Public Relations and Participatory Culture: Fandom, Social Media and Community Engagement (Routledge New Directions in Public Relations & Communication Research) by

Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 2016-03-09T16:00:00+00:00

Selling your soul to the company store

GM has used Betty Crocker since the 1920s as the trusted face of the company (McGuire, 2010). According to GM, Betty Crocker’s ability to erase difference and ease guilt was based in large part on trust: “Gluten-free moms already trust the great taste of Betty Crocker Gluten Free Brownie, Cookie and Cake mixes – and enjoy them with their entire family” (GM, 2013, para. 2). This trust, however, stemmed not from transparency but was necessitated by a consistent lack of it. A typical GM response to requests for information is “We don’t share information … so that’s our total response … . We have the highest possible standards and our consumers know us and trust us” (Schmidt, 2008, p. C3).

In fact, at the time consumers had to trust that GM’s products were indeed gluten-free because no U.S. regulatory standard for gluten existed until 2014. For those with gluten disorders, however, knowing what products contain gluten is a medical necessity. A 2008 investigative report found that gluten-free dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets actually contained up to 2,200 ppm of gluten. Several children were hospitalized as a result. The manufacturer never recalled the product, however, because with no federal standard in place no law had been violated (Roe, 2008a, 2008b). Some studies estimate that prior to 2006, one in five products labeled gluten-free actually contained large amounts of gluten (Derr, 2006).

Concurrently, lawyers who had prosecuted tobacco companies began filing cases against large food manufacturers, including two against GM, for mis-labeled product ingredients (Strom, 2012, 2014b). This regulatory environment may help explain why GlutenFreely.com contained almost as much legal language as it did marketing effort, including a 2,208-word privacy policy, a 533-word community rules section, and a 1,658-word terms-of-use section. The legal discourse made plain that all user-submitted materials became GM’s property, which it could – and did – use to its benefit. For example, an @GlutenFreely tweet asking, “What are your favorite GF mobile apps?” was followed by the launch of the Betty Crocker app, with a gluten-free section, about two years later. A tweet asking community members for their favorite pie crust ingredients was followed by the introduction of Pillsbury® gluten-free pie and pastry dough about two years later. A survey about oat consumption and concerns in 2012 was followed by the 2015 announcement that soon five flavors of gluten-free Cheerios®, all made from oats, would be available. GM holds the patents for all these products.

While consumers were handing over their legal and intellectual property rights, GM retained the right to use web cookies, beacons, and transparent GIFs to collect user data for marketing purposes. Users were warned that disabling cookies would block them from accessing parts of the community; to retain full community membership, users were required to surrender personal data for corporate gain.

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