Monsanto two working lunches with Monsanto. Peter Luff, then a Conservative Party MP and Chairman of the Agriculture Select Committee, received up to £10,000 a year from Bell Pottinger on behalf of Monsanto. In January 2011, WikiLeaks documents suggested that US diplomats in Europe responded to a request for help from the Spanish government. One report stated, "In addition, the cables show US diplomats working directly for GM companies such as Monsanto. 'In response to recent urgent requests by [Spanish rural affairs ministry] state secretary Josep Puxeu and Monsanto, post requests renewed US government support of Spain's science-based agricultural biotechnology position
Monsanto was symbolically burned. Monsanto has engaged in various public relations campaigns to improve its image and public perception of some of its products. These include developing a relationship with scientist Richard Doll with respect to Agent Orange. Other campaigns include the joint funding with other biotech companies for the website GMO Answers. In 2009 Monsanto was chosen as "Forbes" magazine's company of the year. In 2010 Swiss research firm Covalence rated Monsanto least ethical of 581 multinational corporations based on their EthicalQuote reputation tracking index which "aggregates thousands of positive and negative news items published by the media, companies, and