"The freedom of thought and speech, arising from, and privileged by our constitution, gives a force and poignancy to the expressions of our common people, not to be found under arbitrary government, where the ebullitions of vulgar wit are checked by the fear of the bastinado, or of a lodging during pleasure in some goal or castle."
--Francis Grose, author of A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1785); cited in The Times Literary Supplement (February 4, 2011), p. 12; image from
PUBLIC DIPLOMACY
US steps up pressure on Gaddafi - Raw Story: "The United States Thursday called on the UN Human Rights Council to dump Libya and consulted key allies on imposing sanctions, accelerating the international drive to halt Moamer Kadhafi's brutal protest crackdown. ... After
being accused of reacting too slowly to the onslaught of violence against civilians and opposition demonstrators in Libya, the administration cranked up the pace of its public diplomacy. 'We support expelling Libya from the Human Rights Council,' State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters. The world's top human rights body has called an unprecedented special session against one of its own members on Friday. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will join a ministerial meeting at the council on Monday in Geneva." Image from article
West's disgraceful handling of Libya": Marwan Al Kabalan writes: The US and Europe blissfully ignored Gaddafi's bizarre personality and reckless policies because western companies had access to oil resources - gulfnews.com: "[S]ince Gaddafi agreed to let western oil companies back into his country in 2003, ... Libya's human rights record has since gotten worse and corruption has increased; but that did not matter much to the West. Western leaders started praising Gaddafi in every possible way. All the key European leaders visited Libya thereafter, including ... former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice. This dramatic shift in public diplomacy reflected a long-standing tendency in western political discourse, concealed political and economic interests and culminated in the dramatic rapprochement with Libya."
Babylon & Beyond: Observations from Iraq, Iran, Israel, the Arab world and beyond - Carol J. Williams, latimes.com: "Posted by: Tim [:] Libya, Egypt and Tunisia
all host US students studying abroad, who are developing critical language and cultural skills that we need for effective national security and public diplomacy programs. Some are contributing to the American economy through business or oil ventures; a few are missionaries or aid workers." Image from
Libyan Opposition Leaders Slam U.S. Business Lobby's Deals With Gaddafi - Marcus Baram, Huffington Post: "To help polish its image, Libya also hired New York public relations firm Brown Lloyd James, which helped Gaddafi place op-ed articles in the Boston Globe and the Washington Times. The firm, which opened an office in Tripoli, was founded by Peter Brown, a friend of Peter Mandelson, a close aide to former British prime minister Tony Blair, whose government's negotiations with Libya paved the way for America's rapprochement with Gaddafi. The firm used to tout its work for the country on the 'Public Diplomacy' section of its website, but those references have since been removed."
Moral Relativism and Public Diplomacy - Ryan J. Suto: "In light of recent events, are the rights that the Tunisians, Egyptians, and others fought for objectively morally good? Can one say that deploring despotic rule is merely a subjective preference, based on little more than culturally arbitrary preferences? One’s answer to these questions is vital to one’s view of public diplomacy. If the answer is that there is no objective truth on such moral questions, then why should the American people try to influence other cultures with portraying our values of democracy and human rights?
If public diplomacy is only to serve our subjectivity to the ends of our national trade or diplomacy interests, should it be valued as a legitimate field, or simply method of propaganda? I view public diplomacy more expansively. I ask not (and promote not) what values best serves my country or my people in the economic and diplomatic sphere, I ask (and promote) what values I feel are objectively aligned with the promotion of human well-being. Anything less would relegate the validation of public diplomacy to a role morality." Image from
Were the G-Men Going to Use Us as Guinea Pigs in an Evil Experiment?! - Second Thoughts: "There are hordes of government folk in SL [Second Life]. A lot of them are up to completely anodyne and politically correct crap. You know, there is a real preserver and disseminator of horrid political correctness -- and that's our government, if you ever actually watched them in action. There are also some useful programs, public diplomacy programs, for example, that are open to the public, such as some that were interacting and engaging with Egyptians more than a year ago, way, way before it was the cool thing to do for anybody, 'hacktivists' included."
