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International Nestlé-Free Week gathers strength

International Nestlé-Free Week went multi-lingual this year as bloggers took it on themselves to translate Baby Milk Action’s press release.

The week continues to grow in strength in the US as a Halloween boycott of Nestlé, promoted on boonestle.blogspot.com

US bloggers organised a party on Twitter on the Sunday before the week began. This saw nearly 4,000 tweets on the day of the hour-long event posted to the #noNestle hashtag (go to twitter.com and search on the hashtag, which is still live). Some campaigners posted links to resources, such as logos to download to stick to non-Nestlé candy on Halloween.

The plan for next year’s event - 31 October to 6 November 2011 - is to start publicising the week well in advance so people who don’t usually boycott know to be Nestlé-Free. 

From comments on blogs and bulletin boards, once people hear about Nestlé malpractice and try a week using alternative products, continuing to boycott seems natural.

International Nestlé-Free Week

A week for those who support the boycott to do more to promote it and for those who don’t boycott to give it a go, at least for a week.

31 October - 6 November 2011

Secrecy over Nestlé sponsorship of London Marathon

Nestlé sponsored the London Marathon in 2010 with its controversial Pure Life brand of bottled water. Only Nestlé water was available, creating a dilemma for runners who support the Nestlé boycott as they had to break their personal boycott or put their health at risk. 

Baby Milk Action asked Virgin London Marathon for its sponsorship policy and a public statement on Nestlé’s sponsorship. We were told:

"Nestle will continue as one of the sponsors to the Virgin London Marathon next year (2011). The London Marathon’s sponsorship policy is confidential to the organisation of the event including the Race Director, CEO, Board of Directors and Trustees.

This is interesting as the Charity Commission guidelines on fundraising and sponsorship state: 

"Charities should be transparent about any relationship they have with a commercial partner and put in place the appropriate safeguards.

"Charities should be particularly cautious as co-branding or closely associating the charity with a company can become problematic if the company is discovered to engage in unethical practices or criminal activity. Charities need to carefully research the commercial participator and should consider whether a partnership with the commercial participator is appropriate and in line with the charity’s values and objects."

Any runners or spectators wishing to protest Nestlé’s role as sole water supplier for the next London Marathon on 17 April 2011 can contact Baby Milk Action.

You can also join the campaign on Facebook: We want Nestlé out of the London Marathon.

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