General Mills Probes Hoax Press Release Saying Obama Ordered Their Investigation

PORTLAND, Ore. — General Mills Inc. said it is looking into how a fake press release was sent out that falsely said President Barack Obama had ordered an investigation into the company's supply chain.

General Mills said the release, sent out at midnight eastern through PR Newswire, was false and was removed minutes after it was detected. The news release service issued an alert on Wednesday to disregard the release, saying it was sent in by an unauthorized sender.

However, several headlines and stories based on the hoax appeared briefly on Dow Jones Newswire, the Wall Street Journal Online and Fox Business News that were later retracted and removed.

"We were the victim of a hoax," Tom Forsythe, a spokesman for General Mills said. "We found the false release and removed it within minutes, but even false information can still spread incredibly quickly on the Internet."

General Mills said law enforcement is involved in the investigation of the source of the hoax. A representative for PR Newswire did not respond to a request for comment.

The event did not appear to have any effect on the company's stock as shares rose 20 cents to $38.37 by midday Wednesday nearing its 52-week high of $38.46.

Comments

[WhatTheHolyHeck]

12:52 PM on 06/21/2010

Aren't they already under investigation for their bogus "whole grain" thing? Last I heard the USDA was going after them, Kelloggs and others for publishing misleading nutritional claims, like that their sugar cereals were a good source of whole grains.

[NyJimbo]

11:11 PM on 06/18/2010

Doesnt murdoch own all three: Dow Jones Newswire, the Wall Street Journal Online and Fox Business News ?

[banker67]

07:45 AM on 06/18/2010

If it is a hoax, GM made the right decision. Business is tough enough without this kind of tactic. Of course if GM needs to be looked into, they should be okay with that. If they made mistakes, fix 'em. If they can do better, do better now.
Corporations can be useful entities for providing goods and services.

Of course when they assume they rule the earth and demand to call all the shots, corporations are disasters -- for those not profiting from their decisions, which would be roughly 99.99999999999999999999999999999999999999999% of all living substances.

[Igotit]

05:05 PM on 06/17/2010

Start by investigating the Teapublicans.

[organicconnect]

12:23 PM on 06/17/2010

Maybe this company's products should be looked into. According to a news item on Foodnavigator.com on 27 Sept 2000, the company shareholders voted down a proposal to not use GMO ingredients in their products. At the very least they should be required to label their products with this information: http://organicconnectmag.com/wp/2009/10/labeling-genetically-modified-foods/

[steppenwolfsayshi]

09:20 PM on 06/17/2010

Are they using that GMO corn that's linked to liver failure in humans? I bet they are.