US Public Diplomacy: What Problem? Part 2 - Robin, Public Diplomacy, Networks and Influence: "Following up on the Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK’s attribution of the upheavals in the Middle East to US PD2.0[.] Given the amount of time that the PD blogosphere spends agonizing about the state of US PD and soft power it might be worth adding that the US is number 1 in the Nation Brands Index,
it’s number 4 in the Country Brand Index. In the Pew Global Attitudes responses are up around the world…Maybe the scale of the problems isn’t that big." Image from
PD in Kolkata: The Maharani and Her Scion - Patricia Lee Sharpe, Whirled View: "USIA, I’m told, has become a dirty word at the American Consulate in Kolkata, and respect for local staffers is also a quaint custom of the past. ... It used to be said that effective PD work was impossible without the loyalty and cooperation of well-connected, loyal local staffers. While I was in Kolkata, these good, normally discrete people described, in despair, how a superb institution has been systematically destroyed by arrogant USIA-haters, who actually know nothing about public diplomacy. ... The Americans in charge of public diplomacy in Kolkata aggressively celebrate (as all communicators must) the era of social networking, cell phone revolution photos and texting under fire without realizing that they, too, are more than ever visible to the outside world. If you want to see what's happening to PD under the current dispensation, take a look at Kolkata. The picture, unfortunately, isn’t pretty."
Liberia Decreases Corruption, Increases Transparency...U.S. Official Observes - Timothy T. Seaklon - theinquirer.com.lr "The head of the United States Trade delegation currently visiting Liberia, Ambassador Demetrios Marantis says under the leadership of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberians have decreased corruption, increased transparency and bolstered the rule of law. Ambassador Marantis said, 'Under the leadership of President Johnson Sirleaf you have set the course for reform and renewal.'
Speaking yesterday at a forum that brought together Liberian Businessmen and women at the United States Embassy's Public Diplomacy Section, Ambassador Marantis, who, is also the US Trade Representative responsible for Trade negotiations and enforcement in Asia and Africa said, 'Liberia remains open for foreign investment and has taken steps to improve the business environment.'” See also. Marantis image from article
Psy-ops and Afghanistan: Stop Spinning the American Public - Will Keola Thomas, Afghanistan Study Group: "Public acquiescence and congressional support for military escalation in Afghanistan has long been facilitated by the Pentagon[']s manipulation of information flowing back to the United States from the battlefield. From facilitating high-level access for sympathetic pundits to paying retired military officers to act as mouthpieces for the Defense Department while presenting themselves as impartial 'experts', the Pentagons attempts to secure support for the war has blurred the line between 'public diplomacy' and propaganda to the point where it is indistinguishable. But the use of a psychological operations unit to manipulate elected representatives into escalating military involvement in Afghanistan is completely beyond the pale. The Pentagon must stop spinning the American public."
Rock Me, State Department, Laura McGinnis - manIC: "I do think that strategic, national integration cannot be the ONLY element of public diplomacy, if for no other reason than that the U.S. government has been known, from time to time, to have some credibility issues with certain audiences. Shocking, I know, but true. So, by all means, coordinate.
But leave some space for non-government PD initiatives from NGOs, private sector reps and citizens for those cases where attitudes toward the USG are suspicious enough to compromise communication." Image from
Just a little... Chaos! - Yelena Osipova, Global Chaos: "Chris Dufour (a.k.a. Du4) was at our Public Diplomacy class today, for an AWESOME discussion on public diplomacy, strategic communication, and strategic coordination, or rather, lack thereof. After all the recent arguments and discussions on the subject of 'social media revolutions', the absence of such, and the implications for U.S. foreign policy and public diplomacy, it was refreshing to hear Du4's perspective. I guess I would categorize him as a 'cyber realist', who did spell it out in one sentence: 'There is no such thing as a 'Twitter Revolution'; there is a revolution that uses Twitter as a tool.' ... [W]ith many in the world now getting the 'public diplomacy' (traditional style) fever, completely discarding the notion of a coherent public diplomacy strategy (please note, I am not referring to the tools, here), might prove disastrous for U.S. interests, especially in the mid-to-long-run."
