European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 23, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 14 the stars and stripes sunday december 23, 1990 business news firms jump on by Susan Christian los Angeles times coca cola and Pepsi each saturated the desert with 500,000 cans of soda. Frito Lay chipped in 225,000 bags of frito and Pace foods provided the dip a 170 cases of Picante hot sauce for those Cool arabian nights. Back on the Home front knotty a Berry farm in Buena Park calif., opened its Gates to military families on veterans Day freeze Frame photo studio in Santa Ana calif., gave away Beauty makeovers to servicemen a wives and Ridgeway videos in Tustin calif., promises half off on movie rentals to those left behind. From huge corporations to mom and pop stores american businesses Are suiting up for the biggest military based Public relations Blitz in half a Century. The target is operation desert shield the deployment since August of More than 270,000 . Troops to saudi Arabia with another 160,000 on the Way it has provided the business world with an Opportunity to polish its Public image while lending encouragement to homesick soldiers and the families who miss them. Quot we Call that a Money in the Bank in Public relations a every Lime you do something Good for society you get Back some measure of Public support a said Bob Ray Field professor of communications at California state University Fullerton a foyer the years you accumulate a positive feeling about your  desert shield has attracted a 21-gun Salute from american businesses for two reasons marketing experts say. First the military operation a taken against a clearly defined aggressor iraqi Leader Saddam Hussein a thus far enjoys wide Public support As did world War ii. Second the standoff has yet to erupt into a Battle and body counts As did Vietnam. Quot you Don t want to be seen As supporting an unpopular War a said Jack Trout president of Trout and pics a top marketing concern based in Greenwich Conn. A this conflict is terrific everyone is looking Good in their fatigues drinking gatorade just kind of milling around. But if the shooting starts it might be a different Story. When something becomes controversial Advertis ers run in the other direction.�?�. A the marketing of War has changed Over the past 50 years. World War ii saw so Many products claiming tenuous connections to the greater cause that one cosmetics manufacturer Dolly counterattacked a it wont build morale if wont preserve our Way of life. All this lipstick will do is make you look  companies now steer away from directly hyping themselves on the coattails of a Soldier s uniform instead they Are faking an indirect offensive a bar raging operation desert shield troops and their families with gifts while announcing the Good deeds in press releases and advertisements. Montgomery Ward has shipped hundreds of Vars and television sets to saudi Arabia so that service per can Exchange videotaped messages with their sonnet families. At amp to has sacrificed millions of dollars in Telephone Calls and faxes. Anheuser Busch gave 2,000 cases of non alcoholic Beer. Quot there is nothing comparable in our history to these kinds of donations Saia it. Col. Henry Wyatt Public affairs officer for the defense logistics Agency a a Branch of the department of defense assigned to accept desert shield donations and arrange delivery to troops in the Field. The Agency has received More than 4,000 Telephone Calls from businesses and individuals wishing to make donations. A donor list As of nov. 6 showed some 500 companies and organizations contributing everything from 50,000 cans of sardines to 1,000 boomerangs. Then there Are 100,000 sunglasses 3,250 portions of dehydrated ice Cream 40,000 Kodak disposable cameras 50,000 almanacs. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Universal gym together gave 10,000 pounds of weight equipment life fitness inc of Irvine calif., sent 20 exercise machines. Quot an outpouring of support like this Hasni to happened since world War ii a said Wyatt who served in Viet Nam. Quot in a not a clinical psychologist so i can to Analyse the country s thinking on. This one. Some Are probably doing it for publicity. Some arc doing it to do Good. Whichever 1 know that it definitely would boost my morale if i were stationed in saudi  companies Quot Are blatantly using the crisis for marketing purposes a said Dan Koeppel senior writer for Dweck s marketing week Magazine. Quot they re being pretty aggressive about letting people know what they be done for our boys overseas a and should the t rooms Quot return victoriously a with few fatalities Koeppel speculated that companies will begin to openly advertise their presence in saudi Arabia a a Well see tons of pictures of soldiers eating and drinking All kinds of stuff a he said. It Quot right now they can to afford to invest a lot of Money m making advertisements with the Pepsi generation drinking sodas in the desert because the next Day we might have teen age boys being splattered across that desert a Koeppel added. Quot but i guarantee you Advertis ers Are collecting film footage. 1 hate to say it but they re not donating products Only for Charity a a spokeswoman for Pepsi cola co. Said that she is unaware of any such filming for future commercials Quot we have not undertaken publicity to capitalize on what is an unfortunate situation for Many people a Leigh Curtin said Quot Pepsi aided the troops simply because its the right thing to  Polly Howes manager of Media relations for coca cola co., said that Coke also had altruistic motives in contributing half a million soft drinks. A coca cola has a longstanding tradition of bringing its product to soldiers in the Field dating Back to world War ii a she said. 1 making Public relations Points in the desert is not without risk however. A few companies already have a amps Sharon wolday come under fire. Last september Philip Morris .a. Distributed 2 million free Marlboro to service personnel in saudi Arabia a smaller cigarette maker Brown amp Williamson tobacco corp., donated an undisclosed number of Kool milds and Richlands such acts of Charity helped provoke Garry Trudeau s wit and Wrath in the cartoon strip a doonesbury a while anti smoking groups complained that the giveaways were a ploy to Hook Young soldiers. Quot we sent 10,000 Cartons of cigarettes at a time when there was no distribution system set up by the army to Supply the front line Quot explained Les Zuke director of communications for Philip Morris .a. Quot now the army itself makes cigarettes available for a charge a still the tobacco company has continued its philanthropy through other Means recently. A total of 80,000 a a Marlboro Holiday voice cards a 10-second greetings from family members recorded on computer chips at military bases throughout the country have been sent to the Gulf Region. A companies admit that staking out territory in the High profile Middle East showdown makes for Good business sense. But they insist that their original intent was to bolster troops arid their families. A a a sometimes we become involved As part of a huge strategic plan and sometimes we become involved because its the right thing to do a said at amp to manager Rick Wallerstein of the company a free fax service to military stationed in saudi Arabia. \ despite corporate americans insistence that it has Only Good intentions some observers feel desert mar Ket Irig is the wrong thing to do. John Rowe an English professor at the University of California Irvine worries that Quot with the Best of intentions Quot the business world is inadvertently egging the country on to War. 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