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posted by martyb on Tuesday June 05 2018, @07:13AM   Printer-friendly
from the don't-worry...-just-take-two-Bayer®-asprin-and...-oh,-wait dept.

Monsanto, a brand name activists love to hate, will disappear as Bayer takes over:

These days Monsanto is shorthand for, as NPR's Dan Charles has put it, "lots of things that some people love to hate": Genetically modified crops, which Monsanto invented. Seed patents, which Monsanto has fought to defend. Herbicides such as Monsanto's Roundup, which protesters have sharply criticized for its possible health risks. Big agriculture in general, of which Monsanto was the reviled figurehead.

And soon Monsanto will be no more. Bayer, the German pharmaceutical giant and pesticide powerhouse, announced in 2016 it would be buying Monsanto in an all-cash deal for more than $60 billion. Now, as the merger approaches, Bayer has confirmed what many suspected: In the merger, the politically charged name "Monsanto" will be disappearing. The combined company will be known simply as Bayer, while product names will remain the same. The move is not exactly a surprise — it makes sense that Bayer might want to weed out some of the intense negative associations associated with the Monsanto brand. In a way, it's an indication of how successful anti-Monsanto protesters have been in shaping public perception.

In the company's latest statement, Bayer implicitly acknowledged how hostile debates over genetically modified crops and other agricultural products have become. "We aim to deepen our dialogue with society. We will listen to our critics and work together where we find common ground," the chairman of Bayer's board of management, Werner Baumann, said in the statement. "Agriculture is too important to allow ideological differences to bring progress to a standstill. We have to talk to each other. We need to listen to each other. It's the only way to build bridges."

Also at Reuters.

Previously: Bayer AG Offers to Buy Monsanto
Bayer Purchases Monsanto for Around $66 Billion

Roundup: Monsanto Ordered to Pay $93M to Small Town for Poisoning Citizens
RoundUp Glyphosate Found to Cause Kidney Failure and Elude Tests
Cancer Hazard vs. Risk - Glyphosate
Use of Dicamba-Resistant Monsanto Crops Leads to Soybean Death
GMO Grass That 'Escaped' Defies Eradication, Divides Grass Seed Industry
Glyphosate Linked to Liver Damage


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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday June 05 2018, @02:16PM (5 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday June 05 2018, @02:16PM (#688863) Journal

    So, you don't think the executives, management, and senior workers from 1945 passed on any of their culture? Interesting. I wonder where our culture came from, here in the US? Or the cultures of any large corporation?

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  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 05 2018, @04:01PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 05 2018, @04:01PM (#688902)

    Like the culture of IBM helping the Nazis that rubbed off on Google pandering to repressive regimes?

    • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday June 05 2018, @04:26PM (1 child)

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday June 05 2018, @04:26PM (#688913) Journal

      Not sure how serious you are. IBM's culture didn't change drastically during, or after World War Two. They remain a mercenary bunch, who will do pretty much anything for profit. They've been beaten a time or two, by someone with more foresight - such as Bill Gates. They've dropped the ball a few times, and maybe missed opportunities. But, they will do anything that makes them a profit. The culture remains.

      Google? I'm not really into prophesying, but, if I were pressed, I might predict that Google will one day replace IBM.

      And, don't forget to pick up your free copy of Google's Centennial Edition, "Google History: Do No Evil".

      • (Score: 2) by cmdrklarg on Tuesday June 05 2018, @06:48PM

        by cmdrklarg (5048) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday June 05 2018, @06:48PM (#688992)

        They remain a mercenary bunch, who will do pretty much anything for profit.

        That could be said about the great majority of corporations.

        --
        The world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams.
  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by unauthorized on Tuesday June 05 2018, @04:02PM (1 child)

    by unauthorized (3776) on Tuesday June 05 2018, @04:02PM (#688904)

    So, you don't think the executives, management, and senior workers from 1945 passed on any of their culture?

    As much as the Nazis passed on their political culture to their successor political class. I'm sure if you look hard enough you are likely to find some influences dating back that far, but the influences of modern corporate culture and modern society in general are considerably more significant.

    Nice strawman, by the way.

    I wonder where our culture came from, here in the US?

    Home-grown, it's not like you didn't have your fair share of scumbags back in the 30s. The larger and more detached of human interaction a power structure becomes, the more amoral and oppressive it turns. This is purely a function of the accumulation of power, it has happened everywhere through human history regardless of the underlying social, political or economic structure.

    • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday June 05 2018, @04:33PM

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday June 05 2018, @04:33PM (#688917) Journal

      Not entirely homegrown. We've borrowed a lot of stuff from a lot of other cultures, including Native American cultures. But, our culture is firmly rooted in 1600's - 1800's English culture. Yeah, we continue to change and grow, but - remember the "British Invasion", aka, The Beatles? We emulate them, they emulate us, etc ad nauseum. Bearing that in mind, England's culture has roots in the old nature worshipping cultures, as well as ancient Rome, and most of Europe's nations.

      America's culture didn't just spring up, out of nothing.