Emailers protesting Colgate-Palmolive’s support for Al Sharpton’s group, the National Action Network (NAN), are getting a response that reads, in part:
We did not participate in the 2009 NAN Conference in New York City.
That’s interesting, because the conference program identifies Colgate-Palmolive as a “sponsor.” Even more interesting, a Colgate-Palmolive ad in a separate program from the same event states, in part:
Colgate-Palmolive is honored to be named Corporation of the Year by the National Action Network…
Emailers do get an admission from the company that it supported NAN last year:
In April, 2008, Colgate was among almost 40 corporate sponsors of a multi-day conference in Memphis organized by the NAN commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. and celebrating his continuing legacy.
It would be pretty hard for Colgate-Palmolive to deny its 2008 sponsorship. I had a confrontation with CEO Ian Cook at the company’s annual meeting where I prodded him to disclose that the company had made a $50,000 contribution to NAN, after he first refused.
Because of Colgate-Palmolive’s contradictory public representations about its support for Sharpton and NAN, it is time for the company to set the record straight. In the meantime, we encourage consumers to continue to contact Colgate-Palmolive.
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