10 Shockingly Heartless Acts by Beloved Brands

7/4/2015 10 Shockingly Heartless Acts By Beloved Brands - Listverse

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MARC V. APRIL 7, 2015

The mere mention of any corporation is usually enough to evoke the image of a heartless

and soulless entity bent on protecting its vested interests at the expense of everyone else.

While companies such as Monsanto, Chiquita, and various pharmaceutical companies

usually get top billing every time a corporate scandal blows up, its unfortunate to know

even companies peddling famous household-name brands arent immune to such

shenanigans. It gets even worse as these very same companies are the ones weve come

to know and love.

10Starbucks (Allegedly) Blocked Ethiopias Bid To TrademarkIts Own Coffee

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10 Shockingly Heartless Acts By BelovedBrands

Photo credit: CarrieBee

Photo credit: RainChill



Never did coffee become as controversial as it did back in 2006 when the National Coffee

Association blocked the Ethiopian governments bid to trademark three of its most

popular coffee seeds in the US on the grounds it would hurt their countrys economy.

As the controversy started to gain attention, Oxfama UK-based anti-poverty group

accused Starbucks of being the real mastermind behind the NCAs move. It also

revealed how Ethiopian farmers would earn as little as one dollar per pound of coffee

which Starbucks would then re-sell for as much as $26 per pound. In the midst of this

brew-haha, Starbucks denied lobbying the NCA and said the company had always been

dedicated to the well-being of the farmers.

Unlike other corporate controversies, this one fortunately had a happy ending. In 2007,

Starbucks and the Ethiopian government reached an amicable settlement whereby the

three coffee beans would now be trademarked as the intellectual property of Ethiopia. In

exchange, Starbucks would be recognized as a preferred buyer of the countrys coffee

products.If you enjoy Listverse, do us a favor: LIKE US



9Coca-Cola Tried To Pass Off Coke As A Health Product

While its no secret Coca-Cola wants everyone to buy its products (the company even

created a handy online manual to guide restaurateurs on how to sell more Coke), its

overzealous desire to peddle its products defied all common sense when it launched its

hugely controversial Motherhood and Myth-busting campaign in Australia in 2008.

Employing well-known Australian actress Kerry Armstrong to appeal to mothers, Coca-

Cola attempted to pass off Coke as healthy by busting the many myths associated with

the product. Basically, the printed infographic claimed Coke products didnt make children

fat, harm teeth, or contain detrimental amounts of caffeine.



As expected, concerned parents, consumers, and dentists deluged the company with a

barrage of complaints about its blatantly misleading campaign. In the end, Coca-Cola had

to pull its ads and apologize. Not only that, but Australian officials forced the company to

bust its own ads in 2009 by making it start a Setting the Record Straight campaign to

debunk its earlier claims.

8Nestle Aggressively Pushed Infant Formula In DevelopingCountries

Long before fast food and its effects on health became the subject of heated debates, there

was infant formula. A major scandal erupted in the 1970s when revelations arose about

how multinational food giants such as Nestle aggressively peddled infant formula

products in developing countries. The company employed questionable business practices

such as using saleswomen in nurses uniforms to push its products on nursing mothers

in the wards and clinics.

These milk nurses hooked the mothers on the products by giving them lots of free

samples, which inevitably curbed their lactation. As a consequence, the mothers were

forced to buy infant formula without even being made to understand the repercussions.

According to activists, this resulted in the decline of breastfeeding and the skyrocketing



of infant malnutrition and death.

While Nestle defended itself from these accusations by launching a suit against its

foremost opponent, the activist group War on Want, a crippling, years-long boycott of its

products in several countries forced it to reform its advertising methods and curb the

peddling of infant formula.

7Cadbury Shrank Its Creme Eggs (And Told Customers TheSize Remained The Same)

Confectionery company Cadbury aroused the ire of chocolate fans everywhere after it

blatantly lied about the shrinking size of its beloved chocolate Creme Eggs. Capitalizing on

the seasonal availability of its product (and peoples forgetfulness), Cadbury gradually

shrank the size of the eggs and then told consumers the eggs didnt get smaller, they just

grew up. The company would have gotten away with it if it hadnt been for actor B.J.

Novak.

