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AIBU?

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Original poster

To write to nestle?

135 replies

Fishface77 · 19/01/2017 20:29

All i want are tubes of orange smarties. They are the only ones with flavour. Shall I write to them and ask them to make only tubes of orange smarties?
Will anyone join me in this quest?

OP posts:
user1478860582 · 20/01/2017 14:16

If you live in the western world you can't really avoid buying from unethical companies. Whether it's sweat shops in Asia, subsistence farmers in South America, jewels mined in Africa or the destruction of forests for the production of soya or your average beef burger.

The role of the Vatican in the use of condoms and subsequent spread of HIV, or Bono advocating huge foreign aid out of tax but then relocating his businesses to avoid tax.

Singling out one company for practices many years ago seems strange, but hey ho it gives people something to feel good about whilst they surf Amazon or Google, both of whom pay minimal tax in the UK. Let's not forget tax keeps the NHS going and babies in this country alive.

I say let's have an orange smarties revolution!

WorraLiberty · 20/01/2017 14:29

I suspect Nestle might already been written to about a million times by people angry over the baby milk issue. They probably have an entire department set up to deal with it.

Yes, it's called 'Spam Folder' Grin

Meffy · 20/01/2017 15:37

My DD do

Meffy · 20/01/2017 15:39

...... wooooahhhh what happened there...

Ahem...

My DD doesn't like the orange ones!!!

When we were little and innocent we used to put the lid on and stamp on the cardboard tube and have competitions to see how far the lid went !!!
In those days smarties were like a kinder surprise.... chocolate and a toy! You could even make a telescope or buddy up and have binoculars !!!

glueandstick · 20/01/2017 20:41

How come everything fun is now unethical :(

Write to them. They'll probably send you free stuff as you'll be the only person not writing about the baby milk issue.

wonkylegs · 20/01/2017 20:50

When I looked into it for my MIL (she's in her latest crusade) it looked like Mars were the least evil of the big chocolate producers.
The problem is often that you don't realise who owns who - came up because MIL was very anti cadburys but pro green & blacks and I pointed out they were now owned by the same company.

HeCantBeSerious · 21/01/2017 00:11

Singling out one company for practices many years ago seems strange,

They're still breaching the code.

WaitrosePigeon · 21/01/2017 00:12

I absolutely love orange smarties.

NotStoppedAllDay · 21/01/2017 00:15

Oh op ignore .... MN is always trying to 'boycott' something

Like it makes a difference

BillSykesDog · 21/01/2017 00:52

OP, completely coincidentally I just came across these in DS's sweetie box. He got them for Xmas, I have no idea off whom. But if they do tubes of only pink ones, surely they do only orange too?

Re the boycott, if people don't want to buy something, fair dos. But the boycott has been going since the 70s and they're still breaking the code it shows just how pointless the boycott has been.

As I understand it, they did adhere to the code for some time. But even when they adhered the boycott continued. I think that was probably rather an own goal. I suspect Nestle may have thought that if they'd still be boycotted when adhering they might as well just go ahead and break the code.

BadLad · 21/01/2017 02:40

Write to them. They'll probably send you free stuff as you'll be the only person not writing about the baby milk issue.

Grin

I might do that. I spend a fortune on their milkybars.

dylsmimi · 21/01/2017 05:30

Everytime someone talks about the nestle boycott I just always want a kit Kat! Never at any other time - I assume that's not the point of it! Smile

HeCantBeSerious · 21/01/2017 10:35

Like it makes a difference

Makes a difference to their bottom line.

LiviaDrusillaAugusta · 21/01/2017 10:36

This will go well given the anti Nestle hysteria on here

LiviaDrusillaAugusta · 21/01/2017 10:36

And agree with a pp that the boycott doesn't actually seem to be achieving anything

WorraLiberty · 21/01/2017 10:54

I just don't really believe half the people on here who claim to boycott Nestle, actually do.

For me, it's like all those who claim not to read the Daily Mail but keep linking to it. They don't want to fund the DM, but still they do.

I've yet to see a single thread at Easter, stating that someone was upset their kids were bought Nestle Easter eggs.

If so many people here were actually boycotting them, surely we'd at least see a few? Confused

LiviaDrusillaAugusta · 21/01/2017 11:01

Worra Exactly, its like the virtue signalling that is prevalent on here. It's funny how so many people link to and know about what the DM publishes when nobody reads it 🤔

Alternatively if they are all boycotting then it shows what a futile thing it is to do

HeCantBeSerious · 21/01/2017 11:04

I wasn't a member of mumsnet at the time, but I was upset when my DD was given a Nestle easter egg by her playgroup. I gently swapped it for a non-Nestle one and donated the original to a playgroup.

My children don't ask for anything Nestle because they know I won't buy it. I keep myself updated on the companies owned by or that Nestle has interests in and absolutely don't buy from them.

I've just started a new job. My boss is ex-Nestle and even she boycotts them now!

HeCantBeSerious · 21/01/2017 11:05

And I don't click DM links (and I do sometimes cover them with other things in shops too).

Original poster
Fishface77 · 21/01/2017 11:08

Nestle own soooo much!
Fingers in so many pies!
It's a matter of shame to me that I still want orange smarties.

OP posts:
LiviaDrusillaAugusta · 21/01/2017 11:08

But what about all the other unethical companies basically all of them - it's okay to do business with them presumably?

LiviaDrusillaAugusta · 21/01/2017 11:09

Covering the paper seems a tad pointless He - especially as the worst of their shit is online. Again it's futile. Do it but don't expect anything to change

HeCantBeSerious · 21/01/2017 11:22

It's more that I can't bear to look at it. So I hide it. Grin

There are other companies whose products I don't buy (e.g. Primark, new look) but that's not difficult because there aren't any nearby.

Ethics is a tough one - eg use of child labour abroad. Has negative connotations for us in the west, but might make the difference between a family eating or not elsewhere. So I try to be thoughtful.

We don't download music or movies illegally either, because it feels wrong to me.

So I don't think I'm doing this stuff to hurt the companies involved - it just sits right with my conscience.

BottleBeach · 21/01/2017 11:23

As I understand it, they did adhere to the code for some time. But even when they adhered the boycott continued. I think that was probably rather an own goal. I suspect Nestle may have thought that if they'd still be boycotted when adhering they might as well just go ahead and break the code.

This is an interesting point BillSykesDog, and I'm sure that from a financial perspective the money they lose from the boycott is a drop in the ocean compared with what they make from selling breast milk substitutes. But even if it makes no difference to their business model, I do not want to add even so much as the cost of a tube of smarties to the profits of a company which behaves in this way. They would stick in my throat.

BottleBeach · 21/01/2017 11:25

I don't think I'm doing this stuff to hurt the companies involved - it just sits right with my conscience.

Exactly- HeCantBeSerious puts it far more succinctly!