Spitting in the eyes of Yankees

By Charles Hayslett

CEO, Hayslett Group

Somewhere in Jackson, Miss., today there’s a PR manager for the state government who’s banging her head against a wall and seriously considering having a stiff drink before lunch.  That’s a fairly common professional response mechanism after you’ve spent the first few hours of your work day responding to media calls asking you to explain your client’s latest bone-headed stunt.

            The client, in this case, is the Mississippi state legislature and the bone-headed stunt was the passage of a so-called “anti-Bloomberg” law prohibiting local governments from regulating the marketing or sale of sodas and fast-foods.  The law, which Governor Phil Bryant is expected to sign, was a reaction to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s attempt to outlaw the sale of supersized soft drinks as a public health strategy to curb obesity and slow the rise of healthcare costs in his city.

            The result was a media bonanza for Mississippi, and not in a good way.  NPR apparently set off the deluge with a story headlined “Soda Wars Backlash: Mississippi Passes 'Anti-Bloomberg' Bill”.  The International Business Times followed suit with “Mississippi, Most Obese State In Nation, Passes 'Anti-Bloomberg' Law Against Food Regulation”.  CNN, National Review, Fox News and others quickly chimed in.  “Mississippi comes to defense of large sodas with ‘anti-Bloomberg’ bill,” added The Washington Post. 

            I’ll have to confess that I’m conflicted about how to come at this subject.

            First, I’m a communications professional.  I look at this and see one more self-inflicted wound on an already badly damaged brand.  Tell me how this helps the state of Mississippi in any way whatsoever.  What public interest was served?  What public good was done?  Aside from the substantive issue, the bill’s passage tells you there’s nobody in a position of power in Mississippi who gave a single thought to the bill’s impact on public opinion beyond the state line.  In most states (including, I would like to think, Georgia), this is the kind of legislation a sentient governor or moderately alert House speaker would have shuttled off to a study committee, never to be heard of again.

            Second, as part of my work, I spend a lot of time working on healthcare issues and public health in particular.  Here in Georgia, we manage the Partner Up! for Public Health campaign, funded by Healthcare Georgia Foundation, and as part of that work we focus on a variety of public health challenges, including obesity.  Make no mistake about it.  Obesity is a bona fide public health crisis in this country and especially in the South, including Georgia; Mississippi may be the fattest state in the country, but Georgia isn’t doing much better.  If this anti-Bloomberg law was a public relations disaster for Mississippi, it may prove over the long haul to be an even bigger public health debacle.

            Third, I am, to boot, a native Mississippian.  I have been gone a long time, but there are still things I miss about home.  More often than not, though, I am left slack-jawed by political shenanigans that would be comical if they weren’t so consequential.

              So the Mississippi legislature’s passage of the anti-Bloomberg law was a triple whammy for me.  Beyond being one more embarrassment for a home state that seems to revel in them, it further damages the state’s brand (if that’s even possible) and undercuts public health efforts to encourage healthier eating habits among a population that desperately needs them. 

            Mayor Bloomberg may well have been wide of the mark in the specific way he has gone about trying to limit access to super-sized soft drinks (a New York court struck down his regulation last week), but the issue he raised is one of the most important facing our country.  Beyond the health effects on individuals who struggle with obesity, it holds profound implications for everything from our national economy to our national security.  It is the single largest driver in rising healthcare costs and has for years been recognized as an impediment to military recruiting and readiness.

            As a response to Bloomberg, the Mississippi legislature’s action was nothing more than a pointless act of raw demagoguery.  It was lousy public relations and worse public health.  Spitting in the eye of yet another Yankee no doubt satisfies some primal urge at the Mississippi state capitol, but it comes at a dear price to the reputation of the state and health of its people.