9982: Kraft Cuts From Conservative ALEC.

From The Chicago Tribune…

Kraft drops membership in conservative group amid protest

By Tiffany Hsu Tribune Newspapers

Kraft Foods joined Coca-Cola in bowing to consumer pressure this week to cut ties with the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative lobbying group that has recently backed controversial voter ID and so-called “stand your ground” laws.

Kraft said in a statement that it has “made the decision not to renew” its ALEC membership, which is expiring. The company, based in north suburban Northfield, was opaque in its reasoning, citing “limited resources” and saying that its involvement with ALEC “has been strictly limited to discussions about economic growth and development, transportation and tax policy.”

Advocacy group Color of Change launched a boycott against Coca-Cola for its participation in ALEC’s Private Enterprise Board, but within hours, the soft drink giant issued a statement saying that it had “elected to discontinue its membership.”

The company blamed ALEC’s support of “discriminatory food and beverage taxes” instead of “issues that have no direct bearing on our business.”

“We have a long-standing policy of only taking positions on issues that impact our company and industry,” Coca-Cola said.

The withdrawals pleased ALEC detractors, which includes the Center for Media and Democracy. The liberal-leaning nonprofit said it had launched a protest campaign in tandem with Color of Change opposing what it said were ALEC’s efforts to deny climate change, undermine public schools and encourage laws that would require voters to present various forms of identification before voting.

Critics of the policies, which have already been implemented in several states, say that they are more likely to shut out minorities, the poor, the elderly and even college students.

Draft legislation from ALEC has also helped fan the debate over “stand your ground” laws, which have played a central role in the February shooting of unarmed Florida teen Trayvon Martin by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman.

Color of Change, an African American advocacy group co-founded by James Rucker and Van Jones, issued a statement saying that the group would direct its sights at other companies associated with ALEC.

ALEC helps corporations and individuals draft model legislation to send to politicians. Its website says that the group’s mission is “to advance the Jeffersonian principles of free markets, limited government, federalism and individual liberty.”

Other members of ALEC’s Enterprise Board include executives from Wal-Mart, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, AT&T, UPS and ExxonMobil. In January, PepsiCo quietly pulled itself off the board.

9939: The Hypocrisy Of Diversity.

Kraft is committed to building a culture where talented individuals can contribute their best. Kraft’s agencies have an individual culture—White.


PepsiCo is committed to diversity in everything we do. Provided everything comes from Omnicom.


Sprint believes in inclusion. Team Sprint, not so much.

9821: Miracle Whip White.

Adweek presented the latest Miracle Whip commercial scheduled to air during the Academy Awards broadcast. The spot is awful for reasons that go beyond its clichéd, contrived writing and art direction. Specifically, its Whiteness makes the message irrelevant to contemporary America—and underscores the cultural cluelessness of the commercial’s creators.

9751: Corporate Cultural Collusion Kool-Aid.

Advertising Age reported that Kraft is shifting its Kool-Aid account from Ogilvy to Saatchi & Saatchi, citing the need for a “fresh perspective” on the brand. Right. First of all, everyone knows that minorities comprise a key audience for Kool-Aid (MultiCultClassics addressed this topic last year). So moving the work from one outdated White agency to another outdated White agency will hardly lead to freshness. Once again, Kraft is showing its commitment to supplier diversity is total bullshit. And the food company’s business sense—in terms of partnering with experts capable of sparking sales—is pathetic too. It seems like “fresh perspective” is code for Corporate Cultural Collusion.

Saatchi Snags Kraft’s Kool-Aid, Capri Sun

Marketer Cites Need for ‘Fresh Perspective’ on Beverage Brands

By Rupal Parekh

Kraft is once again rejiggering its roster, handing Publicis Groupe’s Saatchi & Saatchi creative duties for Kool-Aid and Capri Sun. Those beverage brands were previously handled by WPP’s Ogilvy.

Agency representatives either declined to comment or referred calls to Kraft Foods. Bridget A. MacConnell, Kraft ‘s senior manager-corporate affairs for beverages, told Ad Age that Saatchi’s New York office will be responsible for handling the two accounts and said the impetus was a desire for new creative thinking.

“While we appreciate our long partnership with Ogilvy, we needed a fresh perspective as we drive our refreshment beverage brands forward,” she said via email.

The pace with which Kraft continues to make changes to its agency roster is astounding. A Wall Street analyst recently found that between 2009 and 2010 Kraft had switched ad agency assignments on brands accounting for a whopping 48% of its total U.S. measured media spending.

The changes in the company’s agency relationships are part and parcel of a much larger wave of organizational changes at Kraft, which is in the midst of splitting into two companies—one focused on the North American grocery business, and another that concentrates on snacks. As a result of the split, Kraft has announced that it will slash up to 1,600 jobs. Meanwhile, the company is in the thick of ushering in a barrage of new products.

For Saatchi, the win expands its place on Kraft’s roster of agencies after winning creative duties last October for the world’s largest gum brand, Trident.

It also provides a continuation of some good momentum to kick off 2012, helpful on the heels of its late December loss of the JC Penney account after a five-year relationship. In the past month alone, Saatchi has picked up these additional Kraft assignments, a new creative assignment for the Sapphire credit card by Chase, and has been called in to help out on Miller Lite with a new brand campaign.

Between January and November of 2011, Kraft, which is the 32nd biggest national advertiser per the Ad Age DataCenter, devoted between $35 million and $40 million in domestic measured media to Capri Sun, and about $20 million on Kool-Aid, Kantar data shows.

For Ogilvy it means a further reduction of its Kraft business. The agency once handled a broad array of brands for the packaged-goods giant, but over the past few years it has gradually seen many of its Kraft accounts flee to other agencies. It continues to have two big global pieces of Kraft business, Tang and Cadbury chocolate, and also does work for Honeymaid graham crackers.

Contributing: E.J. Schultz

9714: It’s The Sleaziest Cheesiest.

Sociological Images spotlighted this anti-obesity campaign that attacks cheese and people with cottage cheese thighs. It’s another ineffective example of shaming the victim versus naming the villain.


Meanwhile, the media weight behind this effort likely appears anorexic when compared to pro-cheese propaganda.

9669: 20% Black Representation In Advertising…?

Advertising Age presented an article titled, “Hats Off to These 10 Forward-Thinking Clients”—and two of the executives are Black! American Express CEO and Chairman Ken Chenault and former Kraft Foods Executive VP Ann Fudge were the sole minorities among the White people saluted by the trade journal. In fact, Ad Age went so far as to write that Fudge “is still probably the most important [Black] executive the advertising industry has ever seen.” It’s interesting that a list of top ten innovative clients can include two Blacks, yet such a diverse representation is never seen in collections of advertising agency superstars.