
Google Might Have Walked Into A Nestle Boycott Problem With Android KitKat - tudorw
http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2013/09/04/google-might-have-walked-into-a-nestle-boycott-problem-with-android-kitkat/
======
ig1
As I pointed out in the previous discussion, your smartphone, whatever the
brand, almost certainly has metals mined or processed by children in dangerous
and unhealthy work environments.

That has a much bigger impact on child health than some tenuous three degrees
of separation link of a marketing partnership.

~~~
dylangs1030
Yeah...seriously. I expect some people will take offense to this, but here it
goes:

 _So what?_ If this contrived issue that Google _may_ face is now considered a
serious matter, then I guess everything is off limits.

 _" Hey Tom, what should we name our new operating system?"_

 _" I don't know, how about 'daring diamond' \- it's got alliteration, and
everybody loves diamonds."_

 _" Mmmm...nope, sorry, that whole blood diamonds thing...don't want to risk
that!"_

Google isn't making a statement supporting Nestle's practices in other
countries. They're not saying people are silly for boycotting the product.
This is really just hypersensitive.

I'm not saying you shouldn't boycott Nestle. But KitKat is a fantastic name.
It's not a loaded word. If you stopped people on the street and asked them
what they thought about it, they'd probably say, "Hey, those give me a break
commercials?" not "Hey, I boycott Nestle! Screw those bastards."

It's a cute name that has alliteration and is well known. I mean...come on.
Criticize Google for something substantial, not because they named an
operating system after a delicious chocolate treat marginally related to some
controversy. If you're going to criticize Android, go the whole hog and do it
with something that actually matters.

~~~
AndrewDucker
_If you stopped people on the street and asked them what they thought about
it, they 'd probably say, "Hey, those give me a break commercials?" not "Hey,
I boycott Nestle! Screw those bastards."_

Clearly _some_ people think the latter. And those are the people who are
causing a fuss right now.

------
waterlion
I try to avoid Nestle products, for lots of reasons, visible on their
Wikipedia page. They are a truly scummy company. Like most people I'm not
perfect, but I make a point of avoiding products (you can get a lot of mileage
out of not eating junk!).

I was very disappointed to see the tie-in. It won't alter my purchasing
decisions though. I believe what I read about no money changing hands, so I
won't be financially supporting the company. I won't see the KitKat logo
anywhere on my tablet/phone (I hope!). In fact I have two Android products and
I couldn't tell you the version-name of either of them.

This episode might have two effects. First, it might raise the profile of the
Nestle boycott. Second it might make more people aware that Google is a
commercial entity not some fuzzy benevolent organisation. Perversely, this
might end up being a good thing.

~~~
mistercow
>you can get a lot of mileage out of not eating junk!

It's true, but the body also seems to build something of a tolerance. I eat a
very healthy diet, and I've found that when I occasionally eat junk food, the
result is damned near debilitating.

But as long as I stick to my uncooked oats, peanut butter and soy milk, I'm
generally fine. Sounds boring, but whatever. I've almost always viewed food as
fuel, and more of an annoyance than anything.

------
kevingadd
This seems like something a competent editor would have removed from the post
before it went up:

"We could simply dismiss this Nestle boycott as the wibblings of a bunch of
hypersensitive hippies. Which is pretty much how I view it myself for whatever
little my personal opinion is worth."

~~~
AndrewDucker
Why? It's an opinion piece. Thus, it expresses the opinions of the author. You
can see more, in a similar style, on their blog:
[http://timworstall.com/](http://timworstall.com/)

~~~
booop
Just wondering, why do you use 'their' when it's quite obvious that it's a
man?

~~~
DanBC
Singular their has a long established use.

([http://crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/austheir.html](http://crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/austheir.html))

~~~
booop
Going by that page, AndrewDucker's usage of the singular their is incorrect.

------
adaml_623
Google really didn't think this one through. I don't see how any possible
marketing 'synergies' can overcome the vague confusion that some people will
have when confronted with the word KitKat and its associated Nestle registered
trademark and the very real opinions that Nestle does not behave ethically as
a company.

Maybe they couldn't think of anything else sweet that started with K but don't
I think they've come to the best solution. (The best solution would be to skip
K)

~~~
mistercow
>Maybe they couldn't think of anything else sweet that started with K

Could have gone with Krackel, key lime pie, kumquat, or kandy korn, and that's
without going anywhere exotic.

