Iams Resolution
Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2004 4:33 pm
A forward from editor Steve Smith. This was an incredible accomplishment by Steve, as the new appointment nearly fell through numerous times.
Bob Kane
Sportsmen's and Animal Owners' Voting Alliance -
Working to identify and elect supportive legislators
Visit SAOVA's *new* website at http://saova.org
Please share this message widely.
__________________________________________________________
I’d like to tell you about the resolution of the Iams/Eukanuba/Humane Society of the United States/sporting dog community situation. As you may remember from previous editorials and word-of-mouth throughout the sporting community, HSUS ran some events called Pet Fest America, the key sponsor of which was The Iams Company, owned by Proctor & Gamble. Since HSUS is an anti-hunting organization, sportsmen and women felt betrayed by Iams, which has done and continues to do a lot for the sporting dog folks; I’ve included with this a list of the events and organizations they sponsor, and it’s an impressive one.
When our subscribers started raising this issue with us because Iams/Eukanuba was one of our major advertisers, and when the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance, a watchdog pro-hunting group, got involved, I approached Iams to express our concern and was pretty much rebuffed. So Jake and I elected to drop them as advertisers, though they have been major advertisers for years. We called them and told them and then announced it in the editorials and on our website chatroom, where it was picked up and placed on other sites’ chatrooms.
It turns out this was quite an unexpected blow to the company, taking on the look of organized resistance, and two of their people flew up to our offices to talk about it. But we had more to discuss than just the Pet Fests. We had also along the way discovered that Iams has an animal care advisory board that oversees the treatment of dogs and cats being tested – fed – with Iams products. On that board was an executive and chief of staff of HSUS. We felt there was no member of the board who adequately represented the interests of sporting dogs. We were of the opinion that both the Pet Fest and the board situation needed to be addressed. We were told that the board did not make policy or influence corporate direction, it was just there to make sure the dogs being tested were cared for properly, which no one can argue is a bad thing.
We pointed out that we didn’t care if the board made cotton candy – there was the perception that Iams did not have broad-based representation on the board, and regardless of the board’s innocuous purpose, perception was everything. In taking this position, we joined and were joined by sportsmen who via thousands of e-mails, letters, and phone calls expressed their displeasure.
That’s the background. Here is where we are. Iams will no longer be sponsoring the Pet Fest America events, and among several additions made to the board is Dr. Kelley Donham of the University of Iowa. Dr. Donham specializes in occupational health as it relates to caring for/interaction with animals. I am also pleased to add that Dr. Donham is a Vizsla field trialer and sportsman. The beautiful thing about his appointment is that he fills a real need on the animal care advisory board while at the same time providing the board with insight into the needs of sporting dogs.
Throughout this whole situation, Jake and I have been motivated not by advertising dollars. It’s possible that Iams will advertise with us long enough to prove that they can, and then drop us like a hot rock. When we cut them off, Jake and I were prepared to never see them again. Our advertising people, all of whom also hunt, shoot, and have dogs, were in total agreement with us.
We were instead motivated by several other factors:
1. We didn’t want the sporting community to turn its back on Iams/Eukanuba because I/E would eventually turn its back on the sporting dog people and stop sponsoring the events so important to the interest and health of our sport.
2. We honestly felt that Iams had at some point become confused by the HSUS name and thought of it as small h, small s humane society, the generic term for most towns’ local animal shelter. If that’s the case, they should have checked closer before making a deal. Dumb. Balancing that, the HSUS board member, according to Iams, had worked with the company previously, before his employment with HSUS, so he was a known quantity to them and possessed the experience and academic qualifications they were looking for in a board member.
3. If a company makes a good-faith effort and that effort does not bring the hunting community back to them – in other words, if no amount of bowing and scraping makes up for their sins in our eyes – then other companies and businesses who hear from sportsmen demanding they change a policy or end a partnership will come to ignore us, figuring, “Why bother? Even if we do what they want, they won’t be happy.”
4. If the sporting dog folks and Iams turned their backs on each other, who wins? The anti-hunters; with very little effort and maybe without even realizing it, they will have been able to drive a wedge between a good company and a good market.
