to expect politically correct snacks from the BBC?

[Elasticwoman]

Dh and I had free tickets to see a BBC show being filmed. In the break between filming they didn't want the audience to disperse so they gave us all cartons of juice and (oh no!) chocolate biscuits made by Nestle - boo! hiss! I could have murdered a chocolate biscuit but not that one.

When I pointed this out to a BBC flunky she had a blonde moment and claimed never to have heard of the Nestle boycott.

Comments from any one who works for the Beeb would be much appreciated. Shame on you!

The BBC is not obliged to cater metaphorically and literally to the political leanings of the licence payer.

I note this is free entertainment you're complaining about.

Next time, do what I do when I attend the thee-etttt-ahh, and bring a cold pizza and a bottle of Coke, or just have the same delivered in time for curtain up.

I was aware of Nestlé pre MN, but I frequently feel like a voice in the wilderness in RL.

well ideally in order not to show bias they would have to serve them to half the audience i guess and something equally offensive to a different political lobby to the other half

Maybe turkey twizzlers?

Nestle boycott??? Sorry never heard of it ?????????????

One thing I don't get is why so many people on MN expect everyone else in the world to fall in with their beliefs. Nestle, fair trade chocolate, fruit shoots are evil etc etc.

I know it's controversial, but maybe some people have never heard of the Nestle boycott, certainly half the people in my office hadn't when we talked about it. Maybe some people prefer Cadburys. I'm all for debate on the rights and wrongs of it all and everyone is entitled to their view, but you are being completely unreasonable to expect everyone else to care about your cause. If it's their cause too then great, but it looks like it wasn't on this occasion.

yabu. In fact I'd be a bit pissed off if an apolitical organisation like the BBC was taking part in a boycott.

As it goes Nestle aren't giving away free samples of baby milk any more (they're not perfectly clean marketing-wise, but then nor are any of the other baby milk companies). otoh if they are still evil, then a 19 year boycott has failed, then why the hell is it going to succeed now?

also if you expect everyone else to be "politically correct" then I should refrain from using such un-politically correct phrases as "a blonde moment"

Don't see what's so politically incorrect about slagging off bottle-blondes. Better than not caring what happens to babies in the 3rd world.

But if this thread has raised awareness of the Nestle boycott, then Cheers every one.
(Goes back to sofa with glass of wine.)

And it's the BBC I expect political correctness from. Not every one.

so presumably you would expect all organic, free-range food in bio-degradeable packaging then?

Babies have been dying in the third world for centuries. It will take more than a boycott of nestle to stop that from happening.

I care about babies in the third world. But I don't support the nestle boycott.

You see, boycotting nestle won't help those third world babies, but refraining from using lazy stereotypes based on haircolour (natural or otherwise) will help some women's lives just that little bit.

The BBC have outsourced their catering and audience services so you get the cheapest possible of course!
"Delivering value" is the official title but of course this means "doing it on the cheap".

They ARE trying to reduce their carbon footprint so energy emissions from brains actually working have been cut completely which explains the person you spoke to.

You non BBC types will of course, never get to see the long running BBC saga in the letters page of the staff magazine to do with why there are no rubbish bins in some of the buildings (to stop people throwing things away you see) and how much you are charged for someone to change your lightbulb and why the canteen on Indian Food Day served food made in Holland or some such, they were SO agitated!!!!!!!

How is it up to you to decide what the BBC should boycott? Presumably people who don't agree with you pay their license fee too?

if you care about babies in the 3rd world then perhps you should start lobbying western governments to fund the ARV's that are so desperately needed to help those who are suffering from HIV/AIDS. That's a far greater problem I can assure you.

Isn't the BBC supposed to be independent, not-political etc?

Wow! You are serious

They've outsourced their catering? Considering how little they paid permanent catering staff when I temped there one summer, I'm shocked that someone was able to undercut them - ok, it was a few years ago but I was getting less than half of current minimum wage, £2.50 an hour, a pittance even way back then, and that was marginally more than the woman who had worked there for years.

Elkiedee, this was before the minimum wage laws then?

All I know is the BBC Canteen I eat in not only sells Nestle products but charges extortionate prices and claims it's because of teh minimum wage requirements...

They always say the price is high because they have to open unsocial hours (Broadcasting House and Television Centre canteens), which is strange because if you are on night shift there is nothing between 1am and 3 am except vending machines full of kitkats.

Yes, indeed - I'm old and this was when I was a student. Gulp, it was 20 years ago, but £2.50 an hour wasn't really a lot even then.

My (privatised) staff canteen sells Kit Kats and fair trade chocolate, but the fair trade items are all £1 each. Even the nearest shops only charge 70p for a small bar of fair trade chocolate.

our local breastfeeding cafe serves nescafe

Yes you ABU...It is the beeb hardly a force for change

Um, I've never heard of the Nestle boycott and I've been coming on mn for years!! Can someone tell me what it's about? Thanks

YAB RIDICULOUS!