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Krispy Kreme’s plump, sugar-sweet doughnuts
were hotter than frying oil just a few years ago. Celebrities lined up to
invest in franchises, and the media gushed that these sweet-treat purveyors
were foodie angels. Ah, but that was then, and this is now — and
Krispy Kreme’s little dough blobs have suddenly turned satanically
stale as a food phenomenon. The corporation has seen its stock price sink from
$50 a share to less than $9 as its sales have sagged and health officials
in Chicago and New York have sought to ban the artificial trans-fatty acids
used to make the product. So, has the corporation responded by eliminating its
unhealthy ingredients? Of course not. Instead, Krispy Kreme has taken the
old path of denial and dissembling blazed years ago by the tobacco giants.
The doughnut chain has even brought two former tobacco executives into its
top management ranks, where they are directing its damage-control campaign.
The execs are expected to bring to doughnuts the same aggressive strategies
that were used to glaze over the problems of cigarettes. Wall Street analysts, who had cheered on the
disgusting marketing tactics of the tobacco executives, are now applying
their same skewed ethical compass to Krispy Kreme’s troubles.
Applauding the company’s hiring of skilled image fixers, one analyst
declared that such a move is essential when health groups are trying
“to ban the main product you sell.”
There they go again. Health
advocates are not trying to ban the doughnuts — just the unhealthy
trans-fatty acids that Krispy Kreme uses. They could switch to a
heart-healthy oil, as other food companies are doing. Message to Krispy Kreme: Instead of dumping money
into image fixers from Tobacco World and trying to dupe customers, just fix
your product and be honest with customers.
Jim Hightower is a national radio commentator,
columnist, and author.
This article appears in Nov 9-15, 2006.
