Editorial War without bodies 3/21/00 The "veterans" at Ocean Spray seem to want to blow Northland to kingdom come. There's no Geneva Convention to dictate the rules of engagement. We have a Federal Trade Commission that insists on a smoking cannon powered by public outrage before it will glance sideways at the operations of an agriculture cooperative. There are no rules to guide competitive behavior, only ethics. In an interview with Connie Hays on the new Cola Wars, in today's New York Times, John D. Sicher, editor of Beverage Digest says "as much as it is about taste, it also positions the brand (Pepsi) as confident, positive and aggressive...Americans love combat and competition, and that element of this will generate a lot of consumer attention." (emphasis added) Sicher seems to forget one element in the consumer picture: women. Movie images aside, I don't see the majority of American women as aggressive and loving combat. I don't see Sally Spray sitting ringside chomping on a big cigar or dragging her husband to a Nascar race. She had no desire to see American children coming home in body bags from Bosnia either. While boys will be boys, and high school coaches love to get that testosterone pumping, I don't see every American male as being enamored of competition or as loving combat. Besides, the notion that a man who enjoys a sporting event is some beer guzzling lout who relishes any aggressive spectacle is illogical. Even if it was true, who can prove that this will translate into sales? Nobody will get killed in the cranberry wars; but people will be hurt. Some will succumb to stress related diseases, many will develop clinical depression, there will be more than a few divorces, and a few bereft growers tragically may take their own lives. Those who come out as winners in the cranberry war by sheer luck will have to cope with some measure of survivor guilt. Those who win by guile or deceit may someday feel the shame for what they've done. There is still time to avert this tragedy. The industry, individual growers, and particularly Ocean Spray under Robert Hawthorne's leadership, have to recalibrate their ethical compasses. Let's put this belligerent rhetoric aside and start to work together. A good first step would be for Mr. Hawthorne to participate in the Middleboro Business and Industrial Commission meeting being held on the cranberry crisis this Thursday. |