'Internet Freedom', the new war - Massimo Micucci, The Front Page: [Google translation] "After 2.0 Public Diplomacy and the launch of the Digital Outreach Team to talk directly with citizens of Arabic, Christopher Painter former director of the Cyber Security at the National Security Office has become a cyber-affairs chief of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Ci sono risorse e uomini a disposizione per garantire il dialogo e la sopravvivenza delle avanguardie attive che tengono aperte le vie di comunicazione. There are resources and people available to ensure dialogue and the survival of the vanguard that keep open lines of communication. L'invito è rivolto a tutti gli altri Stati e alle organizzazioni non governative. The invitation is addressed to all other States and NGOs." Image from
VOA Persian Parazit devotes program to fan who was killed during Iranian protests - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting
Unveiled diplomatic papers indicate that Japan paid to move the old VOA Okinawa relay station - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting
Video looks back at the history of Voice of America and its Bethany, Ohio, transmitting station - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting
House bill calls for support for RFE/RL, VOA, and Belsat broadcasts to Belarus - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting.
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[RFE/RL]Radio Azadi SMS service has 100,000 subscribers - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting
China to give a fillip to international relations - thehindu.com: "Following a year marked by a number of diplomatic strains with its neighbours, China will look to boost its public diplomacy initiatives in coming months to address concerns about its rise, officials said this week. These would include sending out a number of non-government delegations to have 'less official and more lively' engagement with foreign countries, as well as boosting investment in state-run television and radio channels to push their broadcasts overseas. China's new public diplomacy programme is expected to figure as a key area of discussion when the government's two most important political bodies — the National People's Congress (NPC), which is the top legislative organisation, and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), an advisory body — begin their annual session next week. While China's Twelfth Five-Year Plan (2011-15) would likely be the focus for this year's 'two sessions', public diplomacy, urbanisation and education were other key issues that have been proposed for discussion, Zhao Qizheng, who chairs the CPPCC's Foreign Affairs Committee and is also the body's spokesperson, told reporters this week. Mr. Zhao hinted that China would look to follow the United States' lead in being more effective in spreading both the country's message and its values overseas. 'To exert influence on the foreign public is the main part of public diplomacy,' he said, referring to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's recent speech on Internet freedom, which he described as an attempt to push 'American values'. He also pointed to the influence wielded by U.S. government-funded media outlets, such as the Voice of America. 'VOA and other organisations help spread American values,' he said, adding: 'It is up to other countries themselves to decide whether or not they want to accept these values.' While China would boost investment in its television and radio broadcasts overseas,
its content 'would not criticise or interfere with other countries', he said. Mr. Zhao cited the recent expansion of China Radio International — the country's official and biggest radio station — as part of the recent public diplomacy initiative. The government spent a reported $8.7 billion last year on external publicity. Much of it went to CRI and two other state-run organisations — China Central Television (CCTV) and Xinhua news agency. Last year, Xinhua launched a global 24-hour news channel in English, looking to emulate the success of Qatar's Al Jazeera, and to provide 'a better view of China to its international audience'. CRI has expanded its programming, operating broadcasts in 61 languages. Mr. Zhao said it would also look to expand its presence overseas, purchasing slots on local AM and FM channels. Last month, CRI's Urdu channel began FM broadcasts in Pakistan, and is planning to expand its presence in Sri Lanka. CRI also has Hindi, Tamil and Bengali channels, and has been looking to buy frequencies in India. Beyond media, Mr. Zhao said the CPPCC, which is a political advisory body, would broaden its contact with political parties overseas to allow for 'less official and more lively discussions' than usually seen in official interactions." Image from
The Lost Bladesman 2011 (關雲長) – Official Trailer [Youtube] - wanderingchina.wordpress.com: "More Chinese public diplomacy through cultural capital in media representation. – This time, one of the most classic Chinese heroes – the ‘Saint’ of Force, Guan Yu who is revered interestingly in Hong Kong by both sides of the law – the police and the triads comes to the fore. They pray and worship the same God that is Guan Yun-Chang.Loosely, if Captain America is used as a diagrammatic opposite committed to one’s nation beyond reason, Guan Yu would be the Chinese version – all about brotherhood and loyalty to that brotherhood to the death, beyond reason."
