The Kellogg Corporation's decision to drop Michael Phelps in the aftermath of the infamous bong hit photo is blossoming into a full blown and richly deserved public relations disaster.  Claiming Phelps's deed is "not consistent with the image of Kellogg," the company has alienated his fans and united the marijuana reform community behind an unlikely champion.

Phelps's tremendous popularity, along with evolving public attitudes about marijuana use in general have created a climate that is strikingly hostile towards Kellogg's moral posturing. Phelps, through his remarkable achievements, inherently undermines the very foundations of our culture's lingering animosity towards marijuana, thus his vilification is rendered self-evidently incoherent and indefensible. Moreover, Phelps’s behavior is no different than that of millions of hardworking and responsible Americans and any attack on his character is an attack on us all.

The drug policy reform community is issuing a unified call to our supporters to help show Kellogg's that demonizing marijuana users is bad for business. Please join us in not purchasing their products, which include:

Apple Jacks(R)
Kellogg's Corn Flakes(R)
Cracklin' Oat Bran(R)
Crispix(R)
Froot Loops(R)
Frosted Flakes(R)
Frosted Mini-Wheats(R)
Honey Smacks(R)
Pops(R)
Kellogg's Raisin Bran(R)
Rice Krispies(R)
Special K(R)
Pop-Tarts(R)
Rice Krispies Treats(R)
Nutri-Grain(R) Cereal Bars
Keebler(R) Cookies
Famous Amos(R) Cookies
Cheez-It(R) Crackers
Morningstar Farms(R) Organic

 

You can call Kellogg's hotline at 800-962-1413 to share your concerns and let them know why you won't be purchasing their products. They're getting so many calls about this that you actually get a message saying "If you would like to share comments regarding our relationship with Michael Phelps, please press 1...If you are calling about the recent peanut butter recall, please press 2." Amazingly, Kellogg's customers are more concerned about their treatment of Michael Phelps than about the salmonella outbreak.

Believe me, I never thought the fight for drug policy reform would find me telling everyone to stop eating rice krispie treats, but you gotta play the hand you’re dealt. This is one of those rare moments where the conversation about marijuana use in America spontaneously invades pop culture and takes over. We have everything to gain by riding this wave, even to the absurd extent of switching breakfast cereals.

For too long, zero-tolerance anti-drug posturing has ruled corporate America. The mentality that led Kellogg's to condemn Phelps is the same one which has inspired countless companies not only to collect urine from their employees, but to place signs in their storefronts boasting about it to their customers. Corporate reefer madness is the lifeblood that feeds Partnership for a Drug Free America with tax-free contributions, all based on the faulty assumption that nothing wins over the heart and minds of the public more reliably than drug war propaganda.

Thus, today brings an interesting challenge. I've heard the word boycott thrown around by reformers many times in many contexts, but I’ve never seen the level of intensity that has emerged from this week's events. Can we deal a blow to the presumptions and prejudices that drive corporate America to continue paying tribute to this vicious war on their own customers? Join us, and together we’ll find out.