General Mills Investigates Fake Press Release
June 16 2010 - 8:38AM
Dow Jones News
General Mills Inc. (GIS) is investigating the source of a fake
press release on the PR Newswire service that falsely stated that
the U.S. president had ordered an investigation into the cereal
maker's supply chain.
The release, which went out at midnight EDT, was "completely
false," General Mills spokeswoman Kirstie Foster said. The company
alerted PR Newswire soon after the fake statement ran, and the news
release service issued another release that asked journalists and
readers to "disregard" the first as it had been sent by an
"unauthorized sender."
Foster said General Mills is unaware of the source of the
release but is investigating. She declined to offer further
comments on the investigation and didn't comment on how the fake
press release may have made its way through the PR Newswire, which
has a vetting process before publishing releases.
A representative for PR Newswire, a unit of United Business
Media Ltd. (UBM.LN), couldn't immediately be reached. The fake
release had at least one clue that suggested it was a hoax. Steve
Sanger, who was listed as a contact in the fake release, is the
company's former chief executive and not a media relations
person.
The release comes as General Mills shares have been climbing
steadily and hit an all-time high Tuesday. The food maker's
business has done well recently and benefited from consumers eating
more at home in the recession.
-By Anjali Cordeiro, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2200;
anjali.cordeiro@dowjones.com
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