Kellogg’s

Michigan
Food Beverage and Tobacco

Risk Level:

Rating - Danger
High Risk

Summary:

The Kellogg Company, known as Kellogg's, regularly weaponizes its corporate power to advance ideological causes and financially oppose those who disagree. Kellogg's pulled all of its ads from conservative news sites but does fund Black Lives Matter (BLM), the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), the Tides, and more. Kellogg's vets vendors for LGBTQ policies and advocates for the Equality Act and other progressive policies. Kellogg's does not have viewpoint protections for its employees. For these reasons, Kellogg's receives a "High Risk" rating.

Criteria
Risk Level
Rationale
Corporate Weaponization
Criteria

Has denied service to customers, suppliers, or vendors due to their political views or religious beliefs OR corporately boycotts, divests, or sanctions regions, people groups, or industries.

Risk Level
Rationale

Kellogg’s received a score of 100 on the Corporate Equality Index from the Human Rights Campaign. Among other requirements, this means the company has pledged to vet vendors based on LGBTQ policies  (1). In 2016, Kellogg’s pulled all of its ads from Breitbart News (2)(3).

Criteria

Charitable giving (including employee matching programs) policies or practices discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or religious beliefs.

Risk Level
Rationale

Kellogg’s does not discriminate against faith-based charities in its charitable giving (1). The company does not match employee donations but offers grants to charities based on employee volunteer work (2). The corporate foundation does offer employee matching without religious bias (3).

Criteria

Employment policies fail to protect against discrimination based on political affiliation/views and/or religion.

Risk Level
Rationale

Kellogg’s does not protect against viewpoint or political affiliation discrimination in its Hiring Policy (1).

Corporate Governance and Public Policy
Criteria

Uses corporate reputation to support ideological causes and/or organizations hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level
Rationale

In 2021, Kellogg’s ran a partnership with GLAAD featuring “pride” cereal and boxes where customers could fill in their own pronouns (1). It has featured pride ads and advocated for the cause for years (2)(3). Kellogg’s has also corporately embraced critical race theory and similar ideologies, pushing these messages on employees (4). Kellogg’s corporately advocates for the Equality Act and transgender participation in sports (5)(6). Kellogg’s also advocated against North Carolina’s 2016 bathroom bill (7). The company signed an open letter opposing a Florida bill that would prevent teaching gender identity and sexual orientation in schools to kids in K-3rd grade (8).

Criteria

Uses corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level
Rationale

In 2021, Kellogg’s ran a partnership with GLAAD featuring “pride” cereal and boxes where customers could fill in their own pronouns; this partnership raised funds for GLAAD (1). Kellogg’s Foundation also pledged $90 million to the Black Lives Matter movement and related causes, including the BLM organization itself, the Tides Foundation, and other related advocacy groups (2)(3)(4)(5).

Criteria

Uses corporate political contributions for ideological, non-business purposes.

Risk Level
Rationale

The Kellogg Company has not used its PAC donations for ideological purposes; it has donated in a bipartisan, business-focused manner (1)(2).

All links were last accessed and all information was updated on:
March 29, 2023

Company reports are intended for educational use only. Full Disclaimer

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