ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, September 26, 1996 TAG: 9609260051
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: Associated Press
BUT A FEW CRITICS are panning the cooperative effort between Florida citrus growers and the nonprofits.
Florida citrus marketers, who once relied on celebrities such as singer Anita Bryant and actor Burt Reynolds to pitch their orange juice, have cast three health organizations in starring roles in a new advertising campaign.
The American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association and the March of Dimes are lending their names to a $30 million campaign that says Florida citrus products can help prevent some serious diseases.
In return, the organizations are getting $1.7 million over the next year from the citrus industry, said Daniel Santangelo, executive director of the Florida Department of Citrus.
The quasi-governmental agency is responsible for marketing Florida citrus with money from fees paid by the state's citrus growers and processors.
The campaign was unveiled Wednesday in Manhattan. The first commercial debuts Sunday and will run 200 times on broadcast and cable television in the next seven days to make sure most TV viewers see it more than once.
The new campaign is designed to alert people that they can help prevent some types of cancer, heart disease and birth defects by including orange and grapefruit juice in their diets.
The opening 30-second commercial shows an illustration of a green tree laden with oranges and grapefruit.
An announcer says the American Cancer Society recognizes ``a healthy diet including Florida orange juice could reduce the risk of some cancers.'' Some oranges disappear from the tree.
The announcer says the American Heart Association has ``certified Florida grapefruit and grapefruit juice as part of a heart-healthy diet'' and the grapefruit disappear.
Finally, he says, the March of Dimes says ``the vitamin folic acid in orange juice could prevent certain birth defects.'' The last orange falls from the tree and rolls away.
``Don't worry. There are 96 million more trees where that came from,'' the ad says. ``One hundred percent pure Florida citrus. Are you drinking enough?''
The citrus growers are spending $3 million - 10 percent of the year's ad budget - on running the commercial the first week. Ads will appear in newspapers and magazines, and promotions will later be held in stores.
Future ads will focus on each health organization's view of how citrus fruits can help prevent diseases.
The Cancer Society will get $1 million for its participation in the campaign, Santangelo said, while the March of Dimes gets $600,000 and the Heart Association gets ``upward of $100,000.''
Some critics have faulted health organizations for agreeing to license their name to profit-making enterprises, saying it could raise doubts about the organizations' independence and fair treatment of competing products.
LENGTH: Medium: 60 linesby CNB