March 31, 2004

Hurting Ketchup Sales?

This can't be good news for Senator Kerry. The Wall St Journal Political Diary(sign up) says that the firm has had to distance itself from the fray:

Heinz ketchup folks want it known they have nothing to do with John Kerry's campaign, nor with Peaceful Tomorrows, the group of 9/11 "victim" representatives who have criticized President Bush's TV ads. The company sent letters to 50 TV and radio talk shows disclaiming any connection, and adding for good measure that the Heinz Endowments - - a charity headed by Mr. Kerry's wife -- was not a financial supporter of the 9/11 group.
A spokeswoman for the company told the Associated Press that Heinz had received 150 letters or phone calls asking about the connection or threatening to boycott the company's products. She pointed out that the H.J. Heinz company had actually steered clear of presidential politics since 1988, when it ran "Morris the Cat" (star of commercials for Nine Lives cat food) as a mock presidential candidate. The spokeswoman also found it important to note that Mr. Kerry's wife and immediate family own no more than 4% of the company's shares -- a meager $520 million at yesterday's closing price.
Of course, a multinational corporation has to keep out of politics. It's just funny to me that Heinz is so well known. How many people know what Halliburton does? I fear the Senator will be a liability for the corporation, which will be a liability for the Senator. Too bad.

You don't have to post an attack today, Johngalt! He's hurting Ketchup sales.

Posted by jk at March 31, 2004 11:36 AM
Comments

Thanks for this post, JK. I have a bottle of Heinz ketchup in my fridge that I had considered pouring out in protest (until I remembered the John Heinz quote, "I get rich off the ketchup people leave on their plates!") I still won't buy any Heinz products, just because of that 4% stock ownership by the philanthropic Ms. Teresa.

Rather than a demonization blog I'll settle for a demonization comment today. I heard about a new bumper sticker on Limbaugh today:

"I actually voted for Kerry before I voted for Bush"

Posted by: johngalt at March 31, 2004 12:23 PM

Hahahahahahahahaha! I like it!

Posted by: jk at March 31, 2004 01:34 PM

Daily demonizations, hmmm, must be getting nervous about Bush's chances in November.

Posted by: Silence Dogood at April 1, 2004 12:31 PM

I am scared to death, Silence! I am never over-sanguine. Senator Kerry certainly has every chance to win. The country is still divided, the war has faded for a lot of people. And, I'm sorry but I have to say it, the major media outlets are soooo compliant to the Democrat message.

The last line sounds black-helicopterish, but do you believe that Richard Clarke, the 9/11 families upset over the Bush TV ad, or the complaints over "negative" TV ads would have played against a Democrat incumbent?

Posted by: jk at April 1, 2004 12:45 PM

Was there *ever* a moment in the past four years when Bush was NOT demonized by the left? Maybe for a couple of days post 9/11...
wait...i take that back. They were calling him a coward for flying around the US instead of back to Washington.
Halliburton! Ashcroft! Cheney! Bush! Drunk! Daddy! Blah blah blah. Yawn.

Posted by: AlexC at April 1, 2004 03:27 PM

I agree with AlexC, daily demonizations really are the norm nowdays, from both sides. Will they ever figure out that it has lost its ability to shock? Blah, blah, blah - yawn nails it well.

But hey, JK, where is the invisible hand of the market in the major media? Are there so many more liberal Dems that the market plays to them? Our elections would say otherwise, why hasn't demand for conservative coverage leveled the playing field?

Posted by: Silence Dogood at April 5, 2004 12:56 PM

I would say market forces HAVE leveled the field somewhat Silence. Fox News came out of nowhere to swamp CNN in ratings. It is truly amazing to observe Al Gore's futile efforts to counter FNC by launching his own "liberal" cable channel. If he thinks this is such a good idea then why can't he convince one of the existing left-leaning networks to adopt whatever his new format is?

On demonizations coming from "both sides," we should acknowledge that the name calling against Kerry only goes as far as "Hanoi John," while Bush is lumped in the same bin as Hitler, Herbert Hoover and Richard Nixon. He is accused of desertion and of treason. His motives for deposing Saddam are attributed not to liberty and peace, but to revenge and capitalist greed.

Another important distinction is that the attacks on Kerry come from advocates such as myself but not from the Bush '04 campaign or RNC. The demonization of the President comes from both quarters on the left, including the Kerry campaign via their surrogate, Sen. Edward Kennedy.

Posted by: johngalt at April 9, 2004 08:10 AM
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