of major corporations. If you look at the ‘most ethical’ companies (HSBC, GE?) they read like a ‘who’s who’ of preditory practices, off-shore labor and unethical practices.

It doesn’t mean crap to celebrate these ‘well adjusted Nazis’ – more employees need to band together to boycot the products of ‘heartless assholes’ NOW!

By: anonymouse merchandiser

anonymouse merchandiser — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 06:42:57 +0000

I work for Kellog Snacks Division as a Merchandiser(guy who puts stuff on the shelf in stores.) I do everything but cereal, pop-tarts and kashi(but not for long.) And I have to say that kellogg is most definitely NOT an ethical company. The only reason they were considered in the first place is because of a massive campaign they threw million of dollars at called “K Values” which is a huge list of niceties that the company wants every employee to live by. Every employee in the company had to sign a pledge to adhere to the guidelines within. Not only do they they want you to live by them at work, but also at home. What a load of crap. I’ve personally met one of the regional managers(multi-state) and he was one of the biggest assholes I have ever met. He has the most abrasive personality of anyone I can think of off hand. The policy at Kellog is to promote bulldogs and demote good people, or cut their pay so much that they have to move somewhere else.
Recently they just announced that they are cutting the pay of their sales reps by 25%, and will soon follow by adding 46 new items that they have to bring into the store and babysit several times a week. This means they will be working longer and harder for less. My boss(For whom I have a great deal of respect) has been working as a sales representative for keebler for over 15 years and loved the company when “Keebler” was still calling the shots. Ever since Kellogg bought them out with their hostile takeover his pay as gone to hell and his work load doubled.
I have not even got to how this affects me. I am pretty much the lowest man on the totem pole in the company. The order of importance in the company goes, Corporate, Warehouse, Distribution, Drivers, Account managers, Sales Reps, and lastly merchandisers. As the folks in my position are on the bottom, we are the largest group of employees. This means that when it comes to being a month away from a quarterly budget and their falling short, we are the easiest way to save money, therefor they come in under the budget and all the corporate assholes and regional managers get their multi thousand dollar bonuses. While we the merchandising force get our hours cut in half a month and a half before Christmas.
There is nothing ethical about Kellogg. Nothing whatsoever. If they really had any ethics to begin with they would start asking question like, “What percentage of our workforce is on federal or state assistance?,” “How many of our employees are on welfare?,” “Or my favorite is it worth taking Christmas away from thousands of children because their parents are employed by a bunch of heartless assholes just to make your stock price rise 5 percent.”
The answer is no, you suck. Kellogg, you have half the ethics of a great company like Keebler had before you took them over. And it doesn’t matter how many millions of dollars you throw at the Kvalues program, you are still a bunch of heartless assholes.

Interesting insight. Thanks for posting.

By: Esther

Esther — Fri, 18 May 2007 22:27:33 +0000

I think I’ll have to give that recipe of Ryan’s a try, too. I used to eat a lot of that Kashi cereal before I saw the light.

Didn’t the Victorians also believe that a woman needed to achieve an orgasm in order to conceive? Seems that I read that somewhere.

Hi Esther–

Don’t know if the Victorians believed that or not, but somehow I doubt it.� Looks like there is enough interest that maybe I should do a post on womb manipulation in due course.

Cheers–

MRE�

By: KAZ

KAZ — Fri, 18 May 2007 16:10:05 +0000

Oh, and I mis-used “laconic”. Apparently I learned the word from context, and in this case incorrectly parsed its meaning. In my defense, I noes lot’s of other word’s.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Fri, 18 May 2007 16:09:14 +0000

What I do when the cold cereal itch hits, is to take a handful of unsweetened coconut flakes, add chopped pecans and almonds, mix in a scoop or so of protein powder, some cinnamon, and a packet of Splenda. If I want a little more carbs, I might add some berries. Splash in some cream and a little water and stir.

It’s both chewy and crunchy – really hits the spot.

Mmmm.� Sounds good.� I’ll give it a try next time I have the itch.

Cheers–

MRE�

By: KAZ

KAZ — Fri, 18 May 2007 16:03:03 +0000

The very first thing I said was “Yes, a company that sells people what they want, and is otherwise good, is an ethical company.”

Obviously, harvesting kidneys under “questionable circumstances (presumably against the patients’ will) would not count, because that violates the people whose kidneys were stolen.

If Kelloggs is stealing wheat to make their pop tarts, then they’re not an ethical company.

You seem, in suggesting that the two are equal, to be failing to differentiate between coercion and voluntarily “wrong” behavior. The initiation of coercion is always evil, whether it be force/violence, fraud/deception, or theft. But people voluntarily engaging in activities that are thought by others to be wrong, yet don’t violate anyone against their will, are at most debatable.

Likewise, you misinterpret my statement of the ethics of meeting a demand; If an action is ethical, that doesn’t mean all actions taken to acheive it are also ethical. Telling the truth is always ethical, but murdering someone to learn truth that was none of your business, and then violating someone’s legitimate privacy by telling it would NOT be ethical. Likewise meeting a market demand is ethical, but you still need to not initiate force, fraud, or theft to do so.

As for the Joe Camel vs Marlboro Man question, which part are you disputing? A five minute google can tell you not only which cigarette dominates the marketplace (Marlboro), but also which is most smoked among children (Marlboro).

Likewise, you can google up discussions of WHY children smoke, by sociologists and psychologists instead of by bureaucrats praying upon our fears in order to profit from anti-smoking hysteria. It’s an effort to seem more adult. It is a rite of passage. Which is more of a symbol of adulthood: A cartoon character, or a studly cowboy? It’s no surprise that Marlboro has the largest market share of any brand, in any age group.

By the way; our government-imposed organ transplant system is, itself, a grave evil. It violates the free will of people who would sell their own organs, or who would buy organs to save their own lives. The only regulatory purview government legitimately has in organ transplants is to protect people from having them stolen, or being defrauded. They have no business causing the deaths of large numbers of people each year by creating an artificial organ shortage with their ridiculous bureaucracy and rules.

I would argue that there are companies that could see products for which there might be great demand and that company might not be ethical.� Certain types of drugs, for example.� I’m sure you believe in legalizing drugs, and so do I.� But some can wreak plenty of havoc upon those who use them, and can cause permanent damage.� Were these drugs legal, there would be a demand for them. (There is already a demand for them and they’re not legal.)� People taking these drugs are a menace to themselves and others.� I don’t think a company of person would be ethical providing such drugs even if they were legal and there was a huge demand.�

And I don’t believe that telling someone to do a 5-minute Google search is providing documentation.� If it were, I could post any outrageous thing I wanted on this blog, then when readers took me to task, I could simply tell them to do a quick 5-minute Google search and they would see that I was right.

Cheers–

MRE�

By: jeff

jeff — Fri, 18 May 2007 14:11:17 +0000

On the money again, Mike. I no longer buy Kellog cereals but I do rely on MorningStar foods for the protein. As a vegetarian low–carber, they seem to work and they taste better than most. I believe they are beginning to market organic non-gmo soy burgers- a ray of ethical hope for us meatless warriors!

By: Cindy Moore

Cindy Moore — Fri, 18 May 2007 00:55:08 +0000

I’ve seen the movie (yep, stupid but it has some funny parts), and now I’ve requested the book from the library.

I’d bet your readers would love to have some background information on old medical treatments….I’ve read that the vibrator was orginally made for docs because it was so much work “manipulating the womb”. LOL

Hi Cindy–

You are correct about the vibrators.� The old way was pretty tiring, not to mention time consuming.

Cheers–

MRE