Edelstein defends new campaign to win hearts of N. American students - Raphael Ahren, Ha'aretz: "Public Diplomacy Minister Yuli Edelstein this week defended his project to send a group of young Israelis from different sectors of society to speak at North American campuses in a bid to improve Israel's image. Next week, 17 participants of the campaign - called 'Faces of Israel' -
will embark on a tour across Canada and the U.S.'s East Coast in an effort to counterbalance Israel Apartheid Week, a series of worldwide events critical of Israel, which starts March 7. Just like Edelstein's previous Israel advocacy - or hasbara - campaigns, several experts in the field expressed skepticism as to the effectiveness of his approach. ... 'It is valuable, but the reality remains that all such 'Israel beyond the conflict' exercises have limited impact so long as the conflict exists,' said Mitchell Bard, the director of American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, which seeks to strengthen the pro-Israel camp at American colleges. 'The best public diplomacy for Israel is always to have a peace plan and project the image - which is also truthful - that it is the party most interested in peace.'" Image from
Birthright “the most successful project in the Jewish world…” ? - David A.M. Wilensky, blog.newvoices.org: "That’s right, folks. You heard it here first. (Well, actually, you heard it at JTA first.) Birthright Israel said it has received a record-breaking number of North American applicants for its free, 10-day trips to Israel. The organization, which provides all-expense-paid trips to Israel for Diaspora Jews aged 18 to 26, received 40,108 applicants during the seven-day registration period ending Tuesday Israel’s Minister For Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs, Yuli Edelstein, called it 'the most successful project in the Jewish world.' [Emphasis mine, obviously.] JTA’s full story is here. That’s quite a claim. I dunno how the actual founding of the state doesn’t take top honors there, but I’ll leave it to the bloviation specialists at Birthright and in the Israeli government to duke it out over that." See also.
RAI Internazionale in Israele - viaggisraele.blogspot.com: "Dal primo febbraio Rai Internazionale
è approdata in Israele. Rai World ha infatti raggiunto un accordo per la distribuzione del canale Rai per gli italiani all'estero con Yes DBS, l'operatore della tv satellitare a pagamento leader in Israele. Il Ministro Frattini ha partecipato alla presentazione dell’accordo, ieri in Rai, insieme con i vertici dell’azienda e l'Ambasciatore israeliano in Italia, Gideon Meir. 'La Rai diventa uno strumento potente di public-diplomacy', ha osservato Frattini." Image from
Karabakh peace mission for Tony Blair's right-hand-man - News.Az: "News.Az interviews Jonathan Powell, chief of staff to UK Prime Minister Tony Blair from 1994 to 2007. ... What role can public diplomacy play between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict? The problem with most conflicts is that there is a sort of zero sum politics that dominates. ...
Both sides need to come away feeling they have won, and both sides have to think about how any agreement is seen by the constituency of the other side, not just their own. Powell image from article
A narrow approach to self-determination would not have worked - News.Az: "News.Az interviews Dr Sean Farren, a prominent Northern Irish politician. ... What kind of role can the public diplomacy play between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict?
"The task is not over when the negotiations end and an agreement is signed. I wish those who working for peace and reconciliation in your own country every success." Farren image from article
2011 Conference: Public Diplomacy, Place Brands and Soft Power - Ren's Micro Diplomacy: Join us next Friday for the Association of Public Diplomacy Scholars’ 2011 conference: Public Diplomacy, Place Brands and Soft Power.
Image from article
Economics Brown Bag with Dr. Stephan Thurman - Annie Kawamoto, wpmu.creighton.edu: "Stephan S. Thurman’s present position is as lead International Macroeconomist for the Economic Policy and Public Diplomacy office of the Economic, Energy and Business Bureau of the U.S. Department of State."
RELATED ITEMS
Obama seeks a new approach on Mideast: President Obama has asked his aides to formulate a Mideast foreign policy that emphasizes democratic reforms without alienating longtime allies - Peter Nicholas and Paul Richter, Los Angeles Times, latimes.com: President Obama is challenging his administration to formulate a new Middle East policy that emphasizes political and economic reforms to bolster U.S. allies now threatened by the protest movements sweeping the region. Administration officials say Obama is urging beleaguered governments to enact reforms that would satisfy the popular craving for change while preserving valuable partnerships on crucial U.S. interests,
from oil security to counter-terrorism and containing Iran. With those allied governments under pressure from their citizens, the U.S. is confronting the likelihood of having diminished influence over whatever political order emerges. The White House also has told diplomats to expand their outreach to the allies' opposition leaders, rising political figures and others who operate outside official government circles. Though some outreach already exists, the administration failed to anticipate the scale of the unrest. Democracies have been less responsive to U.S. priorities. Turkey, for example, is nominally friendly to the West but declined to allow U.S. ground forces to move through its territory before the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Image from article, with caption: A youth waves a flag at an abandoned military camp in Agedabya, Libya.