Apparently a big fan of Creme Eggs, Novak showed two samplesone from 2005 and the

other from 2007in an interview with Conan O Brien. As it turned out, higher sugar prices

in 2006 forced the company to scale back the size of its beloved Creme Eggs. Instead of

just apologizing for the gaffe, however, Cadbury later re-phrased its explanation and told



costumers the company actually just developed a new range of sizes so as to better

accommodate the different range of market tastes across the world.

6Mattels 1965 Barbie Doll Encouraged Unrealistic WeightLoss

While we wont go out on a limb here and say Mattel intentionally induced young girls

everywhere to develop anorexia, the company did make a Barbie doll that basically told

them to do just that. In a totally not-subtle way at all, the 1965 Slumber Party Barbie doll

came with a weighing scale calibrated at just 110 pounds and a book called How To Lose

Weight which contained the single, blunt message of dont eat.

By contrast, the Ken version came with a glass of milk and a pastry snack. While we may

never know the full extent of the dolls influence on that particular generation of girls, we

do know Slumber Party Barbie came at a time when people could not yet fully

understand nor openly discuss eating and weight-loss obsessive disorders. Suffice to say,

Mattel came up with another version called Sleepytime Barbie a mere two years later

this time without the bathroom scale but still with the same awful weight-loss book.



5Abercrombie & Fitchs Apparel Is Only For Beautiful People

Although its no secret Abercrombie & Fitch caters to the younger and more endowed set

of people, its CEO Mike Jeffries had to rub it in everyone elses face when he infamously

admitted in a 2006 interview how the company preferred its customers to be cool,

popular, and good-looking.

As for those who didnt make the cut, Jeffries said sorry, but they would just have to be

excluded. He also defended the companys lack of larger sizes and said they didnt make

clothes for fat people. Naturally, Jeffriess acerbic comments would come back to haunt

him years later with the explosion of social media. Upon discovery of his comments, angry

consumers launched a campaign not only to boycott Abercrombie & Fitch but also to buy

its clothes and donate them to homeless people. In the resulting fall-out, Jeffries had to

resign even as he made a half-hearted apology while the new management

subsequently vowed to make Abercrombie & Fitch more sensitive and inclusive of

everyone.

4IKEA Used Slave Labor In The 1970s And 1980s



While do-it-yourself furniture would be one of the last products wed ever associate with

slavery, IKEA admitted to the awful practice when a report in 2012 by auditing firm Ernst

and Young revealed how East Germany provided forced labor to the Swedish company

using political prisoners. While IKEA did not use the prisoners directly at its own plants,

its subcontractors in East Germany did.

Meanwhile, IKEAs own employees who knew of the practice kept quiet or deliberately

covered up the sinister fact. Former political prisoners shared how prison officials used

to set production quotas on them and, if someone failed to meet it, he would then be

relegated to solitary confinement for at least 10 days. The prisoners also divulged how

they knew all along they had been manufacturing parts for IKEA since the prison guards

did not even bother to hide the companys logos which appeared in the boxes used to store

the finished products. In the aftermath, the head of Germanys IKEA branch apologized and

both the company and victims are working toward a reasonable settlement.

3Kelloggs Promised To Feed Hungry Children For Re-Tweets



While providing breakfast to a hungry child is a worthy endeavor, trying to use the whole

thing as a marketing tool will undoubtedly be a surefire recipe for a PR disaster. Too bad

no one told Kelloggs UK branch in time, as it found itself in the middle of a social firestorm

in November 2013 when it posted that it would provide free breakfast to a hungry child

provided people would re-tweet the cereal companys post.

Sure enough, the Kelloggs 1 RT = 1 free breakfast campaign quickly aroused the anger of

pretty much everyone, mainly because the post looked like blatant advertising on the

backs of hungry children. One angry commenter even said the Kelloggs tweet sounded so

much more like a threat (re-tweet this or we wont feed the children) than a call for help.

In the aftermath, Kelloggs had to take down the post and apologize profusely for the

faux pas.

2Mitsubishi Covered Up Defective Products For 30 Years



While overshadowed by General Motors and Toyota as far as infamy is concerned,

Mitsubishis corporate cold-heartedness arguably ranks at the top on account of it

deliberately covering up its vehicle defects for a whopping 30 years.

