Yogurt Giant Being
Mean To Pole Cats

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — "YOGURT MAKER UNFAIR TO STINKERS."

That — though not necessarily in those words — is what animal rights activists are saying about Minneapolis-based General Mills, whose distinctive-looking Yoplait yogurt cups are said to be trapping scavenging skunks.

Perhaps it’s a slow period for the "green" fringe, what with the whales saved and Al Gore promising personal stewardship over the rest of the planet. Whatever the motivation, outfits ranging from the Animal Protection Institute to the Humane Society of the United States are on a new crusade, demanding that Yoplait redesign its trademark cone-shaped containers.

Each year, the activists claim, hundreds of skunks stick their noggins into discarded yogurt cups to lick the last drops of flavored dairy detritus, and then can’t get the pesky headgear off. Unsaid but obvious is the fact that nobody in his right mind is going to approach them from behind and lend a hand.

A General Mills spokesman says the company recognizes the problem and plans to put warning labels on its products — not for the skunks, of course, but for callous litterers, who will be urged to at least crush the containers if they can’t bother to dispose of them properly. One thing the company isn’t prepared to do is change the shape of the cups, which consumers have recognized for 20 years.

The activists are hoping the company can be pressured into changing its mind if they raise a big enough stink about it.