How do you convince policy makers to support your company’s agenda?
George Franklin, whose had a long career in government relations at the Kellogg Company, hopes he can tell you.
Franklin, a former WMU trustee, recently published his first book, Raisin Bran and Other Cereal Wars: 30 Years of Lobbying for the Most Famous Tiger in the World. He says it’s a deliberately short read, meant to offer practical advice on how businesses influence policy.
His own war stories cover ground ranging from the battle to convince lawmakers not to ban cereal ads aimed at children, to behind-the-scenes work to free a Kellogg plant trade unionist in Apartheid South Africa.
Franklin told WMUK’s Sehvilla Mann that he’d like to undo the public’s image of lobbyists as corrupt. He adds that the amount of money currently sloshing around in politics “offends” him, but doesn’t think it can be stopped without a constitutional amendment. He says that contrary to popular opinion, lobbying is all about integrity and trust.
“I can go to Fred Upton or Debbie Stabenow or Carl Levin and maybe pull a fast one, one time. But I’m out of business at that point,” he says.
Asked about the policy he had the toughest time convincing lawmakers to support, he says that would probably be the issue of advertising to kids.
“There’s a visceral dislike people have for advertising to children. The problem is they’re not against advertising to children. They’re against advertising what they don’t like, which is a big difference. If we were advertising broccoli, spinach and carrots, all the do-good groups would say, that’s wonderful,” he says.
Opponents of cereal ads aimed at kids usually cite the added sugars cereals contribute to children’s diets.
Kellogg’s web site includes a page called “putting sugar in perspective,” which asserts that many Kellogg products contain less sugar than orange juice or “yogurt,” though plain yogurt does not contain added sugar. One cup of Fruit Loops contains 12 grams of sugar.
Franklin says he can’t speak for Kellogg these days. But he argues that the first amendment protects cereal companies’ right to advertise to kids.
He acknowledges that those free speech rights don’t mean companies can sell guns or cigarettes to children, but says there’s no comparison between those products and cereal, which he calls a “wholesome” food that he was proud to promote.
Franklin recommends two sections for readers who can only spend a few minutes with Cereal Wars. One is his account of traveling to Ground Zero less than two weeks after 9/11, with Muhammad Ali, on behalf of Kellogg.
The other covers the way Kellogg handled its business in South Africa as opponents of Apartheid called for it to divest. Franklin says the company’s continued presence in South Africa allowed it to save at least one life.
