You know the old saying “actions speak louder than words?” Action: The Prime Minister of Great Britain ate an eight course dinner at the G8 summit in Japan. Words: Just before that he had issued a statement urging the world to reduce the unnecessary demand for food, and calling on the British to cut back on food waste.

Actually, it wasn’t just the Prime Minister who ate the lavish dinner—and the working lunch earlier that day with six courses. All the leaders were there, including George Bush, but Gordon Brown is taking the heat because of his untimely proclamation about food hours before stuffing himself.

Even worse, the world leaders had just held discussions about the food crisis with the heads of Ethiopia, Tanzania and Senegal— but they weren’t invited to the dinner.

Who counsels these people? It’s understandable that the Japanese Prime Minister would want to show what a gracious host he could be. And it would be rude for the leaders not to accept his hospitality. But does anyone planning these events in eight powerful countries think how this will look to the rest of the planet?

They’re talking about a food crisis while eating caviar, Kyoto beef and smoked salmon. Meanwhile millions of people are starving. Never underestimate how hypocritical politicians can be.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 7th, 2008 at 6:38 pm and is filed under Mistakes in the Media, Public Relations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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