------
ygra
Given that Nesté still survives somehow despite the boycott I guess the impact
on Android device purchases would be quite low. For what it's worth, I guess
most people don't even know the code name of their Android version, let alone
_which_ version they use.

------
bjourne
I love it when the establishment calls you a hypersensitive hippie. It means
you're on the right track. :)

------
prenna
I'm going to leave Android and back to Ios if the next naming is kitkat
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcxIksJFMs4](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcxIksJFMs4),
that simple.

~~~
powatom
Arguing which is the lesser of two evils between Apple and Google is like
deciding which fist a mugger hits you with.

~~~
patrickaljord
Yes, how evil Apple and Google are. Giving jobs to thousands of people,
creating new billion dollar markets, creating products billions of people love
to use and buy. Evil indeed. How dare they really?

~~~
vidarh
Despite the ghost of Godwin's law, it's worth pointing out that your reasoning
works almost as well, with only minor changes, if you replace "Apple and
Google" with the Nazi party.

Someone can do good stuff and still be evil to the bone.

(No, I'm not implying Apple or Google are anywhere in the same ballpark as the
nazis; for that matter, I don't Apple or Google are evil, even if there are
practices I disagree with)

~~~
patrickaljord
I don't think it's possible to be as successful and big as Google and Apple
and not do practices that some people will disagree with, I mean when their
actions affect billions of people, it's obvious that it is simply impossible
not to anger anyone. In fact, the only way not to offend anyone in business is
probably by not doing any business at all.

------
nikoio
Then there is the whole issue of Nestle and water rights. it is not just about
breast feeding: [http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-privatisation-of-water-
nest...](http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-privatisation-of-water-nestle-
denies-that-water-is-a-fundamental-human-right/5332238)

~~~
victorhooi
Hmm, a typical one-sided rant that conveniently forgets to actually cite any
sources.

Go watch the original video - it's freely available on YouTube:

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyAzxmN2s0w](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyAzxmN2s0w)

I watched it, and he seems to be basically saying that water should have a
value or price. And that for those who don't have access to it, we need to
take steps to address that.

I don't see anything controversial about that - fresh water isn't free and it
damn as hell is a limited resource. We in our comfortable Western lifestyles
definitely use too much of it, so I'm not sure why it shouldn't have a price.

Nowhere in that video does he claim we should somehow go into random third
world countries and steal their water - which is what this meme somehow seems
to have transformed into.

Anyway, if you want to read the other side (obviously from their perspective):

[http://www.nestle.com/aboutus/ask-nestle/answers/nestle-
chai...](http://www.nestle.com/aboutus/ask-nestle/answers/nestle-chairman-
peter-brabeck-letmathe-believes-water-is-a-human-right)

~~~
adam-a
I think the part people take issue with is the idea that water supplies should
be privatised. In the video you linked he says that "declaring water as a
public right [...] that's an extreme solution". He doesn't say we should steal
3rd world contries' water, but he is clearly in favour of the water supply
becoming property of a multi-national like Nestle, rather than managed by the
government (i.e. property of the people).

From the Nestle website you linked and subsequent articles and interviews
Brabeck seems to have backtracked and now states he believes a minimum amount
of water is a human right. He still wants water privatisation though, and must
have his shareholders first in mind as CEO of Nestle, not public interest.

------
manojlds
Can we boycott this author too -

> Indeed, if I worked on Infinite Loop or in Redmond I’d be phoning around the
> boycott groups to see who needs a little help in making some signs and
> organising transport for the demos expressing their outrage.

------
ProcessBlue
This is a good example for how far Google has drifted away from having "Don't
be evil" as a core tenet. No PR or marketing person with those words in mind
would go near a company like Nestle. Dealing with a company whose CEO views
the human right to access to clean water as "extreme" is not something Sergei
or Brin would have done ten years ago.

