ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, April 3, 1996 TAG: 9604030029
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
LONDON - Pepsi just hasn't been getting the attention it wanted. So the company is introducing a vivid blue can in Europe and other parts of the world that scraps the familiar red, white and blue logo. Pepsi cans will adopt a color the company thinks will attract more cola-swilling teen-agers.
Pepsi pointedly did not release any plans for the can in the United States or Canada. But the company did say it would use the new look worldwide eventually.
The $500 million campaign, which started Tuesday, flaunts flashy models, hip tennis star Andre Agassi - even Air France's top-speed Concorde supersonic jet has been painted in the new Pepsi color.
While the company hopes the pitch will make Pepsi look a little sexier, some analysts think blue will leave customers ... well, blue. Market researchers say blue is a conservative color that usually doesn't cut it in selling food. -Associated Press Rowe anticipates more from '96
Rowe Furniture Corp., with headquarters and two plants in Salem, is counting on a stronger 1996 after a year of weak consumer demand, president and chairman Gerald Birnbach told stockholders Tuesday.
"Business in 1995 was very difficult for our entire industry," Birnbach said at the company's annual meeting. Retail sales are still soft, he said, but the company's first-quarter 1996 shipments were up from last year, and he thinks business will continue to strengthen.
Rowe reported 1995 net earnings of $7.2 million, or 53 cents a share, on sales of $124.9 million. -Staff report Meat packer must pay back wages
WASHINGTON - Giant meat processor Iowa Beef Packers was ordered to pay more than $7 million in back wages to 23,500 employees in what the Labor Department described as one of the largest overtime cases ever.
The department said a U.S. District Court judge found the company had failed to pay workers for jobs performed before and after their regular shifts from 1986 to 1988 at plants in Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota and Nebraska.
LENGTH: Short : 49 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: -Associated Press Andre Agassi ... sure is blueby CNBcolor