Word "Knife" not "Family Friendly" - Who knew? M&M's Rejects Knife Rights' Order!

Hey someone buy one of their cheese spreaders from the M&M world site and put an edge on it.
 
Here is the reply I received today after I emailed them the message below -

mars-inc said:
Dear Consumer,



Thank you for your email.

MY M&M's® made the decision to not print the customized order because it contained the word "knife," which is not in keeping with the fun, celebratory nature of our brand.

Sincerely,

Your friends at MY M&M’S® Chocolate Candies


I am a member of Knife Rights. I will no longer be able to patronize your products with the recent revalelation that Mars Inc now considers the word Knife to not be "family friendly". I will this Halloween be carving my children's jack o lanterns with knives, but Mars candies will no longer be part of our Halloween nor will we patronize any of the other Mars products. Sincerely Andy L Moon Chief Instructor IFSA LLC
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best

mqqn
 
perado said:
I got exactly the same. I emailed them back to point out their hypocrisy in using the Russian mafia commercial. I wonder if they'll even respond to that.
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So did I, pointed out it even uses the words "chop you up". :)
 
Feel free to use my response as a template. I attempted to write this in corporate terms and use certain corporate phrases that quickly attracts the attention of companies that function in such a way as this. Discussion about their "corporate values", "corporate initiatives", and "cultural sensitivity" attracts attention very quickly.


Dear M&Ms;

I was informed today that you decided to reject an order from Knife Rights because the word, “knife” is not, “family friendly”. While I feel that this decision is unfair in itself, I am even more disappointed that while “knife” is not “family friendly,” you felt that a commercial stereotyping people of Russian descent was family friendly enough to show to millions, despite the clear lack of cultural sensitivity.

Declining to participate with a respected & non-profit organization that advocates for the law-abiding usage of a tool, while simultaneously depicting the ‘Russian mafia’ ethnic stereotype has instilled a sense of corporate values and cultural sensitivity upon me that I cannot support any more despite my love of your products.

Instead of sending me a response, please consider different action that can better depict you as a “family friendly” company. I hope this letter assists you in future decision-making & appreciate your time.

Respectfully,
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Super awesome letter man. Companies hate to have cultural sensitivity and corporate values called into question.

pnsxyr said:
Feel free to use my response as a template. I attempted to write this in corporate terms and use certain corporate phrases that quickly attracts the attention of companies that function in such a way as this. Discussion about their "corporate values", "corporate initiatives", and "cultural sensitivity" attracts attention very quickly.
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I sent them one also commenting on how the current commercial has a Russian mob boss threatening to, "chop" up a peanut m&m to put on his ice cream.

Also told them as I live very close to their factory in Jersey and I always wanted to support local businesses I am sorry but because of their stance I would no longer buy their product and would encourage my friends to do the same.

I also told them that although my friends and myself boycotting their products might not put them outta business between us and the knife community we will have an impact on their bottom line.

Also if they chose to reverse their stance I would continue to buy their products and encourage everyone I knew to do the same.

It's a shame they chose the word knife as the line they drew, I really like the M&M's with pretzels.
 
I made this pic my Cover pic on my facebook page. :D:D We'll see how long facebook lets it stay up. :(

No M and Ms.jpg
 
RedLynx said:
Super awesome letter man. Companies hate to have cultural sensitivity and corporate values called into question.
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Thanks! I've learned that if a company has those two corporate traits questioned upon by multiple customers, the topic will almost always make its way to the top, it will be seen by people like the CEO, and there will be a response beyond one of the "F-U-Generics" as it is the type of negative attention companies go to great lengths to protect. And since these traits are so heavily emphasized within corporate culture today, it spreads fast.

Come to think of it now, another few topics that could make letters strongly significant to the core values of the company...
1) the fashion in which they acted is discriminatory policy directly attempting to treat a specific cohort of individuals differently than they do others (regardless of legality, they are acting in a way in which they treat certain groups different than others, which questions their commitment to "cultural sensitivity" and "diversity initiatives".)
2) linking knives to family events and events with cultural significance...cookouts, birthday parties, eating healthy family meals, promoting healthy living & helping people kick the fast food habit, etc.

The more people who contact them with messages that question their corporate values & business ethics, the more pressure they are going to be under and the better chance they get the core message of, "this type of discrimination is not acceptable, and we are not going to patronize an organization with this kind of intolerance."
 
Bear Claw Chris Lappe said:
Reply I got back today.

"Dear Consumer,

Thank you for your email.
MY M&M's® made the decision to not print the customized order because it contained the word "knife," which is not in keeping with the fun, celebratory nature of our brand.

Sincerely,
Your friends at MY M&M’S® Chocolate Candies"
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Their idea of fun and celebration must be diabetes..............Diabetes kills how many people per year?
 
zzyzzogeton said:
I made this pic my Cover pic on my facebook page. :D:D We'll see how long facebook lets it stay up. :(

View attachment 445620
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I hope you don't mind if I do the same. :thumbup:

We'll see how it pans out. In the meantime, I too have expressed my displeasure with the Mars corp (politely, of course :) ) on several venues, including their own.

Esav Benyamin said:
There is nothing more fun and celebratory than a cake knife! :D
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You ought to trademark that :)

I take heart in the fact that many of my friends and family, most of whom do not usually think much about knives, and only know about this issue because they know me, have also already shared and commented on it/contacted Mars/M&M. So that's a good thing. Perhaps it will end up bringing more awareness and support to KnifeRights. :thumbup:
 
That's so dumb... I just sent them a message through the link provided by the OP.

Come on people, let's get as many pages in this thread as in knife giveaway threads or share a picture thread! Leaving the message is not that difficult, they just require first and last name (which can be John Doe if you like) and an email address.
 
james terrio said:
I hope you don't mind if I do the same. :thumbup:

We'll see how it pans out. In the meantime, I too have expressed my displeasure with the Mars corp (politely, of course :) ) on several venues, including their own.



You ought to trademark that :)

I take heart in the fact that many of my friends and family, most of whom do not usually think much about knives, and only know about this issue because they know me, have also already shared and commented on it/contacted Mars/M&M. So that's a good thing. Perhaps it will end up bringing more awareness and support to KnifeRights. :thumbup:
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James and zzy, I hope you'll keep us apprised of any changes Facebook implements to your pages, etc.

By the way, perhaps we could "Sticky" this thread so it doesn't get too far down the list? This seems good enough to Sticky in my humble opinion.
 
I just sent them an email as well as posted on their facebook.
I hope this changes.
On a side I wonder if they were getting printed for Blade Show?
 
RedLynx said:
James and zzy, I hope you'll keep us apprised of any changes Facebook implements to your pages, etc.
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I will indeed. As of this moment, mine hasn't attracted any complaints or anything... just support from some friends. I'd be surprised if there was an issue, since there's no offensive language or slander or anything like that. But who knows...
 
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