‘Corporate Correctness’ Can Be Tricky Webs Of Ownership Make Boycotting Complicated

Marty Jones hates Rush Limbaugh - or at least what he stands for. So when the Leawood, Kan., woman saw the talk-radio icon pushing Pizza Hut pizza on national television, she knew what she had to do: Boycott the company.

It’s not getting any more of HER money, by golly.

Or is it?

The messy truth, Mr. and Mrs. Consumer, is that boycotting is not as simple as it seems. Today, it’s a good bet the company you’re boycotting is owned by a larger company, which, in turn, may be owned by a larger company still. Despite your best intentions, you may be funneling piles of cash directly to the coffers of companies you’re specifically trying to avoid.

Boycotting Pizza Hut? You also have to boycott Pepsi-Cola soft drinks, Frito-Lay snack foods, Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants, Taco Bell, Hot-N-Now, California Pizza Kitchen and on and on. That’s because Pizza Hut is owned by Pepsico.

Knowing she couldn’t avoid every Pepsi product, Jones did what business experts say is often more effective. She called a corporate 800 number and told the company she was mad. She still avoids Pizza Hut pizza, but she’s realistic about the effect such a boycott will have.

“It’s real difficult to boycott the whole world,” she said, exaggerating to make a point.

The point is this: It’s practically impossible to be 100 percent “corporately correct” - to avoid patronizing a certain company - unless you do all your shopping with a five-volume set of Yellow Pages-thick reference books of mergers and corporate affiliations.

Can’t stand CBS? Well, the Tiffany network is being acquired by Westinghouse, so you might have to consider boycotting its products. Here’s the catch, however: That company no longer makes refrigerators or other home products. Now, among other things, it’s a big-time supplier of nuclear power plants and defense electronics systems.

Those kinds of mega-mergers are happening all over. The huge are getting huger. A lot of business houses are built that way these days.

Just ask Sandra Hartman.

Hartman, a child-care administrator from Lee’s Summit, Mo., can’t stand tobacco companies. And she’s furious that people are continuing to give them money.

There’s only one problem. Hartman is giving them money, too. Every week at the grocery store.

“I am not!” she said, crossing her arms defiantly. “I wouldn’t give them a dime.”

Well, not knowingly, anyway.

But last week, and most weeks before that, Hartman bought Kraft Cheese at the store. She also came home with Entenmann’s fat-free fudge cake.

What Hartman didn’t know then - and what she wished she didn’t know now - is that Kraft and Entenmann’s are owned by Philip Morris, maker of Marlboro, Virginia Slims and Benson & Hedges cigarettes.

“Oh, great!” she said, throwing her hands up in the air and rolling her eyes. “What else do they own?”

Oh, not much. Just Post Cereals. And Sealtest Ice Cream. And Oscar Meyer, Miller Brewing Co., Lender’s Bagels, Tombstone Pizza, Bull’s Eye Barbecue Sauce, Capri Sun drinks, Tobler Chocolate, Molson Breweries and Sure-Gel Fruit Pectin. At least that’s what Vol. 3 of the 1995 Dictionary of Corporate Affiliations reports.

But that makes things confusing. For the average consumer, trying to find out who owns what in America today is often like trying to navigate through a twisting maze with a blindfold on one eye in the fog at midnight.

For instance, you’ve probably bought a product or two from the Hanes Co. But ever wonder who owns Hanes, the pantyhose, sock and skivvies giant?

It depends.

If it’s socks, it’s a company called Adams-Millis.

If it’s hosiery, it’s a company called Hanes Hosiery Inc. That company also owns Hanes Alive Panty Hose. And Hanes Too Hosiery, too.

On the other hand - er, foot - Hanes Hosiery & Underwear for Men & Boys is owned by the Sara Lee Corp., which also owns Hanes Her Way Hosiery and Hanes Her Way Coordinate Knitwear, Hanes Soft Steps Footwear and Hanes Too Hosiery.

But wait. It’s not nearly that simple. There apparently are two forms of Hanes Too, because that company is owned not only by Hanes Hosiery Inc. but also by Sara Lee.

Get it?

How could you? This is the Byzantine business world of corporate conglomeration, far beyond the ability of mere mortals to comprehend.