When Kellogg’s announced last month that they would not renew Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, they issued a statement essentially saying that his pot-smoking ways didn’t jive with the values of their company.
That’s when I challenged them to put their money where their mouth was and to pay the supermarkets to pull the boxes with Phelps face on it off the shelves.
The folks at Kellogg’s said nothing at the time. And they are declining comment to me today after the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the San Francisco Food Bank received 3,800 pounds of Corn Flakes and Frosted Flakes. All of the cereal was in boxes with Phelps’ image on it.
An official with the food bank told us that Kellogg’s did donate the cereal and that it specifically came from their distribution center in Portland, Ore. We were also told that Kellogg’s would be eligible for a tax deduction, which would be worth about $15,000, if the retail cost of the product donated was calculated.
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