Upfield (manufacturers of Flora marg, and Proactiv) don't want Mumsnet to buy their products any more

[Barracker]

They've made the decision to 'no longer work with Mumsnet' because they want to 'treat everyone equally' because of their 'values'.

By this I'm sure they mean any woman who uses this site should definitely NOT buy their products. That would be an unpleasant association between mumsnet and their values that would be too much to bear.

Here is a helpful list of their products that they don't want in any way associated with Mumsnet:

Country rock
Flora
Rama
BlueBand
Lätta
Flora Proactiv
Becel
I can't believe it's not butter

Please don't sully their brands with any association from you, you horrid mumsnetters. Your money is tainted with unacceptable values.

MonstranceClock
You've come here, been incredibly fucking rude to a group of women, many of your posts have been deleted.
You told your story about your friend that's been beaten up and needed to have their jaws wired, you've had much empathy from the women you despise. You've been offered sensible solutions to the problems that men who identify as women face.
Now you're going to flounce because women here don't agree with you.

I would assume that this tells us nothing about the company's values or the rights and wrongs of feminism, Mumsnet or TRAs. It just tells us that they've done their research and this announcement will make them more money than it loses.

Exactly @Fraggling

Never seen this before buts its good
www.newstatesman.com/politics/feminism/2018/05/demonisation-mumsnet-just-latest-incarnation-witch-hunting

It just tells us that they've done their research

I honestly don't think this is the case, because if they had they'd realise they've just signed up to anti women activism, no same sex hcp professionals for women, no single sex wards, homophobia and lesbophobia, excluding vulnerable women, disablism….. oooh and baseball bats wrapped in barbed wire and men on Twitter brandishing garottes. Just the family image you're going for when marketing margarine.

I think this is, like very much of these gestures, a knee jerk response to a lot of emoting, probably done by a young employee, accompanied by a total lack of due diligence and now they've got themselves in a mess they now won't be able to get out of. Not a wise situation to have walked into. And let's face it, women have the spending power and generally are not in favour of losing their rights and equality.

So the mayonnaise in cakes thing - does that work with vegan mayonnaise?

I don't know. I only ever use Hellmans. You can sub oil for butter in all-in-one cakes, so I don't see why vegan mayo wouldn't work.

I'm guessing their 'research' was extremely superficial and TRA-influenced.

We've had these 'company makes woke statement about Mumsnet' moments before. I'm one of many Mumsnet women who got a personal phone call from Ocado after they let some woke numpty loose on their social media accounts. They apologized for letting a woke numpty loose on their accounts. As they refused to make a public apology, however, many of us continue to boycott them.

Well somebody get me some toast and I'll smother it in "I can't believe it's not bullshit"

As a PR, what a spectacularly ill judged and short sighted decision on their part as a business.

Will be interesting to see how this unfolds. I can't imagine how tense the emergency meetings about this are going to be... ridiculous.

I suspect this was a commercial decision but that they are spinning it for woke cookies.

Flora was flogged off to private equity by Unilever as it was not one of their top performing brands and have only just announced a new marketing partner - DentsuX. The sector is currently tough, I suspect this is about pooling money into a more creative strategy to revive Flora’s very poor fortunes. It’s not been a market leader in a long time.

The fact that Private Equity are involved tells you all you need to know.

Let's hope Private Eye get involved too.

Well, I'm committed to not having my toast taste like chemicals and sadness, so I wouldn't have bought any of that stuff anyway.

They must feel they're doing awfully well though to be able to throw that much business away. I suspect they're wrong.

Mumsnet Flora is now trending

(On Twitter in the UK)

So, if 'I can't believe it's not butter' legitimises it as being butter, what does this do to the ingredients label? There's a paradox there, because if it is butter, then the claim that belief is required is superfluous... I am left with three things that cannot be reconciled: the 'I can't believe' name, the buttery nature, the ingredients label. If belief is truth, two but never three of those things can be reconciled.

This has given me an insight. Literally, transubstantiation, in the Catholic sense.

If TW are not metaphorical women but real, truthful women, generated through belief and in whom belief is required, it is because they are based in Catholic doctrine and I've been looking at the whole thing through an Anglican, metaphorical, lens.

Thanks for that insight, marg magnates.

To be honest I think this is awesome news.

It will, as with so many other situations, cause a stir, a discussion, analysis and then everyone will scratch their heads and think 🤔 hmm well I agree with the main things mnetters are saying. Huh.

And it will only serve cause to shine more lights on the issues mn are concerned about.

The vast majority of Individual trans people are not the problem. It's the ideology that is confusing children, erasing safe spaces for women, erasing boundaries in safeguarding and telling lesbians they have to accept dick (actually accept or be classed as the same along side males who feel they should be and are attracted to females) or they are transphobic.

The word transphobic is flashing in people's heads without any actual critical analysis of what actually being said. Bring on the analysis!

TBH they're probably trying to get the woke blue haired vegan market because they assess that it's growing.

They know Mumsnetters are disproportionately less likely to buy their horrible product anyway because we're a bit better educated about food and know that eating butter is more sensible than eating their revolting substance.

And er, I once tried that can't believe it's not butter and they should be done under Trading Standards.

I'm committed to not having my toast taste like chemicals and sadness

Hahahaaahahaaa!

The "I can't believe it's not" (but we all know it's really not) angle is an absolute gift both to those who're not buying gender theory and to comedians everywhere. Go forth and take the piss!

I mean, there is some brand synergy between a bloke like this one here:

And a horrible yellow gloop that identifies as some kind of butter.

I've been exclusively buying the vegan Flora.

But I'll cross this and other products from this company off the shopping list for my family.

How shortsighted of them.

God, do people actual use marg?!

I buy it because I'm vegan (should say 'bought' as I'm no longer a customer after this).

I use it sparingly as I don't like 'fake' alternatives to dairy.