In fact, employees routinely stuffed written complaints from consumers into lockers and

secretly carried out repairs as per company policy. And, were it not for a police

investigation into the death of a pedestrian who died in 2002 after being hit by the

disconnected wheel of a Mitsubishi truck, the company would have continued the illicit

practice, too.

Further scrutiny by the police uncovered similar incidents in the past and stories about

how Mitsubishi representatives would secretly meet with the car owners and beg them

not to tell the public. In the resulting fallout, Mitsubishis top executives finally admitted to

the decades-long cover-up and ordered the recall of almost a million vehicles.

Unfortunately, the company got away with a mere slap on the wrista $37,000 fine and

the resignation of its CEO.

1McDonalds Unrealistic Budget Plan For Low-WageWorkers



Considering McDonalds is easily one of the most popular and richest brands in the world,

we could maybe forgive its head honchos a little bit for being slightly out of touch with

reality, most especially when it comes to how its lower-half lives. This glaring lack of

awareness clearly manifested itself when McDonalds, in partnership with Visa, published

its sample budget plan for employees called Practical Money Skills Budget Journal.

Although already in circulation since 2010, the budget plan achieved notoriety in the fall of

2013 when workers conducted a strike campaign across the US to ask for an increase in

the minimum wage. Critics derided McDonalds sample budget for being insulting and far-

fetched. Among other things, the plan called for the worker to be engaged in a second job

and pay only $20 a month for health insurance. While McDonalds CEO Ben Thompson tried

to defend the sample budget as an ideal setup for a two-person household, detractors

said the only thing McDonalds accomplished with the budget plan was to reveal to

everyone how hard it was for minimum-wage workers to get by.

Marc V. is always open for a conversation, so do drop him a line sometime.



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APRIL 24, 2012

173 Comments Listverse Login

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Reply

John Paul Ferriter 16 hours ago

The baby milk scandal was the shitiest. They manipulated mothers in por countries into

believing that formula was healthier than breast, leaving the mothers mixing up milk with

dirty water as they had no proper sanitation

24

Reply

VictimsFamily 15 hours ago> John Paul Ferriter

I remember the boycott campaign here in Australia about 20 years ago.

It was totally shocking the damage that their greed brought about. Worse morals

than any drug dealer on Earth.

1) Give them free samples

2) Lactation stops

3) Forced to buy product which is so expensive all other expenses become a

struggle

4) Mixes expensive product with contaminated water leading to spiralling infant

mortality

5) Cheers and applause from wealthy share-holders

Those scum should be jailed for life.

Grrrrrrrrr!

16

MB 11 hours ago> VictimsFamily

The Worst part - it still happens!

When you have your baby and register everything, *somehow* (I would like

to think this information is private, but it leaks to these companies somehow)

you get free samples of infant formula in the mail. We had 3-4 different

brands mysteriously get sent around to our place within days of getting

home with baby. This is in Canada.

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home with baby. This is in Canada.

Nestle: "Having trouble breastfeeding? We'll make it easy for you, just reach

down and grab your free sample and forget about the boob."

Disgusting.

9

Reply

LunaTaylor32 10 hours ago> VictimsFamily

What's so wrong about breast feeding? I don't get why people who are able

to do it choose not to. Of course there will be exceptions but are humans so

greedy and unnatural that we can't even feed out own offspring without

artificial help...

4

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KCogar89 7 hours ago> LunaTaylor32

Sometimes breastfeeding just hurts, or is impossible naturally; the

baby has a huge appetite, or none at all, mom has to work and dries

up, etc. Not that I'm defending Nestle because that's a horrendous

thing to do, but there are natural reasons why some mothers can't

and/or don't breastfeed.

3

Reply

warriorpixie 3 hours ago> LunaTaylor32

There are a multitude of reasons why a woman who can chooses

not to. Sometimes it is impractical such as on the job or a public

place. Sometimes they use "artificial help" because their child is

allergic to their milk. Doesn't make them greedy or unnatural.

2

Reply

Windigo 10 hours ago> LunaTaylor32

Mom doesn't want to be pestered with breast feeding - too much

work. She has other things to do. It's our whole society today. Dual

incomes to stay afloat, non-existent or useless fathers, busy

schedules, socializing, kids too often come in second place behind

their parents. Sorry - I'm a bit bitter. The American family unit has

pretty much disintegrated. Being shocked when a mother actually

breast feeds is just another symptom.

