30 Years of Lobbying for the most Famous Tiger in the World
By George Franklin
iUniverse
144 Pages
George Franklin is a friend of mine and a familiar face around Battle Creek. For many years he was the face of Kellogg and in the forefront of any local and national event the cereal giant has been involved with. He's been the Government Relations business for Kellogg for 30 years and worked with at least five CEO's and almost became an aide for former CEO and Secretary of Commerce Carlos Guterrierz when he was selected for the post but was denied the job for entirely political reasons. He gets into that entire episode in the book.
Franklin became the "Lobbyist" for Kellogg after serving as a staffer in Washington and becoming involved in the lobbying business after Kellogg's lobbyist was caught up on federal charges of dealing with organized crime. CEO Bill LaMothe took him on to operate the new Kellogg Government Relations office in Washington. The timing couldn't have been better for the 29 year old poitical junkie.
One of his first battles in Washington was with the Federal Trade Commission's unreasonable quest to breakup the food industry, namely, Kellogg, General Foods and General Mills, claiming they held a "Shared Monopoly" in the cereal business. I remember that episode well and how absurd the notion of was of a shared monopoly, a true oxymoron. I remember someone saying that's sort of like "common uniqueness." Much of the book was a trip down memory lane as the details of the big issues Kellogg faced as I grew up came flooding back.
During those days of the Carter administration, the FTC was out of control and thought they could use the cereal business as a first stop in a campaign to break up big businesses and punish success. As the case went on, Franklin cut his teeth on this issue. The stories are fascinating of dealing with Congress and the press and the absurdities of their anti-business legislation. The factor that terminated the issue was the election of pro-business president, Ronald Reagan who put the brakes on an FTC attempting to over regulate free enterprise and success.
Another story, Frankin discusses is understanding the connections between food producers and the sugar lobby and how how the cereal companies got caught up in more absurdities. As the food program for schools, women and children (WIC) and other such nutrition programs were developed, many of the Kellogg products were excluded because of the bias against sugar. Raisin Bran was excluded from the program because the added raisins increased the sugar level. The absurdity was other propaganda the government published encouraged people to add fruit to their cereal and even had a raisin program they subsidized in California. It made no sense that many of the Kellogg's products were excluded and Franklin teamed up with others in the food industry to fight the sugar bias. This problem has been resurrected by the Obama administration in the recent Farm Bill and the First Lady's nutrition campaign. This is an issue that pays lobbyists kids college bills he quipped.
One of the refreshing aspects of this book is the reminder of how great a leader CEO Bill LaMothe was. LaMothe had the courage to do what was necessary on many occasions. One of the greatest stories was his adamant stance on remaining in South Africa and opposing Apartheid when the U.S. Government was urging all American business to leave. LaMothe would not abandon the workers at the Kellogg Plant by bowing to the political pressures to leave. The driving force in Congress was our very own Congressman Howard Wolpe who he locked horns with on several occasions. Wolpe, an academic, was the leading authority in Congress on Africa and believed all American companies should leave the troubled nation. LaMothe belived Kellogg was a force for good and employed people of all races. Leaving would simply create unemployment and chaos..
One of the great stories in the book are about the politically active Kellogg South African Union Leader Christopher Dlamini. To the South African government he a terrorist, to the African National Congress (ANC) he was a hero and freedom fighter. One day, the plant manager called headquarters and said Christoper was missing. Sure enough, he had been abducted by government and his life was in great danger.
LaMothe went directly President P.W. Botha and demanded he be released unharmed and gave Botha an ultimatum. If he didn't release him, he would hold a press conference in Battle Creek, the heart of Howard Wolpe's district, and announce Kellogg was leaving South Africa. It worked and Dlamini was released. Throughout all this, Franklin had to facilitate the communications which was not an easy task.
The book has a lot of interesting stories about dealing with government and representing the company at the highest levels of government in both the U.S. and abroad. One espisode I really enjoyed was the call Kellogg received from Rudy Guilani a few days after 9/11. The mayor knew Muhammad Ali, was living in Benton Harbor and he contacted Kellogg asking if they fly him out to New York City to uplift the spirits of the recovery team AND quell some of the anti-Muslim sentiment that was plaguing the city. Kellogg agreed and Franklin got to escort the Champ to NYC in a whirlwind tour that was humbling, enlightening and unforgettable. Something Kellogg never really publicized, but a tremendous gesture.
There are many other interesting stories of dealing with the good and the bad in politics and government. Franklin's book is concise, easy to read and offers a great deal of advice and insight for anyone studying leadership or working in government relations.
Franklin points out, and rightfully so, that lobbying is an vital part of government and looking out for not only business interests, but consumer interests as well, is vital to our nation.
For me it was also a reminder of how much influence a company and town like Battle Creek, Michigan has had on the world. Kellogg has produced some of the greatest business leaders in the nation. The global reach of the company is improving the health of the world and providing employment and stability in nearly every continent of the globe.
Franklin's insights are honest, insightful and fun to read. This is a book that should be in every public relations and political science class. I can't recommend it enough.
