A Monster Maker an Eye
Like I said, a little sunshine goes a long way, and hate groups like ALEC need to hide their agenda from the public, or else publicly traded corporations will flee. Kudos to PepsiCo, Coca-Cola and Kraft for running away earlier than later…
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.
…In January, PepsiCo quietly pulled itself off the board.
(click here to continue reading Kraft drops membership in conservative group amid protest – chicagotribune.com.)