Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU) Announces “Coal Cares™” Initiative, New Nationwide Campaign Against Stigma of Childhood Asthma
ST. LOUIS, May 10, 2011 / PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Peabody Energy today announced the creation of an innovative new public health initiative designed to combat the stigma of asthma among American children ages 0-18. With Coal Cares™ (www.coalcares.org), Peabody will offer free, custom-branded inhaler actuators to children living within 200 miles of a coal plant, along with coupons worth $10 towards the purchase of the asthma medication itself.
“Too many young Americans face daily schoolyard taunting and bullying because of a condition over which they have no control,” said Gregory H. Boyce, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Peabody Energy. “By re-branding the inhaler as a cool, individualized, must-have accessory, Coal Cares™ will empower children to tell bullies: ‘suck it up.’” Children can choose from a variety of youth-themed inhaler cases, from tween faves like “the Bieber” and “My Little Pony,” to the “Emo” and “Diamond” inhalers for older, style-conscious youth. There’s even “My First Inhaler,” for tots.
Coal Cares™ launches today in commemoration of Asthma Awareness Month, the Environmental Protection Agency’s effort to call attention to rising asthma rates, especially among children. Coal Cares™ and its Puff-Puff™ line of inhalers is the first, and most ambitious, market-friendly public health initiative of this scope of any privately-owned American company, and testifies to the energy industry’s commitment to the well-being of all citizens, including the youngest.
“Our actions are guided by a singular mission: to be a leading worldwide producer and supplier of balanced energy solutions, which power economic prosperity and well-being,” said Boyce. “Coal Cares™ brings this mission to life, empowering children everywhere to take control of their destinies, beginning with their own lungs.”
“Coal Cares™ is emblematic of the return to self-reliance that healthy entrepreneurship demands,” said James Miasmus, Vice President of Government Affairs at Peabody USA. “Costly ‘scrubbing’ technology, on the other hand, is an untested and heavy-handed intrusion into our still-vulnerable economy. At Peabody, we’re thinking globally but acting locally, and locating preventive action at the point of consumption, where it belongs.”
“Coal Cares™ isn’t just the name of a campaign,” said Kevin Briesslau, Vice President of Communications at Peabody Coal. “It’s a philosophy, a way of doing business in harmony with the community we are a part of. After all, coal is the fastest-growing fuel in the world. We’re part of America’s heritage, and we’re here to stay.”
To learn more about Peabody’s Coal Cares™ initiative, visit: www.coalcares.org.
Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU) is the world’s largest private-sector coal company and a global leader in clean coal solutions. With 2010 sales of 246 million tons and nearly $7 billion in revenues, Peabody fuels 10 percent of U.S. power and 2 percent of worldwide electricity.
CONTACT:
Vic Ganey
Phone (314) 472-5539
SOURCE Peabody Energy
well, i think calling it a “song” is a bit of an overstatement. the only reason “motherfuckers” was included was that i was giving one syllable per strung pluck and there were two strings left…
NPR has an audio interview with Bonanno from 2004, which if you haven’t listened to is absolutely hilarious and profound.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4049151
‘==Andy is gay, Mike is married. –efc’
Thats a shame – I always end up fancying satirists, know any more ;D
I thknk you should podcast you’re song Amanda
And Amanda did you go with Muthafuka Fuck Fucka Mutha or some such for the name of yr song? heh-heh.
BTW Amanda made her ‘motherfuckers’ statement in mock exasperation, plucking strings on my electric guitar with the sound turned up loud, composing a song. We both thought that press release was a work of genius. I wrote to Mike Bonanno and asked if it came out of the Yes Men lab. His reply was “stay tuned,” which turned out to be Yes.
and I agree with chutzpah – now that Justin Bieber has been revealed by a co-star as a jerk, I want a Bieber version; no inhalant thanks. Just the groovy non-recycled plastic container.
ya, haha Jude – I was being facetious in my post here actually, regarding which pharmaceutical company won the bid – figuring this cool coal kid program couldn’t be real.
And totally with the program, efc re: using humor and irony to make a point. thus as I said; this ain’t funny nor that so many people WOULD fall for it should it go “mainstream”.
xo
And by the way — if this gets any mainstream play at all, I fully expect a whole line of designer inhalers available by Fall.
Jeez, what a relief! Apologies for legitimizing this — I read through to the 10 dollar coupon with an active link and figured that was that. People mostly don’t screw around with money.
And I agree, Edgewise, about the gaslight stuff — no kidding, with a tweak or two this could be considered a viable PR campaign; there are Big Pharma programs out there that aren’t far removed. Since I’m personally the uncool kid with the inhaler, I’m already a little paranoid about medical marketing so I’ll take my spritzer and join Len in the fool idiot motherfucker’s corner. Again, mea culpa.
I havent even got asthma and i want ‘a Bieber’
I will marry either of the yes men – if they are available
==Andy is gay, Mike is married. –efc
This post was not intended to be humorous. It is using humor and irony to make a point, that point being that coal is killing and sickening kids. The point being that “clean coal” advertises all over TV and people think it exists.
The problem with Cheney and Bush is that intelligent, educated people fell for it and still do. The problem is that Gore supporters, presumably more the thinking type, let BushCo get away with it.
David Byrne is not someone I would expect to have stupid friends, but I read an interview with him in 2004 wherein he said he was sick of his friends falling for this Neocon crap. We all know smart people who fall for it, and lately I don’t hear anyone admitting they voted for Bush in 2004 but obviously half of the voters did.
This is not exactly why Bush and Cheney “got away with “it””.
Our world has become easy-access to more incorrect information than correct. Seems to me there was nothing but one big question mark here in the PW peons’ section.
The reason why “Bush and Cheney “got away with “it”” is because they turned on and up the “gaslight” treatment.