3

inconspicuous detective 6 hours ago> Windigo

this is why a paternity leave for BOTH parents of at LEAST 8 months

would be great.

i always get annoyed with the arguments against it. that and paying

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i always get annoyed with the arguments against it. that and paying

taxes for schools. do you not benefit from the next generation? when

they're educated? then what is the problem?!

1

Reply

OldBoris 8 hours ago> Windigo

Your analysis is correct.

In defence of the father, though - he can hardly lift the baby up to his

own nipple and make it drink from that.

1

Reply

Lisa 39 7 hours ago> OldBoris

But even if they could, would they?

1

Reply

inconspicuous detective 6 hours ago> Lisa 39

there are fathers who would die for their kids without hesitation. if

they could breastfeed, they would.

3

Reply

Lisa 39 6 hours ago> inconspicuous detective

I agree, there are some good fathers out there but in my experience a

lot of them are either crap or just wouldn't want to do it. An interesting

thing I've learned tho is that men can breastfeed and so can women

who've never given birth, it takes three or four months of dry

breastfeeding but eventually male and female breasts will make milk,

pretty neat!

3

Reply

Dumas911 6 hours ago> Lisa 39

There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do for my son. Yet my own

father was almost non existant my first 20 yrs.

2

Reply

Lisa 39 6 hours ago> Dumas911

I feel the same way about my kids and my biological sperm donor is

nothing to me but a couple of pictures my mom gave me so I'd know

what he looked like.

Good for you Dumas, your son is a lucky young man :)

1

Sadie 4 hours ago> Lisa 39

I guess being daddy's little girl I take for granted what my life would've

have been without him. Too many times I've said"I hate you" when he

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have been without him. Too many times I've said"I hate you" when he

was jjust looking out for me. I think I'll call him to say thanks. Old man

will have the shock of his life whrn he realizes I'm not calling for cash.

1

Reply

LunaTaylor32 4 hours ago> Windigo

Wow some lady gets pissed off cause I said welfare mothers should

at least attempt to breast feed. I don't make more money for every

child I have:(

Reply

1000 Things 8 hours ago> LunaTaylor32

Where do you draw the line is the issue.

While having babies is almost a obsession... no matter where in the

world you are. Somehow raising them turns out aint that cool.

The mad rush for fertility & IVF type treatments sometimes boggles

me .... from my point of view, I don't see a different between the two

1

Reply

OldBoris 8 hours ago> John Paul Ferriter

Something a bit like that has happened in China. They made baby milk that

contained toxic chemicals there, and now nobody in China trusts the domestic stuff

anymore. So what you see here in Europe is that Chinese people buy up all the

baby milk in our stores and then send it home. It got so bad that stores here had to

institute a rationing system where every customer could only buy one or two boxes.

2

Reply

gillybean 7 hours ago> OldBoris

And it could all be solved if governments in developed countries would just

pay dairy farmers a very small amount for anything they produce above their

quota. The fact is that there is more than enough milk to go around, and

where there is excess, it should be powdered and sent to those places

where it could be useful. But unions (the bane of the earth) refuse to let that

happen for fear of devaluing their product. Instead, they are removing the

restriction of quota in Europe, just as they have done here, which will lead

first to a boom as everyone takes advantage and then to a shortage, as the

sale price drops to below the cost of production. Madness.

Reply

LunaTaylor32 11 hours ago> John Paul Ferriter

In the US I notice it's always the Welfare moms who don't breast feed.

3

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Ashley 8 hours ago> LunaTaylor32

Wow, kudos for the mass generalization. But you, as most prejudice a-

holes, are wrong. I had to get assistance for the first two years after having

my child, as I'd been laid off six months before losing my job and struggled to

find a job that paid more than $9/hour - to put this in perspective, daycare is

$170/week and I still had rent and other expenses. I always raised my son

alone. Now, I'm back to making $22/hour and surviving without assistance,

but I'll be forever grateful for the help I did get.

AND REGARDING YOUR CLAIM, I breast fed my son for the first 9 months

of his life. Exclusively, until six months when I started introducing solids. So,

why don't you go back to your BBQ with the KKK. Jerk.