We know there will be plenty of people who feel that Iams did not do enough soon enough. Some will feel Iams should make a public apology, toss the HSUS vet off the board, and promise never, ever to do anything that will make us mad again. My response is that nothing this involved is ever solved perfectly. At some point, you can cross the line that lies between an equitable solution and punishment, and nobody likes their nose rubbed in it. Peace can be arrived at through a reasoned, negotiated settlement, or it can be arrived at the way Rome made peace with Carthage.
Some will say that Iams’ motivation was completely mercantile and they are doing this only because they have been forced to economically. My response is that should not be a big surprise. P&G is a publicly traded corporation with a stockholder mandate and obligation that requires them to make money. When sportsmen wanted to make ourselves heard, what megaphone did we use? A boycott of their products, which was intended to get their attention in the best way we knew how – by affecting their bottom line.
Some will say that there was a falling out between HSUS and Iams that had nothing to do with us and so they are trying to make the best of the end of an arrangement – the Pet Fests – that was going to end anyway, or at least there was a mutual Iams/HSUS decision not to continue them. My response is that, yes, this one bothers me. In this situation, I would have liked to have seen Iams pull the plug. But like most negotiations, this one was pretty much a laws-and-sausage situation – don’t ever watch either being made -- and we should be interested in what’s happened, not how or why it has. Motivation and good intentions don’t hold a candle to results. Having said that, the rest of their actions were totally proactive and are being done for the right (in our opinion) reasons.
Some will say it’s too late, that they will never forgive and forget and they have moved to another brand and won’t go back. My response is, that is your right; you should do what you feel you need to do. We at PDJ/RJ are satisfied enough with the outcome of this situation to again let Iams advertise its products in our pages if they wish. As I understand it, it is Iams/Eukanuba’s intention to rededicate itself to the sporting dog and to continue to sponsor and materially contribute to wildlife organizations and sporting dog events at all levels across the country. If you look at those events, listed below, and add “No More Pet Fests” to it, it’s pretty obvious that they are doing what they can to prove themselves to us.
We want to thank everyone who made their opinions known to us, both those who agreed and those who disagreed, by letters, e-mails, phone calls, or chatroom comments. We’d like to wish Dr. Donham well in his service on the advisory board; the board does do good work. I’d also like to take the chance to thank two fellows you don’t ever hear much about, Bob Goff and Stan Haag, the publishers – owners – of these magazines; it’s their money I’ve been playing fast and loose with. Not once did they question our motivation or our handling of the situation, even though it has cost them a lot of ad dollars.
Whether or not you choose to support Iams/Eukanuba in the future, for the continued health of The Pointing Dog Journal and The Retriever Journal, Jake and I hope you will support us in this decision.
Steve Smith
Editor
Events and Organizations Sponsored by The Iams Company
AKC Master National Hunt Test
AKC National Gun Dog Championship
AKC National Championship
Canadian National Amateur Retriever Championship
Canadian National Retriever Championship
ESPN Great Outdoor Games
Eukanuba Beagle Championship
German Wirehaired Pointer Nationals & Specialty
GSPCA National Specialty
National Amateur Retriever Championship
National Bird Dog Championship
National German Pointing Dog Championship
National Retriever Championship
NGSPA Championship
Official U.S. Gun Dog Team, 2004 National Countrysports Fair, Northern
Ireland Vizsla Nationals & Specialty Weimaraner Nationals & Winter
Specialty
The Iams Company is the only dog food company to support the
Armbruster Test, an international hunt test for Deutsche Drahthaars.
The Iams Company is the only dog food company to financially support the
quail restoration project on the Ames Plantation, home to the National
Bird Dog Championship and for many years has commissioned original
oil paintings by Ross B. Young, of the National Champion Bird Dog.
Iams conducts the Iams Retriever Symposium for breeders and trainers of
retrievers and also support Team Eukanuba Seminars around the country.
Iams supports Quail Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, The Ruffed Grouse
Society, Woodcock Limited, and Ducks Unlimited.
