What is Going On?
Parents across the United States have become increasingly fed up with the political activism and gender ideology agenda – especially those targeting children – of militant LGBTQ pressure groups such as GLAAD, GLSEN, Human Rights Campaign, and The Trevor Project, among many others.
These activist groups stir up confusion about sex with terms such as “identity” and “fluidity,” persuading and recruiting impressionable minds during vulnerable stages of psychological and physical development, convincing them they could be born in the wrong bodies. Their targets are often children – even elementary school students. Among their tactics are school or public library activities such as “Drag Queen Story Hours,” LGBTQ-infused curricula, and making sexually explicit books and media available to kids in their school libraries. All are factors that contribute to the sexual grooming of children.
PFLAG
Among the organizations pressing this agenda is PFLAG (formerly Parents & Friends of Lesbians and Gays). Begun with noble intentions as a support for families of gay individuals, the group over time developed a more militant activist intent with expansionist strategies. The nonprofit organization takes in several million dollars annually to support its lobbying, recruitment, electoral advocacy, issue advocacy, and gender vocabulary activism.
Why Should Parents Care?
PFLAG and its members and supporters have every right to engage others and seek support for their political and social causes, just like any other American, but their efforts often infringe upon the rights of other parents and their children, without their knowledge. One example is PFLAG’s 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.
PFLAG characterizes its child indoctrination efforts in schools as a prevention against “book banning,” co-sponsoring a “banned books” website as part of a coalition that includes the Marxist-led American Library Association. Titles such as “This Book is Gay,” “Gender Queer,” “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” “Flamer,” and “Lawn Boy” are among the mature materials that PFLAG and its allies believe should be easily accessed by kids. Content including sexual hook-ups, incest, rape and other graphic explanations and depictions are embedded in many of the books, as the Heritage Foundation describes, and as many parents have vehemently opposed at school board and local government council meetings across the U.S.
What is Oreo doing?
The iconic sandwich cookie brand aggressively promotes PFLAG and its causes through their formal “partnership.” Mondelez International, Oreo’s Chicago-based parent company (through subsidiary Nabisco), has pledged at least a half-million dollars to PFLAG in the recent past, and urges consumers to “Support PFLAG” through a hyperlink on Oreo’s “Pride” webpage. As part of a fundraiser for the LGBTQ pressure group, Nabisco created a “Limited Edition package” for “Rainbow Oreo Cookies,” hosting a donation pass-through to PFLAG from Oreo’s corporate website.
It doesn’t stop there. Oreo consistently uses its social media accounts, especially on X (former Twitter), to promote PFLAG’s interests. You can view several of the brand’s posts or re-posts of such content here. Posts are listed not because of the content or nature of any of the individual messages, but to illustrate the depth of commitment and passion Oreo and PFLAG have shown for each other.
Finally and most recently, Oreo co-sponsored PFLAG’s 2023 National Convention in Washington, DC, where the theme was “Learning with Love.” The meeting’s first plenary session was titled, “Let Freedom Read! Read with Love to Support Inclusive Books and Education,” where the American Library Association’s self-described Marxist President, Emily Drabinski, was a featured speaker. The discussion attempted to make the case that “so-called ‘education advocates’ (i.e., parents) have pressed to ban nearly 4,000 books from school and public libraries—the majority of which are by or about LGBTQ+ people, Black people, Indigenous people and people of color….” The panel preview of course made no mention of the sexually explicit nature of many of the alleged “banned books.”
Why Should Customers and Shareholders Care?
Oreo is beloved by all ages, with a brand reputation as a fun treat for kids – think dunking in milk, or twisting it open to reveal and eat the crème filling first, or the debates about the right way to eat it. It comes in countless special flavors, shapes and sizes. It lends itself easily to endless recipes and promotions. Videos of “Oreo Roll Roulette” games are a thing on the Internet. Everything about the delicious cookie screams “fun.”
It is hard to imagine that it could ever go out of style or lose popularity – unless those responsible for the brand’s image somehow squander or destroy it.
Should a brand so identified with children also be so deeply intertwined with the aggressive promotion of the LGBTQ tactics and agenda of militant groups like PFLAG? What business does a sandwich cookie have being involved in the promotion of explicit materials where they are easily accessible to children, without their parents’ knowledge? And with those who would promote transgender ideology to minors outside of their parents’ consent?
As shareholders in Oreo’s parent company, Mondelez International, National Legal and Policy Center is sponsoring a shareholder proposal that challenges the company’s executives and Board of Directors. Citing recent (and current) precedents of disastrous consequences to formerly beloved and respected brands such as Bud Light, Disney and Target, NLPC asks the board of Mondelez to examine its associations with controversial external groups such as PFLAG to determine whether they present a significant risk to the health and profitability of the company.
Brand destruction happened before, and it is still happening. It can happen again, to even the most popular of brands.
We urge our fellow shareholders to support our proposal at the Mondelez annual meeting, which is expected to be held sometime in mid-May. This page will be updated with new information as it breaks, and when the company meeting is scheduled.
Read an article in the Wall Street Journal here about our Mondelez proposal and related shareholder efforts.
Click here if you would like to donate in support of our Corporate Integrity Project and its efforts to hold Mondelez and Oreo accountable.
And if you want to voice your concerns to the board of directors at Mondelez, you can call the company’s investor relations at 847-943-5454, send them an email, or write them at:
Investor Relations
Mondelez International, Inc.
905 West Fulton Market, Suite 200
Chicago, IL 60607
Oreo-PFLAG Tweets Since May 2021
As more fully explained on our special webpage nlpc.org/oreo, below is an archive of Oreo's X posts (formerly Twitter tweets) as they highlight the cookie maker's deep ties with LGBTQ activist group PFLAG. Posts run from most recent to oldest:...
Oreo Sponsors Conference Backing LGBTQ Groomer Books in School Libraries
Oreo, which parent company Mondelez International uses to militantly advocate for a pro-LGBT agenda that targets children (especially on its social media feed), is sponsoring the 2023 PFLAG (which originated as Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) National...
Oreo Maker Ripped for LGBT Obsession in ‘Rainbow-izing’ Cookies
On Wednesday, National Legal and Policy Center presented a proposal at Mondelez International, Inc.’s annual shareholder meeting that would require the board to implement a policy to require the chair of the board of directors to be an independent member from the CEO....
NLPC Blasts Oreo-Maker Over ‘Woke’ Cookies, BLM Support
On Wednesday, National Legal and Policy Center presented a resolution at Mondelez International, Inc.’s annual shareholder meeting that would require the board to implement a policy to require the chair of the board of directors to be an independent member from the...