Nestle’s bad weekend - dishonest PR exposed again 26th August 2002 Nestle’s attempts to put an ethical spin on its harmful marketing practices have backfired again this weekend: firstly because of the prize awarded to the winner of the Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Festival, secondly because of its claims made on the Mark Thomas TV programme, and thirdly, at the Earth Summit in South Africa , because of its attempts to cosy up to the UN. Nestle’s manipulative public relations resulted in a report in the Guardian on 22 August (Men only on Comedy list), which quoted the organiser of the Perrier Awards, Nica Burns, saying that "this year’s winner would be given the chance to go to Africa, under the auspices of Comic Relief, and visit the operation of Nestle, Perrier’s parent company." In an unprecedented move, Comic Relief has refuted this suggestion and distanced itself from Nestle. In a letter to the Guardian (24th Aug) Liz Firth of Comic Relief says: "There is no connection between our trips and any plans Perrier may have for the winner of its prize to visit Nestle’s operations in Africa. Comic Relief has not worked with Nestle and other infant formula manufacturers in the past because of concerns about the marketing of breastmilk substitutes. We are part of the Inter-agency Group on Breastfeeding Monitoring that is working to help make sure that breast milk substitutes are used safely throughout the world." Claims made by Nica Burns that she has researched the issue carefully and has no problems with Nestle or its work, and reports that the concerns about Nestle’s marketing are years out of date prompted satirist Mark Thomas to comment: "If Nestle are claiming that they are in the clear as far as the WHO Code goes, they are lying. I have just returned from South Africa and have bought two baby milk tins, Nan 1 and Nan 2. Nan 2 has nothing but English on the label. Having promised on my television programme two and a half years ago to ensure that labels would be in the appropriate languages, specifically in South Africa. I encountered unclean water in Lesotho and problems with distribution and pollution in South Africa. They have done nothing but try and rescue their image rather than solve the problem." Meanwhile, on Friday, 23rd, during the run up to the Earth Summit in Johannesburg, the company was given a Best Blue Actor Award at the Green Oscars for "overcoming one of the worst corporate reputations out there and daring to show its face at the United Nations." Other Oscar Winners were BP, Shell, Enron, Arthur Anderson (for shredding). In 1999, PR firm Saatchi & Saatchi advised Nestle to "aggressively advertise its links with charities and good causes" precisely to avoid bad publicity and to build "a surplus account for the times when you have a crisis." (Marketing Week, Feb 1999). After the PR disaster last year at the Perrier awards, and yet more problems at the Hay-on-Wye Literary Festival in May, perhaps now Nestle will go back to the drawing board and recognise that what is needed is a totally different approach, real changes instead of clever PR. On the same evening as the Perrier Awards, the corporate free alternative, the Tap Water Awards (backed by UNISON, the Fire Brigade Union and other unions) were held at the Bongo Club. The evening was kicked off with a procession of the winning acts on rickshaws through Edinburgh City Centre, followed by a talent-filled cultural extravaganza (see full list of winners below). There were two winners in the comedy section: Alan Francis and Des Bishop. The winner of the Perrier Award, Daniel Kitson, revealed that he had toyed with the idea of boycotting the award ceremony. According to The Independent (26th August 2002): "In an embarrassing reference for the award organisers during his acceptance speech, Kitson, who at 25 was the youngest of the six shortlisted candidates, imagined the party-goers drinking champagne "while ignoring the protesters outside". Baby Milk Action, a group that campaigns against Nestle, had picketed outside the ceremony." For more information contact: Patti Rundall, Policy Director on 07786 523493 Andrea Hill, Campaigns Officer on 07970 749329 or the Baby Milk Action Office on 01223 464420 For information on the Tap Water Awards contact Suzy Merrell, Out of the Blue Trust, on 0131 556 5204 Notes for editors The Boycott targets Nestle because independent monitoring by the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN) has consistently found the company to be responsible for systematic violations of the World Health Assembly marketing requirements, far more than any other company. The latest monitoring report, ‘Breaking the Rules Stretching the Rules 2001’ again rates Nestle as the worst company in terms of compliance following monitoring in 14 countries. The UK is one of 20 countries where national groups have launched the Nestle boycott. Last year a boycott of the Perrier Awards called for by celebrities received prominent media coverage and was welcomed by African health campaigners. Established comedians such as Rob Newman, Emma Thompson, Victoria Wood and Steve Coogan supported the boycott. A corporate-free alternative, called the Tap Water Awards, was launched by the Out of the Blue trust. Nestle is the world’s largest manufacturer of bottled water; with over 50 brands and 16% of a fast growing $33.7 billion market. Nestle faces criticism over its damage to the environment and local ecosystems in many countries. The promotion of bottled water can undermine commitment to the provision of affordable piped water. Labelling brand names such as Nestle’s Pure Life can falsely imply sterility, undermining breastfeeding and safety messages about boiling water for babies. Baby Milk Action coordinates the 20-country international Nestle boycott which has prompted some improvements to marketing practices. The boycott focuses on Nestle because it controls about 40% of the $12 billion world market in baby milks and uses its influence to undermine controls on marketing activities. Nestles policy is substantially weaker than that of the World Health Assembly and monitoring shows it to be the largest single source of violations of the Assembly’s marketing code worldwide. The boycott will continue until Nestle ends its irresponsible marketing of breastmilk substitutes worldwide and abides by the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and subsequent Resolutions in both policy and practice. The Boycott is supported in the UK by over 90 church, health and consumer groups, over 100 businesses, 80 student unions, 17 local authorities, 12 trade unions, 51 politicians and political parties and celebrities such as Emma Thompson, Mark Thomas, Julie Walters, Julie Christie and Victoria Wood. Winners of this year's Tap Water Awards are: Best film: Ruth Barrie Best Physical theatre: Attic People. (Their performance was called Drip) Best spoken word and performance poetry (two awards): Stephen Barnaby (from Edinburgh) Jenny Lindsey (from Glasgow) Best dance: Moving Laboratory (Their performance was called Alchemy) Best Comedy (two awards): Alan Francis (His performance was called Clobbered) Des Bishop (His performance was called Comical Warfare). Best Music (two awards): Mrigya (from Delhi - they brought the house down) Phamey Gow (on harp) Best Theatre (Two awards):Martin Maguire (from Ireland) and Marie Jones (the Writer) their performance was called: A night in November). Peter Aterman (His performance was called Slaves of Starbucks) There was a special prize for Andrew Bailey for being the first person to come out to support the taps. John Hegley and Simon Munnery also supported the awards.