Iams publishes Care and Nutrition of the Sporting Dog, one of the only manuals for hunters and field trialers.
Bob Kane
Sportsmen's and Animal Owners' Voting Alliance -
Working to identify and elect supportive legislators
Visit SAOVA's *new* website at http://saova.org
Please share this message widely.
__________________________________________________________
I’d like to tell you about the resolution of the Iams/Eukanuba/Humane Society of the United States/sporting dog community situation. As you may remember from previous editorials and word-of-mouth throughout the sporting community, HSUS ran some events called Pet Fest America, the key sponsor of which was The Iams Company, owned by Proctor & Gamble. Since HSUS is an anti-hunting organization, sportsmen and women felt betrayed by Iams, which has done and continues to do a lot for the sporting dog folks; I’ve included with this a list of the events and organizations they sponsor, and it’s an impressive one.
When our subscribers started raising this issue with us because Iams/Eukanuba was one of our major advertisers, and when the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance, a watchdog pro-hunting group, got involved, I approached Iams to express our concern and was pretty much rebuffed. So Jake and I elected to drop them as advertisers, though they have been major advertisers for years. We called them and told them and then announced it in the editorials and on our website chatroom, where it was picked up and placed on other sites’ chatrooms.
It turns out this was quite an unexpected blow to the company, taking on the look of organized resistance, and two of their people flew up to our offices to talk about it. But we had more to discuss than just the Pet Fests. We had also along the way discovered that Iams has an animal care advisory board that oversees the treatment of dogs and cats being tested – fed – with Iams products. On that board was an executive and chief of staff of HSUS. We felt there was no member of the board who adequately represented the interests of sporting dogs. We were of the opinion that both the Pet Fest and the board situation needed to be addressed. We were told that the board did not make policy or influence corporate direction, it was just there to make sure the dogs being tested were cared for properly, which no one can argue is a bad thing.
We pointed out that we didn’t care if the board made cotton candy – there was the perception that Iams did not have broad-based representation on the board, and regardless of the board’s innocuous purpose, perception was everything. In taking this position, we joined and were joined by sportsmen who via thousands of e-mails, letters, and phone calls expressed their displeasure.
That’s the background. Here is where we are. Iams will no longer be sponsoring the Pet Fest America events, and among several additions made to the board is Dr. Kelley Donham of the University of Iowa. Dr. Donham specializes in occupational health as it relates to caring for/interaction with animals. I am also pleased to add that Dr. Donham is a Vizsla field trialer and sportsman. The beautiful thing about his appointment is that he fills a real need on the animal care advisory board while at the same time providing the board with insight into the needs of sporting dogs.
Throughout this whole situation, Jake and I have been motivated not by advertising dollars. It’s possible that Iams will advertise with us long enough to prove that they can, and then drop us like a hot rock. When we cut them off, Jake and I were prepared to never see them again. Our advertising people, all of whom also hunt, shoot, and have dogs, were in total agreement with us.
We were instead motivated by several other factors:
1. We didn’t want the sporting community to turn its back on Iams/Eukanuba because I/E would eventually turn its back on the sporting dog people and stop sponsoring the events so important to the interest and health of our sport.
2. We honestly felt that Iams had at some point become confused by the HSUS name and thought of it as small h, small s humane society, the generic term for most towns’ local animal shelter. If that’s the case, they should have checked closer before making a deal. Dumb. Balancing that, the HSUS board member, according to Iams, had worked with the company previously, before his employment with HSUS, so he was a known quantity to them and possessed the experience and academic qualifications they were looking for in a board member.
3. If a company makes a good-faith effort and that effort does not bring the hunting community back to them – in other words, if no amount of bowing and scraping makes up for their sins in our eyes – then other companies and businesses who hear from sportsmen demanding they change a policy or end a partnership will come to ignore us, figuring, “Why bother? Even if we do what they want, they won’t be happy.”
4. If the sporting dog folks and Iams turned their backs on each other, who wins? The anti-hunters; with very little effort and maybe without even realizing it, they will have been able to drive a wedge between a good company and a good market.
