Article: General Mills recants on idea of putting CD-ROMs with Bibles in cereal boxes.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

DETROIT _ Bibles and Cheerios just don't mix, General Mills announced Friday afternoon.

But the public apology from the cereal giant came too late: More than 12 million boxes of cereal containing software versions of the Bible are headed for grocery store shelves nationwide.

The apology was a shock because the unprecedented promotion, which involved giving away CD-ROM games, dictionaries and Bibles, was one of the most creative marketing ideas in years, said Phyllis Tickle, an editor at Publishers Weekly magazine and a leading expert on the marketing of religious publications.

"They got spooked with the idea of the Bible in their boxes," Tickle ...

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