AMA OBJECTS TO KRAFT ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN

A01044b
Wednesday, August 29, 2001
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tom Lindsay
Phone: (614) 856-1900 x1357
E-mail: tlindsay@ama-cycle.org

                   AMA OBJECTS TO KRAFT ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN

     PICKERINGTON, Ohio -- The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA), prompted

by inquiries from a number of its members, has asked Kraft Foods to reconsider

its portrayal of motorcyclists in a current Nabisco advertising campaign. The

following article, entitled "The Devil, Prison...and Motorcyclists?" was

published today on the Association's web site, AMADirectlink.com.

          If you ride a motorcycle, then you just may be keeping some pretty
     interesting company, at least according to Nabisco and Kraft Foods.
     Nabisco's ``Corn Gone Wrong'' promotion, hoping to give its Cornnuts snacks
     a new image, shows cartoonish characters in three ``hardcore'' scenes: as
     the devil, as criminals in jail, and in one more example of something
     ``gone wrong'": on motorcycles.
          After a number of AMA members contacted us to voice their objections,
     the AMA spoke with Nabisco officials. Nabisco is part of Kraft Foods, a
     company that markets everything from Maxwell House coffee to Oreo cookies,
     Kool-Aid and Jell-O. Elisabeth Wenner, speaking for Kraft Foods, said this
     in a written statement: ``We certainly did not mean to offend anyone with
     this ad. The intent of the ad was to celebrate the independent spirit and
     freedom of motorcyclists and was in no way intended to discourage
     motorcycling."
          The motorcycling ad features three tough-looking cartoon characters
     riding down the road on choppers, while a wide-eyed rabbit flees being
     crushed under the front wheel of the lead bike. The tag line reads:
     ``Surprisingly hardcore...in seven mean flavors.'' The other two `` Corn
     Gone Wrong" ads feature a character dressed as the devil, and another of
     several of the characters in jail.
          ``Kraft and Nabisco have targeted a young market with these ads, in
     magazines like Teen, Spin, Marvel Comics and others,'' said Tom Lindsay,
     the AMA's public information director. ``We're concerned about the message
     this sends to kids, and we find Kraft's explanation sorely lacking."
          "We suggest motorcyclists go to http://www.cornnuts.com/cn_cgw.htm and
     see for themselves," Lindsay continued, ``and then send a polite e-mail
     expressing their opinion to Michael Mudd, Senior VP for Corporate Affairs
     at Kraft Foods (mmudd@kraft.com). We hope that Nabisco and Kraft will
     reconsider their decision to include motorcyclists in this promotion, and
     any future campaign that equates motorcycling with `going wrong.' "
          Look for updates right here on AMADirectlink.com.

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     The American Motorcyclist Association, founded in 1924, is a 270,000-member

non-profit organization. The Association's purpose is to pursue, protect and

promote the interests of motorcyclists, while serving the needs of its members.

For more information, visit the AMA website at www.AMADirectlink.com, or call

1-800-AMA-JOIN.