Cheerios Mailing Free Seeds to Save Bees-Truth! & Outdated!
Summary of eRumor:
Cheerios will mail you 500 free wildflower seeds to help save the bees.
The Truth:
Cheerios and Veseys Seeds teamed up to giveaway 100 million free wildflower seeds in an effort to curb the world’s decline in bee populations — but the companies quickly reached their 100 million goal.
At the time of publication, Cheerio’s website indicated that it had already given away 100 million wildflower sees, but it was still giving away additional seeds. It’s not clear how long that would last, however:
Word of Cheerios free seed promotion quickly spread through local news coverage before national outlets like CNN and USA Today picked the story up. Just a day after this USA Today report, Cheerios had already given away 100 million seed:
Cheerios is sending free wildflower seeds to anyone who signs up on their website to help save the bees.
Bees, which play a critical role in our food supply, are dying globally at an alarming rate. The cereal brand pledged to send out 100 million wildflower seeds in partnership with Veseys Seeds as part of a campaign called #BringBacktheBees, inspired by Honey Nut Cheerios’ bee mascot, Buzz.
“People need bees. And now bees need people,” the campaign’s site says.
The campaign asks that once you receive your wildflower seeds, you plant them in a “bee-friendly” area.
Several species of bees have experienced dramatic declines in recent decades, with a bumblebee becoming endangered this year for the first time. The declines are thought to stem from habitat loss, disease, pesticide use, climate change and an extremely small population size.
So, while it’s true that Cheerios was giving away free seeds — the promotion might be “outdated” by the time you read this.