Outflanked by France: On Libya, Obama is missing in action - Review & Outlook, Wall Street Journal: For the Administration to stand by and propose sanctions that will have little impact while the regime murders hundreds or thousands of civilians will not endear Libyans to the U.S. when Mr. Obama offers his outstretched hand to the next government in Tripoli. Mr. Obama's first instincts in these crises invariably is to declare that the "international community," whatever that is, must "speak with one voice." What the world really needs is for an American President to lead.
No help for Libya from President Obama - Editorial, Washington Post: The reality is that as long as the president of the United States remains passive, the help Libyans are begging for will not come.
Why Didn't the U.S. Foresee the Arab Revolts? - New York Times
In one of final addresses to Army, Gates describes vision for military's future - Greg Jaffe, Washington Post: Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates,
in one of his last addresses to the Army, said Friday that he envisages a future ground force that will be smaller, pack less heavy firepower and will not engage in large-scale counter-insurgency wars like those in Iraq or Afghanistan. Image from
True to the Peace Corps: The corps' celebrity and size may have diminished, but its longevity is a testament to its importance - Stanley Meisler, latimes.com: The Peace Corps, despite its loss of celebrity and size, has improved a great deal during its 50 years. It probably does a better job at one of its main goals: providing skilled manpower to poor countries in need. The volunteers are better trained than in the early years, arriving at their posts speaking not only the official language of the host countries but the local tribal language as well.Fifty years on,
what has the Peace Corps accomplished? It's possible to cite the pounds of fish sold or the pounds of honey produced under volunteer projects. But how do you measure the influence of an inspiring teacher? Or the effect on an impoverished teenage boy such as Alejandro Toledo, who, with volunteers' help, goes on to college and becomes the president of Peru? But there is no difficulty measuring the impact of the Peace Corps on the United States. Half a century after Kennedy's call, the Peace Corps' greatest achievement may be the volunteers themselves. Image from article, with caption: One of the Corps' 12,000 volunteers teaches children in a village in the Peruvian Andes to make tapestries from their own ideas, to sell to tourists. (Associated Press / March 7, 1966). See also.
America Is Not an Empire - Zbigniew Mazurak, American Thinker: A number of liberal and libertarian politicians and columnists, led by Ron Paul and Pat Buchanan, have been falsely claiming for years that America is (or possesses) an empire. This propaganda is actually worrisome, because its spreaders are using it to justify isolationism and dramatic defense cuts.
Psy-Ops Reax - andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com: The reaction online to Michael Hastings' new and disturbing expose of the use of "psychological operations" against US senators has been mixed.
The Pentagon Propaganda Machine Rears Its Head - Malou Innocent, cato-at-liberty.org: Rolling Stone reporter Michael Hastings has written another investigative article on U.S. operations in Afghanistan, centered again on a general in the theatre. The revelations are perhaps more shocking than those that resulted in General Stanley McChrystal’s dismissal last summer. His newest bombshell alleges that the U.S Army illegally engaged in “psychological operations” with the aim of manipulating various high-level U.S. government officials into believing that the war was progressing in order to gain their continued support. The Pentagon is using its massive propaganda budget to blur the line between informing the public and spinning it to death. In fact, several years ago the Associated Press found that the Pentagon had spent $4.7 billion on public relations in 2009 alone, and employs 27,000 people for recruitment, advertising and public relations, nearly as many as the 30,000-person State Department.