In those with more working brain cells than dead, this ultimately results in a fine-tuned awareness of crap.
But that does not mean the crap is not for-real. We live in a world full of it.
And while I appreciate the post, I do not find it humorous. Rather, I believe it’s intent has been acknowleged – that is, we believe this stuff MAY BE real because so much stuff like it IS.
Well, guess that makes me a fool idiot mutherfucker. That’s ok, i can take it.
ok, folks, here is the editor’s note i was going to put at the top of this post, until Eric said it was too obvious and too funny to need one:
“Editor’s note: my first thought when I saw this email in my inbox was, “How did they get my email address? Did this coal company steal the list of email from some environmental group’s petition against them?” Paragraph one had me scoffing at how superficial Peabody Energy’s efforts are. Paragraph two had me laughing hysterically, shouting, ‘This can’t be real! This is obviously not real.’ The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Peabody Energy claims they’re the victim of a website hoax. We’re checking in with The Yes Men. – amanda”
now, i mean this as gently and lovingly as possible, but… did you actually read the whole thing? Please click on the first couple links — especially the one with the designer inhalers. They are *so* ridiculous.
Yes, this is a hoax, created by a group called Coal Kills Kids through the Yes Lab (created by the Yes Men to support creative activism). Here is the follow up email i received from them a few hours later:
May 10, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tackling Childhood Asthma Not Coal Industry Priority After All
No more My Little Pony inhalers in stock
Contact: asthma@coalcares.org, (314) 472-5539
A charitable initiative by the world’s largest coal company to provide free “novelty-themed” inhalers to asthmatic children may have seemed for a moment like a (somewhat misguided) breath of fresh air, coming as it did from an industry whose emissions are directly linked to childhood asthma, and which is fighting to gut clean air legislation that would save children’s lives.
Coal Cares™ (www.coalcares.org) purported to “make asthma cool” with decorative and pop-culture inspired inhalers (“The Bieber,” “Harry Potter,” “My Little Pony,” and “My First Inhaler” were particular favorites). The site also announced that Peabody would offer $10 coupons towards asthma medication (about 5%-20% of the cost) for families living within 200 miles of a coal-fired plant. It featured a “Kidz Koal Korner” with asthma-related games for tots, an extensive asthma trivia section and FAQ (Peter the Great was asthmatic, who knew!), and a thorough condemnation of solar and wind alternatives.
It was, of course, a hoax, and it was aimed at Peabody Coal, which is lobbying ferociously against new pollution standards for power plants proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), standards the agency says will prevent 120,000 cases of childhood asthma each year in the United States. Peabody spent over $6 million lobbying Congress last year, and the industry has created a dizzying array of fake “grassroots” front groups to distort the public debate and fight legislation.
(Meanwhile, a new study by the American Lung Association notes that coal-fired power plants produce more hazardous air pollution in the United States than any other source, with the pollution killing 13,000 people a year. Coal-ash disposal alone increases risk of cancer, learning disabilities, birth defects and other illnesses due to exposure from heavy metals such as arsenic, lead and mercury.)
The Coal Cares™ hoax was devised by a group called Coal is Killing Kids (CKK), a small environmental and public health group that aims to challenge Big Coal’s expensive lobbying against sensible updates to the Clean Air Act. “We don’t have their millions, but we do have a knack for incredibly tasteless jokes,” said Veronica Tomlinson, a pediatrician and member of CKK. CKK worked with the Yes Lab, which is a project of The Yes Men to help activist groups carry out media-savvy creative actions on their own.
“Sure, it’s kind of tasteless to say that ‘Bieber’ inhalers are a solution to childhood asthma,” said Janet Bellamy, a spokesperson for CKK. “But it’s a great deal more tasteless to cause that asthma in the first place, as coal-fired power plants have been proven to do.” Added Justin V. Bond, another spokesperson for CKK: “It’s even more tasteless to disproportionately kill poor people.” Coal-fired power plants are very often built in areas populated by low-income citizens, who then bear the brunt of the health effects.
“People may laugh at our sick jokes,” said Bellamy, “but they also understand the real health impacts of burning coal. That’s exactly what the coal industry doesn’t want people to think about, because if enough of us were aware of it, we would shut these plants down once and for all.”
i hope i haven’t caused any undue concern or embarrassment; i myself was recently exposed on FB as someone who doesn’t always take the time to fact-check before reposting a great-sounding quote.
It is a yes-man-esque hoax:
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/05/10/6619469-coal-cares-hoax-targets-industry
“Oh, for Fuck’s Sake, motherfuckers.”
— amanda
I will add a comment. To do esoteric work, or to even imbibe it at all, one must be discerning. You must question everything, look at face value, peel back some layers and keep reading. This is why the classical esoteric texts contain things said in riddles, or things that are not true.
This is why Bush and Cheney got away with it.
You can tell who created this “press release” in about a minute.
Oh my goodness, you mean this is for real? Perhaps it would be appropriate to post a link to Bob Dylan’s song “Idiot Wind”.
Amanda – your “knack” continues. Thank you for taking on the burden of messenger.
Jude: i’m with you. Somehow our culture (if you can call it that) has made the world safe for twisty thinking. That can’t be good.
I had a sudden surge of gratefulness that our non-smoking ordinances went into effect prior to the ah-ha! moment of this kind of BS.
Wonder what pharmacutical company won the bid on designer inhalers?
Ditto Jude. WTF
This is right out of “Idiocracy.”
Please let this be from yes men…
OK, so I had to actually go to the link to believe this bullshit. Anyone who has asthma … laid on a table in a hospital emergency room wondering if the next breath will be the last or if you’ll live to spritz another day … needs to write these folks with a couple of terse words.
I can think of two. The first one starts with Fuck.
Inhaling with pride???? The second one is You.