In Reply to: Imperial Chemical Industries ?? posted by Michael Hunwicks on August 09, 1996 at 22:00:44:
> Can anyone tell me anything about ICI?
I thought I'd let you know about I.C.I.'s propaganda campaign on Teesside.
This is the text of a press release issued by last year in response to the 'Teesside Community Calendar'
for which children draw pictures in a competition - the 12 winners getting published in the calendar
TEESSIDE GREEN PARTYJanuary 1996
Chemical Industry Indoctrination in Teesside Primary Schools
The Chemical Industry Association's Teesside Community Calendar for
1996 shows how the industry is buying its way into local schools to
spread the illusion among children that the industry is 'clean'.This is not the first year that local schools and community groups have
won substantial cash awards by providing the pictures for the calendar.
But usually, theres a broadly educational theme - in 1995 it was safety.This year though, the emphasis has moved from education to propaganda -
- and false propaganda at that. The children were encouraged to paint
advertisments for the companies' products. They have duly obliged with
entries such as"ICI CHLORINE CARES" and
"AT THE END OF EVERY RAINBOW IS A POT OF ICI GOLD"Other winning entries sing the praises of other ICI divisions, of Dupont,
Union Carbide, BASF and BP Chemicals.This is an appalling abuse of our education system. In school, children
should be able to learn for life, free from the constant barrage of
advertising and propaganda that they are subjected to outside.
But the chemical industry is now pursuing them into school, peddling
false messages, in its effort to turn tomorrow's citizens into unprotesting
neighbours and willing consumers.A FEW OF THE C.I.A. CLAIMS
July - I.C.I. chlorine cares
Chlorine and the compounds it gets turned into are probably the most
poisonous and persistent of all the manufactured chemicals that
threaten life on our planet. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) have created
the hole in the ozone layer that grows year by year, intensifying global
warming and making it dangerous to stay out in the sun. Dioxins, a byproduct
of making such commonplace plastics as PVC are also released when
it is thrown away. Toxic in even minute quantities, they have
accumulated in all living things. Together with polychlorinated
biphenols (PCBs), and chlorine bleach processes, the 'environmental
hormones' disrupt key body processes and are suspect number one as
the cause of the loss of fertility and sex changes thats affecting
species throughout the globe.May: Be on the winning team with Dupont
But if Dupont had its way, its team of Teesside workers would now be
on the dole while the company maximised its profits elsewhere.February: Union Carbide operates its assets safely and efficiently
Tell that to the people of Bhopal, or the other sites around the globe
where workers and communities have suffered the company's
recklessness and cover-upsMarch: BASF aims to be the best supplier of polypropylene materials in Europe
And maybe they could have been if they'd thought to put smoke alarms in their
vast warehouse smack in the middle of the Wilton Works. As it was, Teesside
missed a major disaster by a hairsbreadth, thanks only to the emergency services
and a fair wind.-END-
One outraged local resident said 'I thought even the previous level of
involvement was wrong, but nobody could fail to be outraged by this!'
Another entry which I remember at the time showed a picture of a surfer with the caption
'Thanks to ICI this man is having fun'.
Articles appeared in all the local papers (except the Evening Gazette which did
give space to a 'letter to the editor') after this press release.
In the 1997 version of the calendar, the emphasis had moved back to safety,
so it just goes to show, 'if you use a firm voice the dragon will come to heel'.You also might be interested to know that ICI trades with China and Indonesia both
of which have terrible human rights records.
I have heard an ICI manager say privately that it didn't matter
that Indonesia had a military government because ICI didn't have that much invested there.-------
Richard