Psy-Ops: Military Experts Say It's Not 'Brainwashing' - Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience: Rolling Stone magazine caused turmoil in the U.S. military this week with a report that a commander in Afghanistan ordered a "psychological operations" team to help him manipulate visiting U.S. senators into providing additional funds and soldiers to the war effort. Lt. Gen. William Caldwell may well have broken the law, which prohibits psychological operations from being used against U.S. citizens. But shelve those "Manchurian Candidate" fantasies: those familiar with psy-ops (PSYOP in military parlance) and propaganda say the field is a closer cousin to public relations than its intimidating moniker would suggest. (In the movie "Manchurian Candidate," a former prisoner of the Korean War gets brainwashed by Communists.) "There's no brainwashing," Sgt. Maj. Herb Friedman, an army veteran and psy-ops expert, told LiveScience. "PSYOP gets blamed for a whole host of things that has nothing to do with them whatsoever."
For the most part psy-ops is about telling the truth, Friedman said. That truth might be spun, he said, but outright lies tend to backfire by destroying credibility. Friedman compared psy-ops with advertising or public relations. "We're asking them to surrender and you're saying, 'Go out and buy a Ford,'" he said. "There's not a whole lot of difference there." Image from article, with caption: An American soldier station in Japan loads a "leaflet bomb" used to spread psy-ops material to Korean citizens during the Korean War.
Propaganda Wars: South Korea Tries 'Balloon Diplomacy' With Northern Neighbors - Michele Travierso, Time: As part of its ongoing campaign to win over North Koreans, South Korea has once again turned to "balloon diplomacy," sending gas-filled balloons skyward with messages and goodies in tow. Although the exact content of the messages is not known, they are believed to reference recent anti-government protests in Egypt and Libya.
The Art of Persuasion - Wall Street Journal: Human beings have long used art to try to influence one another. The new book "Propaganda Prints: A History of Art in the Service of Social and Political Change" by Colin Moore (A&C Black/Bloomsbury Academic & Professional) surveys the field, from ancient Sumeria to the present. The Roman emperor Augustus issued coins emblazoned with messages like "Peace and Victory." And Benjamin Franklin created his famous "Join or Die" woodcut of a severed snake in 1754 to plead for colonial unity. Propaganda from the 20th century spans a wide range of world-changing events, from China's Cultural Revolution to the Cold War.
Image from article, with caption: "Keep Your Teeth Clean", Federal Art Project, artist unknown
Check This Out: Five Vintage Propaganda Posters for 'Sucker Punch' - Ethan Anderton, firstshowing.net: We've already seen a two kick-ass trailers, an awesome TV spot and recently, a pseudo music video for Zack Snyder's action-packed genre mash-up Sucker Punch.
In addition there's been a pretty sweet collection of character posters, a huge banner, and a sexy theatrical poster. Now the marketing machine has transported us back to the setting of the film for some 50's inspired vintage propaganda posters featuring the badass babes of Sucker Punch. Though they look like they've been scanned in and they're not quite as awesome as those retro Kick-Ass posters from last year, they're still pretty damn cool. Image from article
ONE MORE QUOTATION FOR THE DAY
"In my opinion, any future defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle East or Africa should 'have his head examined,' as General MacArthur so delicately put it."
--Outgoing Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates
AMERICANA
“There’s a feeling of inevitability in writing about McDonald’s latest offering, their 'bowl full of wholesome' — also known as oatmeal. The leading fast-food multinational, with sales over $16.5 billion a year (just under the G.D.P. of Afghanistan), represents a great deal of what is wrong with American food today. From a marketing perspective, they can do almost nothing wrong; from a nutritional perspective, they can do almost nothing right, as the oatmeal fiasco demonstrates. ... [I]n typical McDonald’s fashion, the company is doing everything it can to turn oatmeal into yet another bad choice. (Not only that, they’ve made it more expensive than a double-cheeseburger: $2.38 per serving in New York.) ‘Cream’ (which contains seven ingredients, two of them actual dairy) is automatically added; brown sugar is ostensibly optional, but it’s also added routinely unless a customer specifically requests otherwise.
There are also diced apples, dried cranberries and raisins, the least processed of the ingredients (even the oatmeal contains seven ingredients, including ‘natural flavor’). A more accurate description than ‘100 percent natural whole-grain oats,’ ‘plump raisins,’ ‘sweet cranberries’ and ‘crisp fresh apples’ would be ‘oats, sugar, sweetened dried fruit, cream and 11 weird ingredients
you would never keep in your kitchen.’”
--Mark Bittman, "How to Make Oatmeal . . . Wrong," New York Times; via; above image from; below image from
