Cheerios Anti-GMO Move: PR Win, Marketing Stunt, or Both?

Lots of people really don’t like the concept of genetically modified organisms in their food; just check out what happened to Cheerios when they tried to let Facebook fans get creative back in 2012.

The people who hated on General Mills for GMOs a year ago were probably glad to hear the news that the company will no longer include any “genetically engineered ingredients” in its primary product, plain old Cheerios. In the words of The Motley Fool, GM “[said] no to Monsanto” in the interest of corporate reputation and sales.

Seems like a case of social media outrage leading to positive change, right?

Not so fast.

As Quartz reported yesterday, the CEO of Monsanto addressed the issue during a conference call when asked whether the company fears a public uprising over GMOs, saying:

“The interesting thing with Cheerios over that particular brand is they’re made from oats, and there are no biotech oats in existence today. So