We know there will be plenty of people who feel that Iams did not do enough soon enough. Some will feel Iams should make a public apology, toss the HSUS vet off the board, and promise never, ever to do anything that will make us mad again. My response is that nothing this involved is ever solved perfectly. At some point, you can cross the line that lies between an equitable solution and punishment, and nobody likes their nose rubbed in it. Peace can be arrived at through a reasoned, negotiated settlement, or it can be arrived at the way Rome made peace with Carthage.
Some will say that Iams’ motivation was completely mercantile and they are doing this only because they have been forced to economically. My response is that should not be a big surprise. P&G is a publicly traded corporation with a stockholder mandate and obligation that requires them to make money. When sportsmen wanted to make ourselves heard, what megaphone did we use? A boycott of their products, which was intended to get their attention in the best way we knew how – by affecting their bottom line.
Some will say that there was a falling out between HSUS and Iams that had nothing to do with us and so they are trying to make the best of the end of an arrangement – the Pet Fests – that was going to end anyway, or at least there was a mutual Iams/HSUS decision not to continue them. My response is that, yes, this one bothers me. In this situation, I would have liked to have seen Iams pull the plug. But like most negotiations, this one was pretty much a laws-and-sausage situation – don’t ever watch either being made -- and we should be interested in what’s happened, not how or why it has. Motivation and good intentions don’t hold a candle to results. Having said that, the rest of their actions were totally proactive and are being done for the right (in our opinion) reasons.
Some will say it’s too late, that they will never forgive and forget and they have moved to another brand and won’t go back. My response is, that is your right; you should do what you feel you need to do. We at PDJ/RJ are satisfied enough with the outcome of this situation to again let Iams advertise its products in our pages if they wish. As I understand it, it is Iams/Eukanuba’s intention to rededicate itself to the sporting dog and to continue to sponsor and materially contribute to wildlife organizations and sporting dog events at all levels across the country. If you look at those events, listed below, and add “No More Pet Fests” to it, it’s pretty obvious that they are doing what they can to prove themselves to us.
We want to thank everyone who made their opinions known to us, both those who agreed and those who disagreed, by letters, e-mails, phone calls, or chatroom comments. We’d like to wish Dr. Donham well in his service on the advisory board; the board does do good work. I’d also like to take the chance to thank two fellows you don’t ever hear much about, Bob Goff and Stan Haag, the publishers – owners – of these magazines; it’s their money I’ve been playing fast and loose with. Not once did they question our motivation or our handling of the situation, even though it has cost them a lot of ad dollars.
Whether or not you choose to support Iams/Eukanuba in the future, for the continued health of The Pointing Dog Journal and The Retriever Journal, Jake and I hope you will support us in this decision.
Steve Smith
Editor
Events and Organizations Sponsored by The Iams Company
AKC Master National Hunt Test
AKC National Gun Dog Championship
AKC National Championship
Canadian National Amateur Retriever Championship
Canadian National Retriever Championship
ESPN Great Outdoor Games
Eukanuba Beagle Championship
German Wirehaired Pointer Nationals & Specialty
GSPCA National Specialty
National Amateur Retriever Championship
National Bird Dog Championship
National German Pointing Dog Championship
National Retriever Championship
NGSPA Championship
Official U.S. Gun Dog Team, 2004 National Countrysports Fair, Northern
Ireland Vizsla Nationals & Specialty Weimaraner Nationals & Winter
Specialty
The Iams Company is the only dog food company to support the
Armbruster Test, an international hunt test for Deutsche Drahthaars.
The Iams Company is the only dog food company to financially support the
quail restoration project on the Ames Plantation, home to the National
Bird Dog Championship and for many years has commissioned original
oil paintings by Ross B. Young, of the National Champion Bird Dog.
Iams conducts the Iams Retriever Symposium for breeders and trainers of
retrievers and also support Team Eukanuba Seminars around the country.
Iams supports Quail Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, The Ruffed Grouse
Society, Woodcock Limited, and Ducks Unlimited.
Iams publishes Care and Nutrition of the Sporting Dog, one of the only manuals for hunters and field trialers.