Since early 2024, NLPC has criticized snack company Mondelez International, which is the parent company of Nabisco, maker of popular cookies (Nutter Butter, Chips Ahoy) and crackers (Ritz, Triscuit). We produced three videos that called attention to the company’s misuse of the its most iconic brand, Oreo, because Mondelez linked it to the pro-transgender ideology advocacy group PFLAG. Here’s our first video from February 2024:
Is your favorite sandwich #cookie … #grooming children? Watch below #Oreo pic.twitter.com/8xPp4VfAnV
— NLPC (@NLPC) February 7, 2024
As shareholders in Mondelez, we also presented a proposal at the company’s annual meeting in May 2024 asking for the board of directors to further examine associations that corporate leadership has made with controversial social, cultural and political groups (like PFLAG), and the risks those relationships present to the welfare and profitability of the company. We also submitted an eight-page, extensively-detailed report to the Securities and Exchange Commission last year in support of our proposal. This is the video we published in advance of that meeting:
As you can see, Mondelez has also boasted about ties to the radical Marxists at Black Lives Matter and the anti-Semitic UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner.
But it’s Mondelez’s linking of Oreo to PFLAG that is the most egregious. The militant group lobbies for state laws that push to include reading material with mature themes – many which contain sexually explicit text and images – in places like school libraries, where children can easily access them. PFLAG also lobbies against laws in various states that seek to protect children from indoctrination efforts and so-called “gender affirming” medical treatments before they are mature enough to make such decisions, and also laws that protect kids from “transition care” without their parents’ consent.
Mondelez donated at least a half-million dollars to the organization, and urges consumers to “Support PFLAG” through a hyperlink on Oreo’s “Pride” webpage. As part of a fundraiser for the LGBTQ pressure group, Mondelez subsidiary Nabisco created a “Limited Edition package” for “Rainbow Oreo Cookies,” hosting a donation pass-through to PFLAG from Oreo’s corporate website. And the cookie brand consistently promoted its transgender and LGBTQ support via its social media accounts, especially on X (formerly Twitter), where it also boosted PFLAG’s interests. This was our most recent video calling attention to our concerns about Mondelez, which was released in September:
Sick of woke Corporate America’s indoctrination of children with the trans agenda of explicit books in schools and permanent body-altering treatments and surgeries? Tell @Oreo you OPPOSE their partnership with activist group PFLAG — WATCH: pic.twitter.com/tNcV8WGByL
— NLPC (@NLPC) September 10, 2024
Despite our urging as shareholders, the company’s commitment to woke causes persists. While its social media promotional efforts cooled last year, Oreo still maintains its “Pride” page linking to PFLAG and encourages donations. Mondelez also retains an aggressive diversity, equity and inclusion program.
There are indications that Mondelez’s commitment to woke activism is costing it sales. Of course the company and the business media don’t acknowledge that as the reason. For example, Bloomberg reported earlier this week that Mondelez “posted slower-than-expected sales growth as worries about inflation and the economy push US consumers to prioritize essentials over cookies, crackers and sweets,” and that CEO Dirk van de Put expected profit to fall about 10 percent this year, blaming higher cocoa costs.
Also Zerohedge related from Mondelez’s most recent earnings report:
North America softer-than-expected: Organic net sales in North America came in softer-than-expected at -3.6% (vs GS/consensus of flat/+0.1%), largely due to retailer destocking (-250 bps), while segment profitability also missed. The destocking impact should be one time in nature, but we do not expect it to reverse as we have heard from retailers that this effort has been driven by efficiency gains. Additionally, MDLZ noted softer demand for crackers (vs cookies), although both categories are holding up relatively better than other parts of snacking, plus the company is holding share due to investments in price pack architecture and key activations. Additionally, management spoke to increasing promotional activity by peers in crackers, and we see greater private label competition in the category as well.
“Destocking” by retailers is inexcusable as Mondelez pays to dominate supermarket shelves and exclude competition — especially to Oreo rivals like Hydrox, which you can’t find anywhere other than Cracker Barrels and online. Mondelez’s only grocery competition for most of its products are the occasional inferior store brands.
The only reason for such a trend with supermarkets is that demand is down for Mondelez’s products. The company’s stock price has also suffered over the past year, underperforming the overall S&P 500 index.
That’s why for the upcoming company annual meeting later this month, NLPC has filed with the SEC and circulated to shareholders a report that recommends shareholders to vote against all of Mondelez’s board of director nominees. They are mismanaging their products, defying overall cultural and corporate trends, and changes at the top are badly needed.