I wonder how many Google employees today would know the meaning of "Don't be
evil".

~~~
vdaniuk
Google literally didn't do anything evil by releasing an update to Android
with the codename same as a popular chocolate product, which is owned by a
company with unethical practices. This is not evil unless you specifically
redefine a meaning of the word.

Oxford dictionary

evil noun

profound immorality and wickedness, especially when regarded as a supernatural
force: his struggle against the forces of evil

a manifestation of this, especially in people’s actions: the evil that took
place last Thursday

something which is harmful or undesirable: sexism, racism, and all other
unpleasant social evils

~~~
icebraining
Playing Devil's advocate, one could make an argument that by promoting Nestle,
they are accomplices in their harmful (and often illegal) activities.

Personally I don't think Google is any more guilty than any other company
where Nestle has advertised on, including TV channels or newspapers, but I do
think the world would be a better place if companies with Nestle's track
record were to be ostracized by both consumers and other companies.

~~~
vdaniuk
Yeah, the world really would be a better place. But it is nash equilimbrium
all over again and its absolutely pointless to shame one of the
players(corporation or consumer). The only effectively viable path to making a
world a better place is to change the rules of the game.

------
DeusExMachina
It's worth also remembering that the Nestlé CEO declared that OGM food is
healthy, water is not a human right and we should all work more, not less:
[http://youtu.be/SEFL8ElXHaU](http://youtu.be/SEFL8ElXHaU)

~~~
victorhooi
Err, no he didn't. Did you actually look at the link you posted? Or did you
just look at the title, and hope nobody would watch it?

First, he claimed that in 15 years of eating GM food in the US, there haven't
been any reported illness. That's not an opinion, that's a fact.

Now, you might think there could be issues down the track, sure - and that may
be your informed medical opinion.

But nothing he stated is actually false.

And just to forestall you, he also claimed that he personally thinks this
obsession with organic everything is bad - sure, you might disagree with him,
but he's entitled to his opinion, and it's hardly that controversial an
opinion, to be honest.

Also, organic doesn't mean "all natural and the way we did it 4000 years ago".
In fact, it's probably very different to what most people think:

[http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=organic-
sti...](http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=organic-still-a-
small-slice-of-the-pie)

And this much vaunted water claim?

He said that water should have a value, or price on it, and that for those who
didn't have access to it, we should take steps to help them.

I for one think that people in developed countries are terribly wasteful fresh
water (among other things) - and it should definitely have a price, since it's
a limited resource, and if you use it up, somebody else doesn't get it.

The fact that you and I are using computers to type this probably makes us
better off than a large proportion of the world.

How about we stop all this silly hypocritical DOWN WITH THE EVIL CORPORATIONS!
muck, and I don't know, start using that energy to something like World
Vision, or CharityWater?
([https://www.charitywater.org/donate/](https://www.charitywater.org/donate/))

~~~
webhat
Having actually watched this a number of times I was amazed that everybody
just believed the hype.

What I was most amused by is Nestlé taking tap water for free, bottling and
selling it back to you.

------
danilocampos
> A very minor part of it comes from mineral water: there are those who think
> that if tap is good enough for them then no one should use the bottled kind.
> A rather more serious part of it comes from the production of baby formula.

This is garbage writing that's misleading to boot. The issues with Nestlé and
water are much more about its pursuit of water rights at the expense of local
populations. These are hardly frivolous concerns. One day you wake up and find
that globalization has priced water outside of your income bracket.

~~~
shocks
More like the time they convinced women in third world countries to use
formula over breast milk, gave them poor instructions on using it that
resulted in hundreds of infant deaths, then subsequently withdrew the formula
these women now depended on as their breasts no longer produced milk, and
hundreds more babies died...

------
darkbot
I'm boycotting Nestlé.

------
ianstallings
I couldn't get past the second paragraph of that article. The author is a
dismissive prick.

------
Grue3
There are probably more people who boycott Google than those who boycott
Nestle.

