LONDON: Kellogg's has been embroiled in a furor over accusations it is exploiting vulnerable children and threatening to let them go hungry should consumers not engage with a social marketing campaign.
On Saturday, Kellogg's UK posted the following on its Twitter account: “1 RT = 1 breakfast for a vulnerable child” as part of its Give a Child a Breakfast campaign.
The post triggered a deluge of criticism across Twitter, with consumers taking umbrage at the suggestion that deprived children would only receive a breakfast should the campaign garner enough support, and otherwise they would go hungry.
Kellogg's UK apologized. However, the apology did not stem the flow of opprobrium, with users saying the issue ran deeper than a “wrong use of words” and that the notion of a publicity campaign built on vulnerable children was reprehensible.
Kellogg's Give a Child a Breakfast campaign has a dedicated website where it tells visitors: “Sadly, one in seven children in the UK goes to school without breakfast every day. Together we can donate 2 million breakfasts to children in need. To help, simply share, tweet, watch, or buy a special pack of Kellogg's."
This story originally appeared on the website of Marketing.
