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By Bill Lambrecht
Post-Dispatch Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON - Monsanto Co. and its biotechnology rivals began a $50 million
campaign Monday to sell Americans on the benefits of genetically modified
food.
With television and print ads along with a Web site and toll-free number, the
newly formed Council for Biotechnology Information is seeking to raise
awareness and reduce worry at a critical juncture for a powerful new
technology.
The council says it may spend as much as $250 million on the campaign over
the next five years toward shaping opinion in the United States and Canada.
Monsanto spokesman Jeff Bergau said the campaign is designed to tell
consumers something they don't know a lot about.
"From the conversations that we've had with people, the more access they've
had to information and the more exposure they've had to biotech form a
variety of sources, the more likely they are to embrace the technology," he
said.
A television ad that started airing nationally on Monday likens the potential
of genetically modified crops with the more widely accepted use of
biotechnology in medicine.
Interspersing views of farms and labs, the 60-second ad proclaims: "A patient
has a medicine she needs. A boy can survive a childhood disease. A cotton
crop helps protect itself from certain pests because discoveries in
biotechnology, from medicine to agriculture, are helping doctors and farmers
to treat our sick and to protect our crops."
The campaign opened on Monsanto's first day of business as a subsidiary of
Pharmacia Corp.
The companies announced in December that Monsanto would combine with
Pharmacia & Upjohn in what was described by both sides as a merger of equals.
In its new campaign, the industry is bringing in global muscle to combat
perception problems that have threatened to derail the burgeoning business of
genetically engineered food.
In addition to Monsanto, companies in the Council on Biotechnology
Information include DuPont; Dow Chemical; Swiss-based Novartis Corp.; BASF of
Germany; and Aventis CropScience and Zeneca Ag Products, both of Britain. Also
taking part is the Washington-based Biotechnology Industry Organization, a
trade association
The companies are committed to spending $50 million a year during an effort
that is planned for three to five years. The new entity has been incorporated
and will open an office in Washington.
Companies work together in trade associations, but seldom do competitors like
Monsanto and DuPont become allied in such an aggressive campaign. In fact,
DuPont recently sued Monsanto in U.S. District Court in Delaware alleging
that that Monsanto had stolen genetic technologies.
Their willingness not only to work together but also to spend as much as $250
million over five years shows a fierce commitment to preserving a technology
that has been buffeted by controversy.
Most of that controversy has swirled in Europe, where a consumer backlash
against modified food has stalled acceptance of gene-altered crops in the
15-country European Union. American corn growers have been unable to export
to Europe since the fall of 1998 because of the furor.
In recent months, the debate has begun to sprout in the United States in the
form of protests and legislation in Congress and in states calling for more
stringent regulation of modified foods.
Last week, the Agriculture Department announced that American farmers intend
to plant slightly fewer acres this spring in seeds that are modified for
production ease or to help plants ward off pests.
Despite consumers' safety worries in Europe, and to a lesser extent in Japan
and Brazil, polls show that the public in North America remains generally
unworried and unknowledgeable about modified food. The industry campaign aims
to increase that knowledge and to halt any concerns that may be developing.
The council's Web site is at www.whybiotech.com. On the Internet and in the
ads, the companies assert that:
* Modified foods have been thoroughly tested by U.S. government agencies and
found to be safe.
* Crops from biotechnology can one day enhance the nutritional content of
foods and help to produce more food for a growing population.
* Food biotechnology can conserve natural resources by conserving soil and
limiting the use of harmful chemicals.
The effort could be risky, judging by the experience in Europe. In 1998,
Monsanto canceled a multimillion-dollar ad campaign in the United Kingdom and
France after a public outcry. While there was polling evidence that a revised
campaign might have worked, at least in France, Monsanto bailed out amid the
clamor. Other companies had declined to join with Monsanto in that effort.
Margaret Mellon of the Union of Concerned Scientists said she was "taken
aback" by the potential commitment of $250 million.
"You have to ask why they are doing it. And one reason has to be that most
people in America can't see benefits on the horizon to them or to their
families," she said.
Bergau, the Monsanto spokesman, replied that, "It is a lot of money, but it's
an important commitment. The scope of the program demonstrates the level of
commitment the companies have to giving people easy access to information
about biotechnology."
ecoglobe: One may compare Mr. Robert Shapiro. He explained why he thinks genetic engineering will save the world.
[Source: From List: ge@naturallaw.org.nz
Posted by: robt_m@talk.co.nz
Date: Wed, 5 Apr 2000 13:47:11 +1200
http://cnniw.yellowbrix.com/pages/cnniw/Story.nsp?story_id=9799603&ID
=cnniw&scategory=Business+and+Finance
Posted: Tuesday, April 4, 2000.
St. Louis Post Dispatch
Front Page - A section] ** This material is distributed for research and educational purposes
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