3

Reply

LunaTaylor32 5 hours ago> Ashley

Chill out lady. I'm not talking to you I'm talking to the girls who get

pregnant at 14 and have 4 more babies before the age of 25

meanwhile never having an actual job. I live in a welfare haven so I

know very well that there are plenty of people abiding the system. Oh

and the KKK doesn't take half Mexicans like me. Have a happy day m

Kay!

1

Reply

Clyde Barrow 4 hours ago> LunaTaylor32

I like how she chastises you for the "mass generalization", and then

turns around with a mass generalization by using an anecdote

regarding how she raises HER kid.

The pot calling the kettle black.

3

Reply

warriorpixie 3 hours ago> LunaTaylor32

So you know every new mom in the US that is on Welfare and are with them

24hrs a day to say that it's always Welfare moms who don't breastfeed? You

have this all on video, right?

1

Reply

David TehGnome 2 hours ago> warriorpixie

It's cute watching wimmins try and debate.

1

Reply

warriorpixie 2 hours ago> David TehGnome

Haha! I think gnomes are kind of cute. :)

1

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Reply 1

Reply

Andy West 14 hours ago

#3 'Kelloggs tweet sounded so much more like a threat (re-tweet this or we wont feed the

children)' Cereal killers!

17

Reply

1000 Things 8 hours ago> Andy West

ROFL...you r funny dude

2

Reply

Planet Earth 7 hours ago> Andy West

You know in the Captain America series when the the business man whisper to

each other -All hail Hydra . I bet the CEO of Kellogg's whisper to themselves all hail

Kellogg's .

Reply

lonelydisco 15 hours ago

I've seen these scandals on this site before. That I did wasn't very surprising.

What was surprising is that this list ranked McDonald's number one on a list of companies

the author purportedly considers "beloved". And it's here for ... insensitivity? Not killing

babies or slave labor, no. Insensitivity. Shocking.

14

Reply

Clyde Barrow 5 hours ago> lonelydisco

Have you ever seen how a Chicken McNugget is made?

That alone is worth 10 - #1 entries on several lists, nevermind insensitivity.

1

Reply

bad metternich 10 hours ago> lonelydisco

"Well, people are like, totally sensitive and all, like OMG."

1

This comment was deleted.

Reply

MB 11 hours ago> Guest

Agreed. Look no further than the stock history of each of these companies. If you

bought in early you'd be in pretty good shape these days... even with all the

scandals.

1

Azeael 16 hours ago

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Azeael 16 hours ago

I will never trust brands again....oh wait.....I never did in the first place.

10

Reply

Luizz 13 hours ago> Azeael

Well...you have no choice

*loads shotgun*

5

Reply

Lead Faun 12 hours ago> Luizz

*loads designated marksman rifle*

3

Reply

Lead Faun 13 hours ago> Luizz

*uses astrix*

3

Reply

gillybean 13 hours ago> Lead Faun

*asterisk* ;)

2

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Lead Faun 12 hours ago> gillybean

Damn autocorrect.

3

Reply

gillybean 12 hours ago> Lead Faun

Everybody hates it, I understand :)

2

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Reply

Nicotine ninja 12 hours ago> Guest

What sort of position?

Reply

Nicotine ninja 12 hours ago> Guest

Well screw my ass spambot.

Reply

Moon Musician 13 hours ago> Lead Faun

*uses obelix* :P

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Luizz 2 hours ago> Lead Faun

Not fair!

Reply

LunaTaylor32 10 hours ago> Azeael

Trust no one. Except maybe Josh Groban...

2

Reply

bad metternich 10 hours ago> LunaTaylor32

Noo. *shudders.*

1

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LunaTaylor32 5 hours ago> bad metternich

He looks so trustable

1

Reply

gillybean 15 hours ago

When the people (for want of a better word) at the top are so far removed from the real

people at the bottom, nothing that they do surprises me. Jesus, you could do a hundred

lists like this for a hundred days and still have enough left over for a hundred more. It's

sickening when people (again, for want of a better word) use others like commodities, to be

bought and sold for their own gain.

EDIT: not that I'm saying I didn't enjoy it, I really did, it just set me in rant mode, reading this

whilst eating Kellogs Cornflakes.

9

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