General Mills Issues Apology For a CD-ROM in Cereal Boxes that Includes the Bible-Truth!
Summary of eRumor:
General Mills, the maker of products like Cheerios and Chex, has issued an apology for a CD-ROM that included a copy of the Bible and was shipped inside of cereal boxes. The company says it intended for the CD-ROM to offer games and reference materials like dictionaries, but that it did not know the CD included the Bible.
The Truth:
According to an article in the Detroit Free Press from July 23, 2000, the CD-ROMS were part of a $10 million dollar software-and-cereal promotion with Rhinosoft Interactive.
The CD-ROM included a copy of the New International Version of the Bible which had been licensed for free from Zondervan Publishing. The article quotes General Mills as saying, “While inclusion of the Bible may be seen as added value by some, it is the company’s policy not to advance any particular set of religious beliefs.” General Mills is further quoted as saying, “Inclusion of this material does not conform to our policy, and we apologize for this lapse.” In the same article, Rhinosoft’s Greg Swann said the cereal maker did know in advance that there was a copy of the Bible on the CD-rom.
In an article in the Detroit Free Press from July 24, 2000, Tom Mockabee, executive vice president and publisher of Zondervan Publishing House’s Bible group, says he’s disappointed in the General Mills apology and that he thinks that the scriptures are relevant to where people are and that General Mills shouldn’t be afraid of that.
Boxes of cereal have already been shipped that include some of the CD-ROMS, but General Mills says that after that, none of the CD’s will be included.
updated 8/3/2000