Minty Bit Stronger

I came across this info-graphic today and it got me thinking about the the power of these big brands. I was reminded of the scandal surrounding Nestlé breast milk. The boycott that followed was and is ineffective against such a powerhouse company. Nestlé can freely get away with marketing baby formula to sub Sahara Africans where access to clean water is often impossible. Over 1 billion dollars have been spent on formula by African mothers with perfectly good, sterile breast milk. A huge amount of money on something they simply didn't need. But Nestlé had spun a clever marketing strategy first telling mothers the powdered formula was better then giving them free samples. When the babies were on the free sample the mothers would often stop lactating and be forced to start buying the powder. (This is the same tactic used by drug dealers). In areas where sanitary water was an issue the powdered formula would be mixed with what ever water was available and often diluted to make i...

Dear Sir or Madam, KFC has been a staple in my diet since my parents and I moved over from Communist Russia in the early eighties. We lived in Blackpool within walking distance of a ‘Kentucky Fried Chicken’ as it was known back then. I used to go along everyday and come back with fried chicken to feed the family. We did not yet own a Television and my English was limited to ordering food and swearing at the postman (we thought he was breaking in every morning to steal Papas collection of walking sticks). When my English was good enough I joined a school and tasted school dinners. This food tasted more like the food I had in Russia but I still ate it for fear I would be sent to back to a labour camp. I would go home after school and sit with my parents singing songs about the motherland whist eating yet more delicious Fried Chicken. Eventually we got a Television and I truly felt British when we sat down and ate in front of the flickering screen. I liked Noel Edmunds and Jeremy Be...