The Command Post
2004 US Presidential Election
« What Bush Has Going For Him | Main | Murdoch Backs President Bush »
April 07, 2004
| Ketchup Company In A Pickle of a Political Food Fight

The H.J. Heinz Company has mounted its own election campaign to separate the company from the presidential race.

According to KDKA-TV, Pittsburgh,

The company has sent out letters to radio and TV talk shows across the country announcing that Heinz is not sending money to Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry.

[. . .]

The company, however, asserts, “that neither Mrs. Teresa Heinz Kerry, Senator John Kerry nor any member of their family is involved in the management or board of the HJ Heinz Company… They have no involvement in the Heinz Ketchup business or any of the company’s other brands or products..”

Company spokeswoman Debbie Foster told the Associated Press, “We don’t want this campaign to become a food fight… Teresa Heinz Kerry is not on the board and she is in no way involved with the management of this company.”

Heinz has apparently received about 150 calls this month along from consumers vowing to boycott Heinz products. The company has also received calls from customers claiming to buy more.

Heinz says it hasn’t been involved in politics since Morris the Cat ran for president in 1988.

The H.J. Heinz Company issued a press release declaring that the company is a non-partisan organization:

Neither Mrs. Heinz Kerry nor Senator Kerry nor any of the Heinz trusts or endowments - either individually or collectively - holds a significant percentage of shares of the H.J. Heinz Company.

[. . .]

There is no connection between any philanthropic programs of the H.J. Heinz Company and its Foundation and the Heinz family interests (including the Howard Heinz Endowment, the Vira Heinz Endowment, and the Heinz Family Philanthropies).

The Boston Herald says Heinz is “laying it on pretty thick.”

To demonstrate it is non partisanship, H.J. Heinz contributed to President Bush’s campaign. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the Federal Election Commission’s web site listed a $2,000 contribution on Dec. 31, 2003, by Teresa Heinz Kerry to the “John Kerry For President Inc.” cause, it also lists a $5,000 contribution on June 3, 2003, to “Bush-Cheney ‘04 Inc.” by the H.J. Heinz Co. Political Action Committee.

Cross-posted from California Yankee



Posted by Dan Spencer at April 7, 2004 11:55 AM | TrackBack
Comments

Yeah, but I heard they lost 5 catsup taste testers in the White House. So, until the commission studying this has been completed, we need to for Teresa to testify where she was on each of those days! Rumor is that she was taking the White House Tour on all those days. Accusation..no Coincidence…I think not….. Funny? oh well I’ll believe it when John Kerry goes Proctor and Gamble!

Posted by: DickD at April 7, 2004 12:56 PM

As a lifelong Pittsburgher, I can truly say that most people around here don’t make much of a connection between Theresa Heinz and the Heinz company, which started here, and remains here to this day.

So, Heinz means many things to Pittsburghers, but Theresa Heinz doesn’t. To us, she’s US Senator John Heinz’s widow, and that’s that.

Besides producing the world-famous ketchup, Heinz is a company that employs a number of people locally. Also, they are the corporate sponsor of our new football stadium. On the scoreboard of that stadium, two enormous ketchup bottles pour “neon ketchup” every time the Steelers get in the red zone. It’s a lot of fun!

It is entirely misplaced to connect Theresa Heinz with the company, it’s history or products. If Heinz is laying it on thick, it’s because a lot of people around here feel strongly about the issue.

BTW, don’t ever put “catsup” on ANYTHING.

Posted by: go stillers! at April 8, 2004 12:39 PM

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/robertnovak/rn20040424.shtml

Posted by: test post of link at April 24, 2004 10:25 PM

Post a comment

Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (Click here should you choose to sign out.)

As you post your comment, please mind our simple comment policy: we welcome all perspectives, but require that comments be both civil and respectful. We also ask that you avoid the extensive use of profanity, racist terms (neither of which we consider civil or respectful), and other boorish language.

We reserve the right to delete any comment, and to prohibit you from commenting on this site, if we feel you have broached this policy. As a courtesy, we will first send you an email noting a violation so you understand the boundaries. This will occur only once, however, and should we ban you from our comment forums we expect that ban to be permanent.

We also will frown upon those who suggest that we ban other individuals for voicing unpopular opinions, should those opinions be voiced in a civil and respectful manner. The point of our comment threads is to provide a forum for spirited though civil and respectful discourse … it is not to provide a forum in which everyone will agree with your point of view.

If you can live by these rules, welcome aboard. If not, then we’re sorry it didn’t work out, and thanks for visiting The Command Post.


Remember me?

(You may use HTML tags for style)